I talk about The Queen's Thief series a lot. I swear, everyone I know has gotten a Queen's Thief recommendation from me. I can't help it, this book fills me with the kind of giddy excitement I can't get enough of.
With the final book in the series just recently released after being delayed over a year, I thought it was an appropriate time to talk about the Queen's Thief on here again.
I didn't want to do a review because this series is so full of twists that it's hard to say very much on the plot or characters without giving too much away. However, the ships in this series are some of my favorite ever. Though it doesn't seem like they are very important on the surface, the couples are engaging, interesting, and make the experience just that much more fun.
So, without any further ado, here's a definitive ranking of all the canon ships in the Queen's Thief series. Be warned that there are spoilers in this list, if you haven't read the series, please go do that first!
4. Sophos and Eddis
“If I laughed, it is only at the idea that we make a matched pair now, you and I.”
Look, Sophos and Eddis are cute, they are! Eddis deserves the whole world for how good and strong she is, and Sophos is the sweetest boy in the world.
However this relationship is SO bland, and feels kind of convenient. A male and female character who are both very kind and good, put together, and it ends up being politically important? Their whole romance also occurs off page in a very basic way, and they just kind of like each other until their marriage becomes politically relevant and they get married.
Where is the Queen's Thief patented "angst as we war against our souls for the good of our countries, knowing where our loyalties lie and why we must ignore the dearest wishes of our heart"? Where's the "love so deep and strong it means we'd move mountains and defy the gods"? Hell, we didn't even get to see the cute banter!
Meh Tier, but I'm happy for them!
3. Relius and Teleus
"Relius looked back without hope. Teleus was alive because the king had interceded on his behalf, and he knew where his duty lay."
This ship has so much potential, I wish it was developed just a bit more.
In The King of Attolia, the base was set very well for them. The horror and resigned anger in Teleus when he was forced to put his duty above Relius? The split second of knowledge that he was bound to the King now even if it might lead him away from Relius?
Relius and Teleus, both bound by loyalty and duties so above them but still grasping tightly to what they have. In Return of the Thief, the confirmation of their love, Teleus' mourning, their soft intimacy? It was all so good!
It's only this low because I wish there was much more of it, I would have loved to see them work in tandem side by side to their King and Queen. In KoA, the set up was just too subtle, I would have loved to see more of them together.
Could Have Been Tier, I support these tired old men getting their happy endings.
2. Costis and Kamet
"I would have thrown myself overboard into the sea if I’d thought it would have kept the Attolian from ever knowing that I had betrayed him."
I will admit, not putting them as number 1 was really, really difficult. These two mean the world to me, they're truly perfect. Also do NOT try to tell me they weren't confirmed in Return of the Thief, it was as good as done, in MWT's circumspect way.
When I first started Thick as Thieves, I was a little bit unsure about Kamet. I wasn't sure I wanted to see this completely new POV that was so far away from the characters I had come to adore.
However, as he was developed, he completely grew on me, a process only made stronger by the way he interacted with Costis. (side note, Costis is the best person in this entire series and he deserves the world.)
They fit so well together, Kamet being much higher strung, with his brain working overtime constantly to calibrate every new environment he's in, in contrast to Costis, who's much softer and sees the world much more simply and stays deep in his convictions.
The constant parallels being drawn to Epic of Gilgamesh made this relationship exist on an even grander scale for me, and I was happy to see their bond doubled down on in Return of the Thief.
Kamet and Costis and the perfect example of strangers to lovers, and watching their bond grow to the point where Costis choosing between his captain, his king, his queen and Kamet is a struggle was beautiful. Seeing these two beautiful people who, while caught in the web of politics and legends and gods, grow to have an understanding, love, appreciation for each other? This is exactly the kind of ship I signed up for with this series.
It only lost first place because they were just not present enough in the last book. After reading fanfiction about the post Thick as Thieves I was so excited to see them in this book, and while they were present, they just didn't stand out as much as I would have liked for them to.
Still a God Tier Ship, I will accept no other answers.
1. Gen and Irene
"He could tell her he loved her. He ached to shout it out loud for the gods and everyone to hear. Little good it would do. Better to trust in the moon's promises than in the word of the Thief of Eddis. He was famous in three countries for his lies."
Yes, here they are. The enemies to lover to end all enemies to lovers. The angstiest, most shocking, most beautiful, most whirlwind and hurricane romance I've ever read.
The line “He didn't marry you to become king. He became king because he wanted to marry you.” still haunts me with how good it is. Gen and Irene are nothing I ever expected and everything I didn't know I wanted.
The knowledge that they love each other more than life itself but also tried very very hard to destroy physically and mentally each other before they got together makes watching them through the eyes of others, like we do in every book post-The Queen of Attolia, extremely satisfying.
It's so interesting to watch these legendary, yet deeply human characters, learn to navigate their lives, knowing that they cannot act as individuals, but as countries. Gen and Irene keep a bite to their relationship that forms as a result of knowing that they live in a pit of snakes, and that every move of theirs works like a complex chess games, that their desires and love sometimes go against what they want for their people.
Irene is a female character allowed to be flawed, allowed to be shrewd and sharp and never be smoothed over, even with Gen. Gen is allowed to be a flawed protagonist, not perfect, a little bit broken and a little bit too much.
Together, they drive this whole epic story forward, and it's absolutely beautiful to read. If I recommend this series to anyone, Gen and Irene are near the top of the list of reasons it's my favorite book series ever.
God Tier Ship, I will love them forever.
Well there it is folks, my definitive ranking of The Queen's Thief ships! Let me know if you agree or disagree with any of my positions, I'd love to hear it!
If you need to be convinced to read the series, or need to convince someone else, here's my post about Why You All Need To Read the Queen's Thief.
Thank you for reading, I hope you have a great day!