Thief of Night
Holly Black
Waiting for Charlie
Often when I read a novel, I get the impression that the author wrote it backward. That is, she began by imagining a banging final scene, then sat down to move all the players into position for that final scene to happen.
To be clear, I am not suggesting that the novels that give me that impression were actually written that way. Typically I have no information about the writing process. In only one case I know does the author more or less acknowledge writing the book in this way. I am only suggesting that, if a novel were written so, it would look like this one.
Today, in particular, this one is Holly Black's Thief of Night. Thief of Night has a banging final quarter. The final fight and ending trickery is exciting and satisfying.
The first three-quarters were distinctly less banging. The problem for me was that Charlie's distinct character was barely discernable during this time. Thief of Night is the second book in the Black's Charlatan duology. The first book was Book of Night. I liked it a lot because I really liked Charlie Hall, the heroine. She's a con artist who does everything wrong but manages to pull out wins against the odds.
Charlie is still the main character, even during the first three-quarters. But she felt disappointingly generically action-hero-ish during this time, when it seemed to me that Black was just getting all her ducks in a row.
The Charlie I love did show up for the final act. If you have the patience to wait for the big bang, it's entertaining.
I received an advance reader's copy from NetGalley and Tor, for which I am grateful. Release date: 23-Sep-2025.