A Wolf in Thief's Clothes, by Lily Anne Crow
The Book
Synopsis:
Phrai joins a crew to pull off a dangerous heist. Little do her fellow thieves know that the end of their job is just the beginning of hers.
Available for free at the author's website
My Review
A Wolf in Thief's Clothes is a novella set in Erlahain, a shared world in Lily Anne Crow's books, giving us more lore on a character that will appear in other novels, Phrai. We will be following her after joining a gang of thieves in a heist which has the promise of big riches if successful.
But Phrai hides more than it shows to a first sight; and that will be proven once the heist is ongoing. Revealing her true nature will be certainly surprising for the rest of the group, formed by a varied cast of characters, each one recruited in order to play a key role in the action.
Despite its shortness, Lily Anne Crow manages to pack so much worldbuilding into this novella, even including her own fictional board game. No magic makes appearance during the story, so if low fantasy is your jam, this story will work great.
It is also a good show of Crow's writing style, putting an extensive amount of detail into descriptions of characters, creating detailed portrays of each one of them, even if they play secondary roles in the story; personally, I find this kind of prose really enjoyable to read.
A Wolf in Thief's Clothes is a fun and well written standalone novella, introducing a character that later will be important in other books, and that will be enjoyed if you like heist stories.
Disclaimer: This novella has been read as part of the SFINCS 2023. This review/rating only represents my personal opinion and it might differ with what the team decides.
The Author/s
Lily Anne Crow
Lily Anne Crow is a storyteller of dark fantasy and epic fantasy tales, where you never know what lurks in the shadows, and almost anyone can rise to the rank of hero. She has been writing stories of the fantastic since she could hold a quill. Her debut novel, If Light Above, is the first in the series titled A War of Whispers.
Though Lily has been training young Magisters for fifteen years, she desires a change of scenery and is aiming to make story-telling a full-time occupation. She is a lover of all things wild and magical, from sweet wine to exotic beasts, and from starry skies to snowy mountain-tops.
When she’s not writing, Lily enjoys spending time with her closest people and her most beloved creatures, delving deep into nature, or discovering new parts of her fantasy world, Erlahain.