Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner

Kamet is a slave, but a very powerful slave and a very valuable one as well.  As the chief slave of a Mede prince he directs all his other slaves and takes care of all his accounts and correspondence.  He has access to a good education, a good library, and even makes a little money of his own on the side.  Despite occasional abuse from his master, he is satisfied with his life, and scoffs when an Attolian visitor offers him freedom if he will come with him to Attolia. That all changes when Kamet hears that his master has been killed.  He knows that he will be blamed for the murder so he reluctantly escapes the city with the Attolian.  He doesn't really believe the Attolian, who claims to be a friend of the Attolian King, will really grant him his freedom, but traveling with the huge warrior is safer than traveling alone.  He plans to escape from him at his first chance.  He does not expect that his traveling companion, so different from himself, may slowly become a friend.

 

I don't know if my faithful blog readers know the history of this series.  Ms Turner wrote the first book in 1996.  This is the fifth in the series, and the sixth just barely came out.  So she has basically written the series at the rate of about one book every 4-5 years.  The fact that she has devoted fans who have been patiently following the series for a quarter century attests to how good they are.  I love Turner's books.  They are so clever and subtle in plot and rich in characterization.  Each one deals with relationships of unexpected love and respect. I love that in this one, Costis and Kamet develop a deep bro-love that is not sexual or twisted in any way.  They just become really good and trusted friends because of what they go through together.  I also really like the setting for this series.  It is an alternate BC Southern Europe/Southwest Asia.  Having been a classics major in college I eat it up.  So yay!  Now I have finished this one, I can read the last one in the series that just came out.  I even plan to actually read it ...in print!  Enough said. (336 p. 2017)