The Thief becomes King and lives happily ever after with his Queen. Well, hardly. Third volume in, and this series feels like it's really hitting its stride, as the new King negotiates his way through the hostile and resentful Attolian court, with little apparent success, though of course readers familiar with the first two volumes will know better than to trust appearances. With a young guardsman who came close to a hanging after an unprovoked attack on the King serving as the major viewpoint character, Eugenides' game of power and deception unfolds.