Book 1 in the Mark of the Thief trilogy by Nielsen, and an OBOB book this season. Nielsen is a frequent OBOB author, having books such as The False Prince and A Night Divided on previous OBOB lists for middle grades. She is also semi-local to us here in Oregon, living in Utah but being a regular visitor to Oregon for OBOB-related events, such as Regional and State Tournaments as well as school visits.
I have read Nielsen's previous OBOB books, listed above, and enjoyed them. The False Prince is a good book 1 in The Ascendance series, and a good fantasy story. A Night Divided is historical fiction taking place around the building of the Berlin Wall that divided Germany in two during the Cold War era, and possibly Nielsen's best book, in my opinion!
Mark of the Thief is also fantasy, combining magic with an Ancient Roman setting. I love how she describes her decision to create this book and the trilogy...but that was about all I loved about this book. It was worth finishing, once I started, but not much more than that. I found this book to be pretty flat, and contrived, and several times it seemed to me that she was being interrupted a lot while writing this because it just seemed distracted somehow. It's not a terrible book, but nowhere near what she is capable of writing.
If you like fantasy stories and magic, and even Ancient Roman settings, you will probably enjoy this to some degree. But if you want better fantasy, read the False Prince, which is quite a bit better. Or perhaps something by Brandon Mull or Shannon Messenger. I give Thief 3 paws, and in some part because it's an OBOB book. Meh.
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