Mark of the Thief (Mark of the Thief Series #1)

by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Overview

Jennifer A. Nielsen, author of the NYT and USA TODAY bestselling Ascendance Trilogy, has woven an electrifying tale of greed and power, magic and destiny, and one boy's courage at the heart of it all.

When Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Rome, is forced to enter a sealed cavern containing the lost treasures of Julius Caesar, he finds much more than gold and gemstones: He discovers an ancient bulla, an amulet that belonged to the great Caesar and is filled with a magic once reserved for the Gods -- magic some Romans would kill for.Now, with the deadly power of the bulla pulsing through his veins, Nic is determined to become free. But instead, he finds himself at the center of a ruthless conspiracy to overthrow the emperor and spark the Praetor War, a battle to destroy Rome from within. Traitors and spies lurk at every turn, each more desperate than the next to use Nic's newfound powers for their own dark purposes. In a quest to stop the rebellion, save Rome, and secure his own freedom, Nic must harness the magic within himself and defeat the empire's most powerful and savage leaders.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545562034
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	02/24/2015
Series:	Mark of the Thief Series , #1
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	144,051
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Jennifer A. Nielsen is the acclaimed author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Ascendance Series: The False Prince, The Runaway King, The Shadow Throne, The Captive Kingdom, and The Shattered Castle. She also wrote the New York Times bestseller The Traitor's Game and its sequels,The Deceiver's Heart, and The Warrior's Curse; the New York Times bestselling Mark of the Thief trilogy: Mark of the Thief, Rise of the Wolf, and Wrath of the Storm; the standalone fantasy The Scourge; and the critically acclaimed historical thrillers A Night Divided, Resistance, Words on Fire, Rescue, Lines of Courage, Iceberg, and Uprising. Jennifer collects old books, loves good theater, and thinks that a quiet afternoon in the mountains makes for a nearly perfect moment. She lives in northern Utah with her family, and is probably sneaking in a bite of dark chocolate right now. You can visit her online at jennielsen.com or follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @nielsenwriter.

Read an Excerpt

From PRAETOR WAR #1: MARK OF THE THIEFSimply as a test, I brought my hands up overhead again and then, with the bulla still burning at my side, I slammed both hands down to my waist. They didn't fall naturally, but rather felt like I was pushing them through a thick mud. Once they came to my sides, I was more tired than I'd ever been in the mines, or raising the lifts, or from anything I'd ever done in my life. And I would've tried to rest, except that my actions were already having an effect. Areas of the arena floor were collapsing. The ground upon which the beastiarii stood rumbled a second time, and when he took a step forward, the wooden floor completely gave way beneath him. His body and legs fell, but he held to the edge of the floor and cried out for help. I ran forward to answer his pleas, but my legs had lost all strength and folded before I could get there. "What have you done?" he cried, and then even while I lunged for him again, he fell to the level below. I saw his body there, broken and still, and workers around him, pointing up at me and yelling that I would bring down the entire amphitheater. I stood and looked around, wondering how to stop what I had somehow started. I wrapped a hand around the bulla, but even through the tunic, it burned too hot and I had to let it go. Above me, a great cracking sound was echoing throughout the amphitheater, like rolls of thunder. The wood supports for the enormous canopy were folding like twigs and the ropes had failed. The entire canopy was floating to the ground, a red sky falling. It was what I had wished for earlier. But so much worse.

Editorial Reviews

12/01/2014
In vivid first-person narrative, Nielsen (the Ascendance Trilogy) sketches a slave’s-eye view of the Roman Empire. Five years of hard labor in the mines haven’t quelled Nic’s will to survive. Neither naïve nor a fool, his main weakness is lack of experience. Thus his story is as much about his education in the deviousness of human behavior as it is about Nic’s magical fate. Dropped down a mine shaft to search for a possible buried trove, Nic emerges with a griffin, a scar, and a golden bulla, a magical amulet that once belonged to Julius Caesar. Freedom is within reach, but Nic won’t abandon his younger sister. Instead, he and the griffin are turned over to Rome, where Nic becomes a pawn of schemers struggling to control the city—or destroy it. Set during the reign of Tacitus, the story is true to the political and social culture of the time without committing too closely to its political history. This maximizes Nielsen’s scope for creating page-turning twists while evoking a milieu that retains its appeal for history buffs. Ages 10–14. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Mark of the Thief"The fast-paced, ingenious plot, charismatic hero and highly diverse cast of characters . . . make this series opener a captivating joy ride." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review"Vivid . . . [with] page-turning twists." — Publishers WeeklyPraise for the Ascendance TrilogyA New York Times Notable Children's BookA USA Today Best Book of the YearA Chicago Public Library "Best of the Best" Children's BookA Cybils Award Winner"A page-turner." — The New York Times Book Review"Sage proves to be a compelling character whose sharp mind and shrewd self-possession will make readers eager to follow him into a sequel." — Wall Street Journal"A swashbuckling origin story . . . chock-full of alluring details for adventure-loving boys." — Los Angeles Times"An impressive, promising story." — Publishers Weekly, starred review"A fast-paced and thrilling read with twists and turns that never let up." — School Library Journal"Gripping." — Kirkus Reviews"Should appeal to fans of . . . Suzanne Collins. . . . A sure-fire mix of adventure, mystery, and suspense." — The Horn Book

From the Publisher

12/01/2014
Gr 6–9—A fantastical alternate history set in ancient Rome. Nicolas Calva and his sister are slaves in the mines outside of Rome. When Nic is forced to retrieve treasure from Julius Caesar's cave, he assumes he is going to his death. But inside the cave he finds a bulla, a magical amulet thought to have given Caesar great power, and takes it for himself. Suddenly, Nic is the most wanted fugitive in Rome. The emperor and a powerful general are after the amulet and they will kill Nic to get it. His only help is Aurelia, a plebian girl who is searching for her own family. With no one to trust and nowhere to hide, the protagonist must decide how he is going to save his sister and get out with his life. He doesn't want the bulla or the responsibility of the magic it contains, but if the magical object gets into the wrong hands, Rome will be at war and Nic will be at the center of it all. Fans of Nielsen's "Ascendance" trilogy (Scholastic) will be clamoring for this new series. This genre mash-up of history, fantasy, and action/adventure is fast-paced and explores themes such as class struggles, familial ties, and the immorality of slavery. Readers will have lots to digest as they quickly flip through the pages to see how Nic will escape his enemies to become a free man.—Kimberly Garnick Giarratano, Rockaway Township Public Library, NJ

School Library Journal

MacLeod Andrews gives an exciting historical fantasy adventure a thrilling narration. Nic is a slave in the Roman mines, but when he finds an ancient bulla that once belonged to Caesar, he finds himself filled with magic from the gods. Soon he’s in the middle of the fight for control of Rome. With excellent voices and pacing, Andrews's narration creates suspense throughout the novel. The story ends with a cliff-hanger that leaves listeners wanting more. The audiobook also includes a bonus scene. S.B.T. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2015 - AudioFile

★ 2014-11-04
Compelled by an ambitious general to retrieve an amulet from Julius Caesar's treasure, long hidden in a mine outside Rome, Nic—a slave with attitude—more than succeeds, upending his life and escalating conflict among the power brokers of imperial Rome.Caesar's bulla (a good-luck amulet given to boys in wealthy families), a gift from his ancestress the goddess Venus, is especially powerful. So is the terrifying but beautiful griffin guarding it, whom Nic names Caela. The two escape the cave only to be recaptured and sent to Rome as players in the city's brutal blood sports. With the bulla's help, they survive the games—barely. Caela's wounded, and Nic flees into the sewers, where he must beg for help from the girl he's angered. There's more to Nic than meets the eye—effervescent, hot-tempered, irreverent and funny, he's a bracing antidote to jaded teen heroes commenting ironically from the sidelines. Getting out of, then right back into, tight situations without losing sight of his goal—reuniting with his enslaved sister—Nic seizes each day with gusto, knowing his future will be short unless he can evade the power brokers—senators, Praetors, general, emperor—determined to make him their pawn. The fast-paced, ingenious plot, charismatic hero and highly diverse cast of characters—including the ancient, eternal city itself—make this series opener a captivating joy ride. (Historical fantasy. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews