As the Crow Flies

Science Fiction & Fantasy

By Robin Lythgoe

Publisher : Robin Lythgoe

ABOUT Robin Lythgoe

Robin Lythgoe
Robin Lythgoe was born in Maryland, but spent several years in Oregon and did a short stint in upstate New York before moving to Utah. She married an artist, and together they have four wonderful children. Reading and writing have always been a part of her life, and she is particularly dra More...

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Description

For a thief, getting caught is never a good thing. Getting caught by a wizard is even worse. 

 

"One more job" meant that Crow, a notorious thief, could retire with Tarsha, the woman of his dreams, but "one more job" may just mean his life.

 

When he sets out to abscond with that last brilliant treasure and seek a life of ease and pleasure with the jewel of his heart, Crow seriously underestimates his mark, the Baron Duzayan. Under threat of death by poison, Crow is coerced into stealing an improbable, mythical prize. To satisfy the wizard's greed and save the life of his lady love, he must join forces with Tanris, the one man he has spent his entire career avoiding.

 

But what's a man to do when stealing that fabled prize could level an empire and seal his fate?

 

From a dungeon black as night, to the top of a mountain peak shrouded in legend, a man’s got to do what he must.

 

Until, of course, he can think of a better plan…

If you love thieves, dragons, and thieves stealing dragons, then you may love As the Crow Flies. The story reminds me of Dresden Files by Jim Butcher in the sense that it's first-person fantasy, but author Robin Lythgoe takes us to another world where the master thief, Crow, is coerced to work alongside the law-man who has dogged him for years. Together they must steal a dragon egg for a wizard or see their loved ones perish. For Crow, "loved ones" of course refers primarily to himself.

Crow and the lawman must weather first each other, second a trek through dangerous lands and a haunted caves and into a temple guarded by blade, sorcery, and an upset dragon broodmother. The banter between the two enemies on their quest kept me smiling throughout the chapters. As we might expect, both men must grow to depend on each other, and Crow grows into a better (and more magical) person, despite his best efforts to stay a self-serving thief.

And let's not forget the thief part. I love a good cloak and purse-cutting dagger, and Crow delivers. He's armed with a silver tongue, sleeping dust, feet that'd make a cat feel ungainly, a razor mind, and a diploma for best-in-class at the school of fine thieving and infiltration (awarded by me). I've read about approximately a billion thieves and even played the vintage first-person-looter games Thief, but Crow still impressed me as a sterling example of skulduggery.

 
(AE Marling, author of "Brood of Bones")