SBD: Thieves as heroes

[jmc_bks]

It is Monday, and time for Beth's SBD.  

I borrowed La Nora's Homeport from the library over the weekend -- I saw a copy on a display, and couldn't remember if I'd read it before.   Anyway, the hero is a thief.  And I've decided that's just one profession that doesn't work for me for a hero.  I don't find anything heroic about stealing; even Robin Hood is a hard sell for me.  (Alan Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham utterly overshadows Costner's Prince of Thieves.)

But I like Roarke from the In Death series, don't I?  Well, yes.  But he makes no excuses about what he did, and was mostly straight by the time Dallas appeared in his life.  Plus, as Tiko says in Strangers in Death, Stealing's lazy.  

In Homeport, Ryan steals because he can.  And his mother (a devout Catholic) justifies it because his ability to steal is a god-given gift.  Plus, it paid for college for his siblings.  That doesn't work for me as a justification, and I think it is a slippery slope.  Because if theft is okay because it is a natural skill, then all kinds of other horrendous behavior must be okay, by the same token.  Sociopaths who have a god-given ability to torture should be let on their merry way?  I don't think so.  And paying for your siblings' educations?  Nice.  But the parents could've, I don't know, handled their finance and family planning better, rather than relying on criminal activity to fund their children's educations.

I don't know.  Reading this book (or trying) really just pissed me off, because it more or less excused criminal behavior because the hero loved his family and was, well, the hero.  And his redemption/conversion in the end?  Not convincing.  I don't believe that he's given up theft and gone straight.

I'm pretty sure that there are a couple other thief heroes or heroines in La Nora's backlist, and I'm of two minds about them.  She's a very good storyteller, and usually I can buy into her characters and their motivations.  But I'm not sure if I'm willing to buy into these particular characters.  

Comments

[sarahf.livejournal.com]

Have you read her "Honest Illusions." One of my favorite of hers, and they're both thieves.

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

I don't recognize that title...but that doesn't mean much, since her backlist is so huge. I'll check it out.

I have read Three Fates, in which the heroes/heroines steal an artifact from the Bad Guy. And I have Sweet Revenge TBR, but have been reluctant to start it, since it is set in a fictional Arabic country -- it puts me in mind of sheikh Harlequin Presents.

[sarahf.livejournal.com]

Yeah, SR was weird. Very dark, didn't like the heroine. But Luke and Roxie in HI are fabulous and magicians (sleight-of-hand types) and they only steal from rich people. Great book.

[jenfullmoon.livejournal.com]

I liked it, it's an interesting take on stealing, and I liked the h/h. But yes, the family situation is dark as hell.

I like the "deeper" Noras though, so it's a favorite of mine.

[jperceval.livejournal.com]

What about thieving heroines?

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Eh, no. Sex doesn't make a difference. I have a hard time rooting for someone breaking the law, even when it is for "good". The only major exception, the thief protagonist I like despite his felonious behavior, is Eugenides the Thief from Megan Whalen Turner's YA series.

[(Anonymous)]

I've never thought of thievery from your perspective; that a Hero shouldn't do something so wrong, just because. Kind of makes pirates a whole lot less sexy (But then I can't think of a pirate story where I can think of them stealing anything other than the Heroine). I don't know if I've read a story like that except for Lies of Locke Lamora, but that's a whole book of thieves, complete with Thieves Guilds and such. I've read stories where the thief is being blackmailed and forced into the act and regret it all. I think I'll agree with you on Homeport, not having read it myself, that a Catholic Mother who thinks stealing is ok and our Hero does it just because is kind of ropey and definitely not someone to be trusted which makes the whole putting yourself into the Heroine's place impossible.

Lyvvie

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Romance pirates tend to be whitewashed, don't they? Rogues with hearts of gold.

Thievery set in a contemporary romance (or a "realistic" historical one) doesn't work for me because in theory those people are subject to the laws and moral/ethical codes of the society of the time. So maybe my position should be better articulated: it isn't that heroes and heroines can't/don't steal; it's that I don't find criminal behavior admirable in a hero or heroine. Rather like a book I read a while back in which the hero tortured someone; again, in my mind, heroes/heroine don't torture. Yes, I'm imposing my morality on what I read. Is it fair? No, probably not.

I think maybe I could buy into a fantasy novel in which thievery was a legitimate profession, complete with guild and "rules", but it would take careful world building. Duh, jmc, I have done this already -- with Megan Whalen Turner's YA series.

[rosario001.livejournal.com]

Ugh, this is the only Nora book I hated. The justifications pissed me off (the thing with the mother offended the hell out of me, and I'm not even religious) and the worst thing was the way he and his family were so happy to scold the heroine for having the gall to suggest stealing was wrong.

Scolding the heroine

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Exactly! The mother's scold of the heroine really irked me. My take on that scene was that the mother was more or less telling her she was being bourgeouis and putting art/objects above people.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, it always did bother me about Roarke. I had a feeling that anyone who becomes that rich from nothing must have exploited people along the way, and therefore probably wasn't really a very nice person.
But I suppose I'm more bothered by romances where the heroes/heroines are assassins or mercenaries. Can't see that at all. Doesn't matter if they 'retire' - they killed people for money - what's to love?

Robin Hood, on the other hand - I see him through the myth, as a folk hero. He's sort of like King Arthur - less a person, more an embodiment of English virtues. You could argue that the story lasts because it's a fable - not saying that theft is right, but that oppression is wrong, and that the role of a true Englishman is to oppose that. You don't cheer for Robin because he steals from the rich, you admire him because he fights for the poor.

Marianne McA

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

I tend to avoid books with heroes and heroines who are assassins or mercenaries, at least in the romance context. Because killing people? Not romantic. (IMO)