A Philosophy of Thieves - (The Canarvier Files) by Fran Wilde (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Leverage meets Parasite meets Six of Crows in multi-award winning author Fran Wilde's thrilling, high-tech adventure heist wrapped in a gaslamp fantasy where thieves are entertainment for the wealthy.

The Canarviers are the premier performance thieves in New Washington, blending astonishing acrobatics, clever misdirection, and daring escapes to entertain their rich patrons. As King Canarvier has always told his children, their work is art. Who else could titillate audiences with illicit history lessons and tease them through the gaps in their much-prized security?

Now that they're adults, King's children feel their divisions more than their bonds. Roosa attends an exclusive finishing university, blending in so well she's unsure where she belongs. Her brother Dax craves a chance to prove himself, stifling under his father's caution.

Then King disappears.

With only days to buy mercy before their father is lost forever, Roo and Dax must compete in a high-stakes Grand Heist, pushing down their resentments to work together. Against a technocrat wagering more than he can lose, a security chief with a taste for pain, and a society beauty with secrets of her own, any misstep promises catastrophic ruin.

But Canarviers are artists. And they perform best when the pressure is on . . .

Review Quotes

Praise for A Philosophy of Thieves

"Fascinating, thrilling, and completely irresistible! A Philosophy of Thieves is a wonderfully unique, heist-filled novel set in an expertly-drawn world. Highly recommended!" --Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop

"Think you know heists? You haven't seen a Canarvier heist. Artful, incisive, and oh-so-timely. Fran's done it again: stolen our hearts." --Rachel Hartman, New York Times bestselling author of Seraphina

"A whirlwind, glittering novel of fabulous fashion and thrilling entertainment in a future Washington. I was entranced!" --Aliette de Bodard, award-winning author of Navigational Entanglements

"A Philosophy of Thieves is a multi-faceted delight, full - like every great heist - of thrilling adventures, masterful misdirections, and glittering spectacles, along with fascinating worldbuilding. All hail the Canarviers!" --Stephanie Burgis, author of Wooing the Witch Queen and The Harwood Spellbook

About the Author

Fran Wilde is a Compton Crook Award and two-time Nebula Award-winning author whose novels and short stories have been finalists for six Nebula Awards, a World Fantasy Award, four Hugo Awards, three Locus Awards, and a Lodestar. She teaches for the Genre Fiction MFA concentration at Western Colorado University and the Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She also writes nonfiction for publications including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Tor.com. She lives outside Washington DC and can be found online at franwilde.net.