The Scroll Thief (Tale of Ithian) [Paperback]

R F Long (Author)

Book Description

Series: Tale of Ithian | Publication Date: December 1, 2009

Malachy relies on his talents as a thief to survive the mean streets of Klathport, former capital of the once-great kingdom of Ithian. Cerys seeks a stolen scroll on which history can be rewritten, wiping out countries and releasing dark powers. They are pursued through city and desert by the fearsome Dune Witch. Romance, tragedy, and adventure blend in a tale of a magical land on the brink of war, and a group of people who, by putting their lives, and their hearts, on the line, have the opportunity to finally set things right. But at a terrible cost

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Samhain Publishing (December 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1605044512
• ISBN-13: 978-1605044514
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,825,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

R.F. Long always had a thing for fantasy, romance and ancient mysteries. The combination was bound to cause trouble. In university she studied English Literature, History of Religions and Celtic Civilisation, which just compounded the problem. She also writes for Young Adults as Ruth Frances Long.

Her Holtlands Novella The Wolf's Sister: a Tale of the Holtlands , its sequel The Wolf's Mate and her novels The Scroll Thief: a Tale of Ithian and the paranormal romance novel Soul Fire are now available from Samhain Publishing in print and ebook format. Songs of the Wolf, a print volume containing both The Wolf's Sister and The Wolf's Mate is now available. The final part of the Holtlands stories The Wolf's Destiny is now available as an ebook.

She is represented by Suzie Townsend of Nancy Coffey Literary Management.

Her dark YA fantasy The Treachery of Beautiful Things will be available from Dial Books 16th August 2012.

She lives in Wicklow, the Garden County of Ireland, and works in a specialised library of rare and unusual books.

But they don't talk to her that often.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy done right, February 26, 2010

By 

Terri-lynne Defino "the bogwitch" (New Milford, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Scroll Thief (Tale of Ithian) (Paperback)

A thief, his courtesan sister, a city guard and a centuries-old sorceress battle the baddies and one another from start to finish. This book is action packed. It is also alternately beautiful, heartwrenching, and squirmworthy; the latter being the effect of reading just how awful an author can be to her characters!!! I thought George Martin did terrible things to his characters. Whew! RF Long is the QUEEN of putting her characters through the wringer, then putting them through again, only this time--the rollers have spikes.

I have no love of gore or gratuitious violence. There was plenty of gore, plenty of violence--but always believable. Never gratuitious. Whatever happened did so in a way that not only got the squirmfactor going, but Ms. Long managed to do it without ever making me feel the need to put the book in the freezer. It was an amazing meld of epic good vs. evil fantasy, sword and sorcery, and romance.

Yes, romance; every story has it. But nary a schmaltzy, cliched gushfest presented itself. No contrived love scenes. Like the violence, the romance and passion was never gratuitious. It did its job. It furthered the plot. They were love stories--stories of respect and fear and passion and sacrifice. The love between the siblings is as fierce as the love between the couples.

One of the things I liked most about this book is the fact that it's not your typical happily ever after. There is happiness. There is triumph. There is defeat and loss. It has everything, while remaining true to itself. I will be thinking about this book long after it's back on my shelf.

Well done, Ruth! Of course, this means I'll be buying another R.F. Long creation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Read, December 18, 2009

By 

Antiqueight - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Scroll Thief (Tale of Ithian) (Paperback)

The tag line is 'Love is the wiliest thief of all.' This suggested to me that romance and love would be the over riding factors in this story, a fantasy romance novel. I don't particularly like romance stories but was prepared to give it a go.

While there are good love stories in this and there is certainly Romance - this novel is a cracking tale of adventure as well. It is a whole hearted fantasy story with villains and heroes, male and female. The women are strong and capable, no mere love interest for the male hero. The men are interesting and flawed, no mere cardboard cutout.

There is magic and fantastic creatures along with politics, conspiracy, family dynamics and the occasional appearance of a god or goddess. The pace of the story keeps you turning pages without feeling like events are unfolding too fast.

It has pirates and battles, thieves, brigands, nobles, demons and goddesses along with the story of a man and a woman falling in love, with all the misunderstandings that entails.

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Fantasy, March 15, 2010

By 

Wyvernfriend (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Scroll Thief (Tale of Ithian) (Paperback)

In a world where the Goddess takes a bit too much interest in some people's lives a woman swears revenge and a thief finds that what he's stealing may have consequences. Romance and adventure intermingle and I really enjoyed the read. The characters are well drawn and the author manages to get in some twists and turns to make both them and the story draw you in.

I enjoyed it, and not only because I know the author.