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"Thiefy" fiction and manga

MedullaOblongataMedullaOblongata Member Posts: 434
in Off-Topic
Hello all,

I have a soft-spot for rogues in my heart (please, no sneak attacks. Thank you kindly). However, I am not very good at finding fiction and manga featuring thieves, assassins, and scoundrels as main characters. There seems to be an irony in there somewhere.

I have Googled fantasy novels and manga in regards to this, but I only ever get suggestions where obscure minor characters are "somewhat" roguish.

Do you guys have any suggestions in regards to fiction (preferably fantasy) or manga with such types as main characters? I've been looking for Lupin the III for a while. I also have the first of the Night Angels trilogy.

Comments

  • Syntia13Syntia13 Member Posts: 514
    Correspondence of Thieves: http://cosas.ttlg.com/cot.asp
    I have no idea what's it about, and if it's any good. I only know it exists and that it has roots in my beloved "Thief" game. If you read it, please let me know if it's worth a try. :)
  • Awong124Awong124 Member Posts: 2,643
    The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks is pretty good.
  • rexregrexreg Member Posts: 292
    Shadowspawn from the Thieves' World series
  • MedullaOblongataMedullaOblongata Member Posts: 434
    I used to have the Thieves's World first book, but it vanished into the abyss :(
  • MoomintrollMoomintroll Member Posts: 1,498
    It's not fiction, but I've enjoyed Lucy Moore's "Thieves' Opera," a book about two notorious criminals of 18th century London.

    Jack Shepherd, a thief who achieved some kind of heroic standing in his own lifetime; breaking out of gaol and sneaking around, overhearing announcements of his own escape.

    Jonathan Wild the "Thief taker General," who was basically a crime lord and master-fence; you had to fence your goods through him and he would then sell his services as a retriever of stolen goods to the nobility. The term "double cross" derives from him (according to Moore). He had a ledger of thieves and would cross off a name when he had enough evidence to convict a man, giving him great power over them, a second cross marked their doom, when he no longer needed them.
  • CorianderCoriander Member Posts: 1,667
    Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn has some thiefy stuff that feels kind of similar to Night Angel. That may be because I read them at the same time.

    I can't really think of any manga, there's not really a lot of stuff like Lupin... there's plenty of stuff with people trying to outsmart criminals like Kurosagi. Monkey Punch is releasing a tv series in December called Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman. I'm going to assume it's basically Lupin II.
  • LordsDarkKnight185LordsDarkKnight185 Member Posts: 615
    Are Jarlaxle and Artemis not roguish enough for you?
  • revaarrevaar Member Posts: 160
    Check out the "The Thief" and its sequels by Megan Whalen Turner. They are not long, but the main character is one of the best rouges i have read in a long time.
  • MedullaOblongataMedullaOblongata Member Posts: 434
    Artemis is mean and Jarlaxle will steal my car ._.
  • ARKdeEREHARKdeEREH Member Posts: 531
    edited November 2012
    They aren't 'main' characters per se, but from the 3rd book and on most of the major developed characters of the 'good' side in the Sword of Truth book series are partially reformed villains from earlier books. I don't think I should say more or I might give away too much of the plot for those who haven't read it.

    My favorite character in that series was one of those characters. She was probably neutral aligned in BG terms and was basically a nice person but had a darker edge to her personality than most characters on the 'good' side tend to have. There were also many lines that she was willing to cross that 'good' characters usually don't. I originally read the whole series in its paper form, but later when I read the ebook version I used ctrl F so I only had to read the parts of the story that mentioned her name, so she essentially became the main character in a manner of speaking.

    If you want to read a story where a large percentage of the characters on the 'good' side are neutral aligned at best, I highly recommend reading the Sword of Truth. The first two books don't really have that element to them, but you should still read them so you understand what's going on. Everything from books 3-13 have those other characters.
  • MedullaOblongataMedullaOblongata Member Posts: 434
    Thanks for the suggestions everybody... I am going to make a list on my phone with your suggestions =)

    @ARKdeEREH I'm actually reading the Sword of Truth series right now, but I'm missing a bunch of books... I'm going to poke around the shops and see if I can find the missing ones I need. I stopped at #2, and have a couple more beyond that, but not in order at all.
  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    The Rogues

    By Edward Bolme, Richard Lee Byers, Voronica Whitney-Robinson, and Don Bassingthwaite
    The Alabaster Staff, by Edward Bolme (paperback, July 2003, ISBN 978-0-7869-2962-7)
    The Black Bouquet, by Richard Lee Byers (paperback, September 2003, ISBN 978-0-7869-3042-5)
    The Crimson Gold, by Voronica Whitney-Robinson (paperback, December 2003, ISBN 978-0-7869-3120-0)
    The Yellow Silk, by Don Bassingthwaite (paperback, February 2004, ISBN 978-0-7869-3152-1)
  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    There is also the Erevis Cale Trilogy, about a character who is a shadow thief and a Priest of Mask.

    The Erevis Cale Trilogy

    By Paul S. Kemp
    Twilight Falling (paperback, July 2003, ISBN 978-0-7869-2998-6)
    Dawn of Night (paperback, June 2004, ISBN 978-0-7869-3225-2)
    Midnight's Mask (paperback, November 2005, ISBN 978-0-7869-3643-4)
    The Erevis Cale Trilogy was later reprinted as an omnibus in:
    The Erevis Cale Trilogy (paperback, June 2010, ISBN 978-0-7869-5498-8)

    The Curse of the Azure Bonds has Olive Ruskettle, a halfling "bard" who is actually a thief, as a fairly major character.

    The Finder's Stone Trilogy

    By Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb
    Azure Bonds, by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb (paperback, October 1988, ISBN 978-0-88038-612-8)
    The Wyvern's Spur, by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb (paperback, March 1990, ISBN 978-0-88038-902-0)
    Song of the Saurials, by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb (paperback, March 1991, ISBN 978-1-56076-060-3)

    "King Pinch" by David Cook has a thief who becomes a King as the main character.

    As for anime/manga, there's Jing, King of Bandits, Lupin III (the grandson of Arséne Lupin), Man of Many Faces, D.N.Angel, and Baccano!
  • MedullaOblongataMedullaOblongata Member Posts: 434
    I love you guys so hard ;u;
  • eksterekster Member Posts: 234
    Coriander said:

    Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn has some thiefy stuff that feels kind of similar to Night Angel. That may be because I read them at the same time.

    I'd say the first Mistborn book is definitely similar to Night Angel, but takes a very different turn afterwards. But are still worth the read though!

    There's also

    The Lies of Locke Lemora by Scott Lync (The Gentleman Bastard Sequence series)
    http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127455.The_Lies_of_Locke_Lamora

    The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington
    http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6436602-the-sad-tale-of-the-brothers-grossbart

    Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick (Tales of the Kin series)
    http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8801543-among-thieves

    Den of Thieves by David Chandler (Ancient Blades series)
    http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9466833-den-of-thieves

    A dance of cloaks by (Shadowdance trilogy)
    http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9601799-a-dance-of-cloaks
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