A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner is the fourth book in The Queen's Thief series. If you missed them before, here are my reviews for the previous books, The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia. I believe I mention that the books just keep getting better and better as the series progresses, because Eugenides is just totally hardcore like that, and I love watching his mind work.
Although Eugenides is in this book, he is no longer our main character. This is, instead, the story of Sophos, the heir to the throne of Sounis. He goes missing sometime during either Queen or King, and this is the story of what happened after his disappearance.
I enjoyed this one, really, I did. It's just that, I don't like Sophos the same way I like Eugenides. He's a great person, and interesting to read about, he just doesn't have the same appeal that Gen does. Part of that is because I expect a certain something out of these books, largely because of how Gen's mind works, and that was missing from this book. And, because the book is told by Sophos, we see a different side of Gen. Not that he's changed any, but the attitude of the viewer is different, which means I didn't much care for the Gen we see in this book, and that made me very sad.
Although I missed Gen, I did really like watching Sophos grow and develop as a person, and as a ruler. When we first meet him in Thief, and at the beginning of this story he is almost completely lacking in confidence, and he's a little bit awkward. But after being kidnapped, and sold into slavery, he finds himself and begins to grow and change into a strong character, who will eventually make a very strong king of Sounis.
The political intrigue was even more layered in this book than in the previous books, because you are dealing with the intrigue in Gen's palace, Sounis in general, and among the Souni Barons who kidnapped Sophos in the first place, not to mention those pesky foreigners that keep popping up. I thought it was handled very well. The resolution gave me shivers, which can only mean good things for a book like this.
Although I do prefer Gen as the main or focal character, there is no denying that this is still an excellent addition to the series. Turner is a great writer, able to craft a brilliant story and really draw the reader in. I recommend giving the series a chance if you haven't already. I know there's a 5th novel planned for the series, and, as much as I love Sophos, I really hope Turner takes us back to Gen.