The Queen’s Thief
#2264.09 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 6 books Status Complete 1996–2020 Reading commitment Medium Megan Whalen Turner Last reviewed 2026-08-25
Overview
A YA political fantasy series following Eugenides, a gifted thief drawn into the courts and rivalries of the Mediterranean-inspired countries of Sounis, Eddis, and Attolia. Across six books the series builds from a single heist into a wide-lens political drama, told through unreliable narrators and carefully withheld information. Megan Whalen Turner sometimes calls the sequence "The Geniad," though readers gave it the name The Queen's Thief; the six novels span from The Thief (1996) through The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, A Conspiracy of Kings, and Thick as Thieves to Return of the Thief (2020), completing the arc over nearly a quarter-century. The opening novel, The Thief, received a Newbery Honor in 1997, establishing Turner early as a significant voice in young adult fantasy, and her standing in the genre later saw her named Literary Guest of Honor at a major science fiction and fantasy convention in 2013.
Epic fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (6 works) counts toward ranking
The Queen's Thief Megan Whalen Turner
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Thief | 1996 | 1 | core | 3.85 (95,687 ratings) |
 | The Queen of Attolia | 2000 | 2 | core | 4.17 (50,996 ratings) |
 | The King of Attolia | 2006 | 3 | core | 4.38 (44,088 ratings) |
 | A Conspiracy of Kings | 2010 | 4 | core | 4.10 (29,322 ratings) |
 | Thick as Thieves | 2017 | 5 | core | 4.17 (17,213 ratings) |
 | Return of the Thief | 2020 | 6 | core | 4.48 (12,712 ratings) |
A YA political fantasy series following the thief Eugenides across the fictional Mediterranean-inspired countries of Sounis, Eddis, and Attolia; the author has stated the series ended with the sixth book.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Queen’s Thief? The Queen’s Thief's Core Canon is 6 books.
- What is the reading order for The Queen’s Thief? Publication order, starting with The Thief. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Queen’s Thief finished? Complete (1996–2020).
- How much reading does The Queen’s Thief take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 6 Core Canon books · ~667 pages).
- How is The Queen’s Thief ranked? #226 in this site's official ranking, based on 250,018 reader ratings across 6 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #226?
Ranked #226 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.09 across 6 core books.
- Backed by 250k reader ratings.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 3.85 to 4.48.
- Less than 0.01 behind #225, InCryptid (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 6 books · Complete · 250k ratings · Ranks #226 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (6 Core Canon books)
- The Thief (1996)
- The Queen of Attolia (2000)
- The King of Attolia (2006)
- A Conspiracy of Kings (2010)
- Thick as Thieves (2017)
- Return of the Thief (2020)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.09 across 250,018 ratings on 6 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit The Queen's Thief accepted 2026-08-25
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- The Queen's Thief series bibliography (specialised series-tracking site) Tier 3
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Whalen_Turner
Last reviewed: 2026-08-26
Rule: Core Canon covers all six novels in the series. The author has stated the series is complete at six books, so there is no Expanded Canon tier here.