The thrilling, twenty-years-in-the-making, conclusion to the New York Times-bestselling Queen's Thief series, by Megan Whalen Turner.

Neither accepted nor beloved, Eugenides is the uneasy linchpin of a truce on the Lesser Peninsula, where he has risen to be high king of Attolia, Eddis, and Sounis. As the treacherous Baron Erondites schemes anew and a prophecy appears to foretell the death of the king, the ruthless Mede empire prepares to strike.

Pheris, the heretofore-unknown heir of the traitorous Baron Erondites, is sent to be raised in the Attolian court. Possessing a keen intellect, Pheris has nevertheless had to play the fool in order to survive; his cerebral palsy-like physical disabilities have led others to underestimate him, so it's easy to continue the charade. An astute judge of character, Eugenides sees past his appearance, treating him with kindness, respect, and trust.

The high king will need all the help he can get, human and divine, as he quells an insurrection in Attolia; preserves the fragile alliance between the peninsular kingdoms; deals with an overwhelming invasion by the Mede empire; and bears the strain it all places on his personal relationships.

Turner, true to form, tantalizingly pulls listeners in by forcing them to draw their own inferences about character and motivation from dialogue and exposition. The tightly crafted plot produces a series of dramatic climaxes, followed by a slow and satisfying denouement that has an elegiac quality.