Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps it would be better as a movie...
Review: This book started out good, and went downhill towards the middle. As soon as the kids move out of the movie theater, everything get's unrealistic and just plain BAD. (Oh, sure, a bunch of kids living in a movie theater isn't that realistic, but the author spun this tale with such skill that it SEEMED real, to me.) It's like she stopped writing halfway through, put the book up for a year, and took it back down and continued writing. I don't get how the merry-go-round broke, and I thought the whole "Secret Island" segment was really stupid, and it was apparant what was going to happen next. I really wish Scipio hadn't "grown-up". (And what's with all the "grown-up" biz? "Oh, I'm a grown-up now, so I can drink wine!" Puh-lease..)
This would've been a much better book if it turned out that Scipio really was an orphan, and there was NO magic merry-go-round. Much, much, much better.
Oh, and what about Hornet's parents? The author left to many loose-ends. I felt dissattifed at the end of the book.~~~a 13 year old reader
Rating: 
Summary: Read it as soon as possible
Review: I absolutely LOVED this book. Cornelia Funke has always been on my list of favorite authors, she has a real gift with writing(although I read this book and all others from her in their original language,German,so I'm not sure how many other books are out in English by her).Her stories are almost magical. The plot is so thick, and you really place all the characters in your heart.The way she can captures it all is really amazing. Please read this book as soon as you can get your hands on it. Also to recommend is her book 'Drachenreiter'(translated The Dragon Rider' but I'm not sure if that one was translated into English) that book is everything you could want.
Rating:
Summary: ENJOY THE ADVENTURE, ENJOY VENICE, ENJOY THIS BOOK!
Review: This suspenseful tale begins in a detective's office in Venice, as the unpleasant Hartliebs ask Victor Getz to search for two boys, Prosper and Bo, the sons of Esther Hartlieb's recently deceased sister. Twelve-year-old Prosper and 5-year-old Bo ran away when their aunt Esther decided she wanted to adopt Bo, but not his brother. Refusing to split up, they escape to Venice, a city their mother had always described reverently, in great detail. The book takes some interesting turns after the boys are found in the company of the Thief Lord... good book, worth reading. Also recommended is BOB-TALES, by Morgan, a book of fifty children's bedtime stories... super.
Rating: 
Summary: Awsome Book
Review: This book was great; I have a fascination with Europe, and this book was awsome because it was like an inside look at Italian life. The whole book was real great, and the biggest plot twist was SO unexpected. But the reason it didn't get the full five stars was because towards the end, there were some occurences that seemed a little...too perfect. A little to unrealistic, if you will. But this was a great book! I told everyone I knew (that reads books) to read this bok. It was very good.
Rating:
Summary: The Colors of Venice
Review: "Prosper and Bo are orphans on the run from their cruel aunt and uncle. They decide to hide in Venice where they meet a boy called the Thief Lord. The Thief Lord has a group of small children with him that they meet living in an abandoned theater called the Star Palaces. Then they find out that a detective called Victor who is hired by the aunt and uncle is perusing them. Victor tracks them down and is overpowered by them. After that the Thief Lord is summoned by a strange count that claims he has a job for him! The job is to find a wooden wing that is hidden in a house. Their pay would be 5,000,000 lire! Later that night Prosper, Bo and every one else crept to the house and broke in. Suddenly the owner of the house faced them at gunpoint! The kids talked her into letting them have the wing. After that Prosper and the Thief Lord went to the island wear the count lived. When they arrived, they encountered two bull dogs and a girl. They are thrown into a barn for the night. When they wake up, they find that the count himself turned into a small boy. He claimed he took a ride on the merry-go-round that wouldn't work without the wooden wing. Scipio (the Thief Lord) takes a ride on it and becomes a man. After talking amongst themselves, they returned to the mainland and stayed in the house of the nice lady that they "requisitioned" the wing from a little earlier. The children came to join them then, and Victor escapes from the Star Palace and joins them." I think this is an amazing children's book that uses strong words and feelings to describe what is happening. I think the author expresses the emotions of what is going on by what the characters say to each other. It has an amazing story line and she writes everything without making it sound boring or dull. This book is truely in a class by itself! FIVE STARS and TWO THUMBS WAY UP!
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: I read this book after hearing some enthusiastic reports, and found that although some aspects were excellent, it was wordy, wandering, and unfocused. The atmospheric elements were quite well done, and some of the supporting characters were more interesting than those who were supposedly central to the plot....
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not for adults.
Review: I read this book on the recomendation that it was very much like Harry Potter. While it was well written and the story was decent, it was not as good as Harry Potter in that it is much more for kids. Adults will not take as much from this book as they will from HP. If you are buying this for a kid, I would say go ahead and get it, because the story is good and its a good read. If you are a grown-up kid, though, perhaps another book would be better.
Rating:
Summary: A terrific book for kids and adults alike
Review: I read this book aloud to my two sons, ages 7 and 8. We all enjoyed it on different levels. As an adult, I enjoyed the wealth of well-defined characters, from the older, slightly grumpy detective, Victor, to the pre-teen title character. There was well-paced action throughout, with an unexpected introduction of magic and mysticism at the end. And therein lies my criticism of this book. In no way was the reader set up to expect the magical elements in the book's final 50 pages. What had started out as a suspenseful, character-driven book had, by book's end, turned into a different monster altogether. It felt as if Funke changed directions on us. By the same token, the author also changes the book's focus upon just who is the main character. The title notwithstanding, Scipio, the self-named Thief Lord, was a supporting character throughout most of the book, with the bulk of the action revolving around Prop and Bo, as they attempt to hide from their aunt in the alleys of Venice. By the end, however, The Thief Lord is the one who goes through the most radical changes, thereby truly becoming the book's main protaganist. This fuzziness on Funke's part is problematic because we haven't truly focused on Scipio's relationship with his father, which is what is ultimately driving Scipio's actions and decisions. It almost feels as if Funke started the book, got about half-way through its writing, put it away for a year, and finished it in a totally different manner from where she had begun.
Oh, well... these problems notwithstanding, it made for a great read. Funke has a great book inside of her. The Thief Lord may ultimately prove to be its predecessor.
Rating:
Summary: Magic or not?
Review: I was expecting this book to be a magical fantasy, but it really wasn't. At first I was reading with a sense of anticipation, waiting for something magical to appear (and being slightly confused because nothing did), but as I got involved in the story, I really enjoyed it just as a fun adventure tale. I loved the atmosphere created by the runaway brothers meeting shady characters and lovable street kids in modern-day Venice. But then near the end, all of the sudden the magic appears. I was really thrown for a loop. Up until that point everything had been straight-forward and realistic, so I expected the book to end the same way. Up until the last page I was hoping that the author would remember what story she was writing and have the effects of the merry-go-round wear off so that the characters could continue their lives normally, but no such luck. All in all this is a fun book, and I really enjoyed reading it, but there was a huge disconnect between most of the story and the ending. The author should have woven magical elements throughout the book, or she should have tempered the magic at the end with reality. As it stands, the ending keeps this from being the great book it could have been.
Rating:
Summary: Not a Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket competitor
Review: I read this book based on the recommendations of fellow reviewers. It's a good book - it starts off very well, and the characters are well developed. The Thief Lord himself is a delightful little fellow, all swagger and bravado, but things are not always what they seem. The "Oliver Twist" portions of the story are well thought out and the setting in Venice adds to the mystery, but then the story changes to a fairy tale, throwing in mythology and legend, and totally throws you off your earlier expectations of the book. The "love story" section, thrown in just to neatly wrap up the book is also a bit over the top. A worthwhile read, but not awfully compelling all the way through.
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