Review of light fantasy Lawful Good Thief by T. L. Ford
Lawful Good Thief is a light fantasy thieves guild adventure novel about a girl’s ascension to Master Thief. Dagger throwing, fighting, torture, revenge, escapes, unwise intimacy, accidental death, and, obviously, thieves.
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An Excerpt from Lawful Good Thief
It took a few minutes for the man on the throne to break off his conversation with the apprentice standing next to him and acknowledge her. Guildmaster de Loren was younger than her Master, but still had gray near his temples in his neatly trimmed hair. He was clean-shaven, wearing correctly fitted clothes – black pants, a bright white shirt, and a black leather vest with matching arm bracers. He was obviously well-muscled, with nicely broad shoulders. He wore a single, shining throwing dagger on his boot.
He finally finished his discussion and gazed over at her, leaning slightly forward. When he did, she said the formal greeting, “Guildmaster de Loren, my Master, the Guildmaster de Merryweather, sends you greetings.”
“How is your Master?”
“He was well when I last saw him, as mean as ever,” she smiled, delivering this Guild compliment, and ducked her head respectfully, wondering what was the best way to say ‘loan me some coins and gear so I can get home’.
“I would like to hear more about your Master’s health as well as whatever message he’s sent for me, but not right now.”
He waved a dismissal gesture at her and she almost blurted out her need but caught herself before making such a stupid mistake. She’d been dismissed, but told not to leave the hall. She bowed again and backed away.
My Review of Lawful Good Thief
This was a fun read. I’m always up for a romp through thief-land, and this checked all the boxes. The skillsets, the dark underground guildhalls, the Princess Bride reference in the book description—it was all there, and I was very much there for it.
I called this a “romp,” and I’m sticking with that. If I stared too closely at parts of this, I could start scratching my head wondering how those pieces fit the whole. But that isn’t the point of the story. This is the kind of book where what seems tangential or unrelated is related because it happened to the protagonist and said protagonist learned from it somehow. In other words, this is low fantasy that doesn’t take itself too seriously, something fantasy, I think, needs more of.
All in all, fun and light and not meant to be the type of fantasy where one must never speak in contractions under pain of death. Give this a try if you just want some good old-fashioned thief fun. You won’t regret it.
About T. L. Ford
T. L. Ford is a programmer, writer, and artist. She spent most of her professional career supporting the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in southern Maryland. Her fantasy novels are heavily influenced by Dungeons & Dragons and by both playing and running live-action role-playing games (LARPs) at conventions. These books are designed to be fun, fast weekend reads, while her science fiction novels explore possibilities. She’s also created two art books, a thriller novella, and an interactive math iBook. She enjoys sailing, hiking, and spending time with her family.
Giveaway
T. L. Ford will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thank you for sharing your review of Lawful Good Thief, this sounds like a great story and I am looking forward to reading it myself
Thanks for hosting!
Thank you for the review.
Thank you for reviewing my book! It’s definitely supposed to be a romp – at the time I wrote it, I was regularly reading 2-inch thick tomes of programming documentation, and “high fantasy” novels were too much for my exhausted brain. I felt like we needed something in the weekend-read, drink and be merry category.
The book details sound great.
This sounds like a great book, thanks for sharing.