“Conn should have dropped dead the day he picked Nevery’s pocket and stole the wizard’s locus magicalicus, a stone used to focus magic and work spells. It is the first book in the Magic Thief series. It was published in 2008 by HarperCollins. But something sinister is brewing, as magicians' locus stones are being stolen and magical spells are going awry.The Magic Thief is written by Sarah Prineas. The Magic Thief: Home: Duchess Rowan has promoted Conn to ducal magister, but the other wizards see him only as a thief. Will Verent be able to overcome his misgivings about Conn in order to help his town? And with Conn's help, will Verent become a proper wizard? The Magic Thief: A Proper Wizard: When Verent, a young apprentice from neighboring Danivelle, comes to Wellmet to ask for Conn's help with his city's magical problems, he is less than impressed with Conn.

Worst of all, Conn's been exiled, and staying in the city will mean his death. His master, the wizard Nevery, is not happy with him. Luckily, Conn is both! Trouble is, once he's out, where does he go? His home is a pile of rubble since he blew it up doing magic. The Magic Thief: Found: Sneaking out of prison isn't easy, unless you are a thief, or a wizard. His quest to protect everything he loves brings him face-to-face with a powerful sorcerer-king and a treachery beyond even his vivid imagination. When none of the wizards listen, Conn takes matters into his own hands. But Conn is drawn to the murmurs he hears every time he sets off an explosion-something is trying to talk to him, to warn him. The Magic Thief: Lost: Conn may only be a wizard's apprentice, but even he knows it's dangerous to play with fire.

But Conn has little time to search for his stone between wizard lessons and helping Nevery discover who-or what-is stealing the city of Wellmet's magic. Nevery finds that interesting, and he takes Conn as his apprentice on the provision that the boy find a locus stone of his own.

The Magic Thief: Conn should have dropped dead the day he picked Nevery's pocket and touched the wizard's locus magicalicus, a stone used to focus magic and work spells. Wonderful, exciting stuff.' This collection contains all four novels in the series, plus the digital original novella The Magic Thief: A Proper Wizard. Diana Wynne Jones, author of Howl's Moving Castle, praised this middle grade fantasy series filled with magic and wonder, saying of the first, 'I couldn't put it down. Author Sarah Prineas works her own spells as she transports us to an extraordinary world where cities are run on living magic and even a thief can become a wizard's apprentice. In a city that runs on a dwindling supply of magic, a young boy is drawn into a life of wizardry and adventure.

The magic thief series