Well, Book 2 and 3 are quite different from the first, not least in the switch from first to third-person narration. Did your husband say why he didn't care for the latter two as compared to the first? He isn't the first person I've heard say so; but then I'm not the first person to find the original book somewhat unimpressive and get sucked in only by reading the next two. And of course there seem to be plenty of other people who simply love, or hate, all three.

Having now re-read The Thief, I like it much more than I did the first time; but I still think the second and especially third books are the real masterpieces. I don't think I would have fallen for Gen the way I did just from reading Thief -- it took the events of the next two books, and I think the change of narration, to really win me over.