I am always in favor of anyone rereading the Queen's Thief books! They're such an experience, and I don't think anyone else today is writing anything quite like it - you really have to go back to earlier generations, Sutcliff and D. K. Broster and maybe some of Mary Renault's historical novels, to find a similar vibe.

Now that I've read Sutcliff, I can feel the Sutcliff ALL OVER The Thief. The centrality of loyalty is just So Much - and this is probably the book in the series where it's least important! Certainly the Magus doesn't seem to feel that sort of loyalty toward the King of Sounis... but you can feel it here in Sophos and Pol's relationship, and of course in Gen's relationship to Eddis once that is revealed.