Continuing west after their unplanned stop at the Black Rock Inn, Dessa, Fisk, and Topper encounter a kidnapped boy. Dessa frees him, and he turns out to be the prince of another kingdom. Paladin of Florin falls in love with Dessa, but his father the king has other plans for him: marrying Corin, a duchess. Dessa, Fisk, and Topper are being celebrated with three days of jousting and feasting, but news of their true identity catches up with them, and they flee again, just as a second kidnapping attempt is made on the prince. This time, he frees himself, and Dessa invites him to go with them, but he stays out of duty. Next, please! I'm hooked now. ( )

It's not that this graphic novel is great literature, but it is lots of fun. It would make a nice Disney movie

This is book three, so I came in during the overall story arc. Our three thieves have escaped the people after them and inadvertently discover a boy who has been kidnapped. Dessa helps him to escape, only to discover that he's a prince. He's not very capable, so she rescues him a lot. They are invited to his palace where there will be several days of celebration. The problem is that he falls for Dessa, but his father wants him to fall in love with another, more higher class girl. Then, everyone discovers that the three are thieves and are captured. Like I say, it's fun. There's no depth of thought or anything difficult to understand. It's just a basic, fun story. The art work is well done. ( )

Readers could be forgiven for expecting The Captive Prince to return to the main plotline after the last book, which could come across as a delaying action. This third book will be a disappointment for those (like Dessa!) impatient to get after Greyfalcon and find Jared. But there is much more going on here, much that is directly relevant to finding Jared than is perhaps evident at first blush. Best to keep eyes and ears open.

Dessa, Fisk, and Topper foil a kidnapping and are welcomed at the court at Florin. We learn there are six kingdoms including North Huntington, and that Queen Magda's taxes are widely recognized as needlessly cruel. We also learn (but Dessa does not) a familiar influence is responsible for the attempted kidnapping.

The homage or allusions here are more oblique than in other books, but I detect a nod to Stevenson's Kidnapped and to Goldman's The Princess Bride (Florin!).

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Three Thieves offers a strong story arc over seven books, well plotted and set in a fabulist world. Each book has a distinctive subplot while moving the larger plot forward. Events include set pieces (castles & kings, chase on horseback, piracy & floating islands) as well as the through-line of a search for a missing sibling. There is enough here that is original to avoid feelings of recycling or cliche, while at the same time Chantler readily incorporates recognisable elements from classic adventure tales and even pop culture.

Overall, chock-a-block with cliffhangers & plot twists, well written and a good challenge for younger readers while keeping the interest of the older among us. ( )

Bringing in a little romance...sweetly done. ( )

This is the third book in the Three Thieves series. So far I liked this book even less than the previous two. There just isn’t a lot that happens here.

In this book Dessa and crew happen upon a kidnapping and Dessa stops it only to find that the young man she rescues is a Prince. The King wants to hold a celebration to honor the Prince’s rescuers but our three thieves are worried about staying in one place the whole time and getting caught by the Queen’s Dragons.

I found the whole storyline to be a bit boring and kind of pointless. Again we make a tiny bit of progress in the whole story about Dessa finding her brother. Most of the time is spent traveling and then watching Dessa and crew at the celebration.

The illustration continues to be well done but pretty typical comic-like artwork. It’s okay but not spectacular.

Overall this wasn’t my favorite graphic novel. I just thought it was a bit boring and that the story doesn’t make much progress. It’s a very simple storyline and I think younger kids will enjoy more than adults.

My son is 10 years old and has read all the books in the series. When I asked him what he thought he shrugged and said “It’s okay, I didn’t love it”. That sums up pretty well how I am feeling about this series so far. Right now I am unsure whether or not I will continue with it. ( )