Liviania’s review of Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentleman Bastards, Book 2) by Scott Lynch
Fantasy released by Bantam Spectra 29 July 08

I picked up The Lies of Locke Lamora on a whim, shortly before I left for college last year. It had an alliterative title, shiny pink cover, and the back promised thieves. (Note: No wonder my book shopping habits are bad for my wallet. That’s not strenuous criteria.) The story within was fast-paced, intelligent, and funny, so I eagerly picked up the sequel once it was available in paperback. I only decided to write a review once I saw Shannon C. had reviewed the first.

Locke makes a fabulous main character. He’s got a smart mouth, arrogance, audacity, and a brain that allows him to somehow survive. He’s also got Jean Tannen, a fellow thief and fierce fighter to guard his back. Both were members of the Gentlemen Bastards in Camorr, but now they’re in Tal Verrar and planning a heist at Requin’s Sinspire (think mob-controlled Vegas, in medieval times – yes, it is that awesome.) Unfortunately, one of Requin’s political rivals, the Archon, the military leader, interferes. He wants Locke and Jean to help gain the upper hand on the Priori (like the Senate) by causing a war.  This is where the pirates come in.

This book contains the same wit as the first, though you might not want to repeat some of the lines that are making you laugh to curious onlookers.  Lynch is rather fond of “fuck” and the forms thereof.  On the other hand, Red Seas Under Red Skies showcases Locke and Jean in a very different situation from The Lies of Locke Lamora.  This time they aren’t two steps ahead of all the other plotters; in fact, they’re often two steps behind.  They’re coming up with solutions on the fly to keep their lives and make the score.  I enjoyed getting to see this side of the characters.

There’s also a touch of romance in this one.  I don’t want to say too much about her, but Jean enters a relationship about halfway (or two-thirds of the way) through the book.  The characters have great chemistry and it’s balanced well with Jean’s relationship with Locke. There’s also some great humor with the poor unfortunates who have to room next to the lovebirds.  In other news on the romance front, the end promises that Sabetha will finally appear in the third book.  We’ve been tantalized with hints about Locke’s former comrade and only love for two books, so I cannot wait to see her.

Of course, that’s not my only reason to say I’ll return for the third book.  So far the Gentlemen Bastards is a fast-paced, well-plotted, humorous fantasy.  The books have contained satisfying capers within and intriguing overarching plots involving the Bondsmagi and Sabetha.  The only downside is I have to wait for the third.  How it’s going to top the awesome pirate crew, I don’t know.

Grade: A-

Read more reviews of the Gentlemen Bastards series by following its tag.

Summary:

Locke Lamora, the erstwhile Thorn of Camorr, and Jean Tannen have fled their home city and the wreckage of their lives. But they can’t run forever, and after escaping Camorr they decide to head for the richest and most difficult target on the horizon– the city-state of Tal Verrar. And the Sinspire.

The Sinspire is the ultimate gambling house . . . exclusive, luxurious, and fiendishly guarded. No thief has ever survived an attempt to rob it. Naturally, Locke plans to take it for a fortune, in his biggest gamble yet.

But this perfect crime may have to wait.

Someone else in Tal Verrar wants the Gentlemen Bastards’ expertise, and they’re not gentle in compelling Locke and Jean to devote their talents to an even more unlikely and suicidal proposition– masquerading as pirates on the high seas. Fine work for a pair of landlubbing thieves barely able to tell one end of a ship from the other!

Locke and Jean find their abiding friendship tested to its very limits in this strange new world of lurching wooden decks, brutal ship-to-ship action, and feuding pirate captains. But not even their sojourn as buccaneers can keep the Gentlemen Bastards from their much-desired reckoning with all the powers that have conspired to interrupt their lives, including the last people in the world any sane person would want to offend… the Bondsmagi of Karthain.

Read an excerpt (click on the widget and keep paging down – you eventually make it to the excerpt).

Shannon C.’s review of The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentlemen Bastards, Book 1) by Scott Lynch
Fantasy fiction released by Spectra 26 Jun 07

I’ve been in a fantasy mood lately, and so have unearthed a few fantasy books from my ginormous TBR to assuage this mood. One of these was Scott Lynch’s debut, The Lies of Locke Lamora. This was a pleasant surprise, and well worth all the hype it generated when it was first published. The book’s charming titular character, the author’s snarky sense of humor, and the dark setting combined into a book I didn’t want to put down.

Locke Lamora is a thief. Not just any thief, but a member (and leader) of the notorious Gentlemen Bastards, thieves who consider it their duty to break the Secret Peace between the crime lords of the city of Camorr and the nobility. We meet Locke as he begins a con of the Don and Dona Salvara, two members of the nobility. But other things are afoot as a man known only as the Grey King attempts to depose the Cappa of Camorr, bringing a reluctant Locke and his equally reluctant friends into his plans, which could have disastrous consequences. We also get interludes describing Locke’s early life and training, which provide tantalizing hints about the fact that there’s obviously more to reveal in Locke’s backstory.

So, as I said, Locke made this book for me. He is definitely a rogue, and despite the fact that I’m not sure I’d want to be alone in a dark alley with him, I adored him. He’s charming, mischievous, and doesn’t spend too much time angsting, and he is saved from becoming a total moral reprobate by the fact that it’s obvious there are things he won’t do and people he won’t screw over. He made being a Gentleman Bastard seem kind of glamorous there for a while, and I was cheering him on .

The other characters are also well-drawn. I particularly liked Locke’s friend Jean, who complements Locke perfectly, and who I can’t help wanting to ship with Locke. (But then, I also kind of ship Sam/Frodo, too, so you might want to take that with a grain of salt.) Besides Jean, the rest of the Gentlemen Bastards are fun, if a bit one-note, with the exception of Father Chains, Locke’s mentor, and Sabetha, the only female member of their gang, who we do not meet in this novel.

The plot is riveting, and the tension ratchets up to a brilliant and satisfying climax. As with all good dark fantasy, not everybody survives, but at least this book actually has a complete ending that ties up most of the loose ends while leaving enough questions to be answered that I want to see where else Mr. Lynch takes the story.

If I have any quibbles, it’s that I would have liked for a bit more from the secondary characters, and I did think Locke and Jean weren’t as proactive as they could have been, but I also think some of that will change as the series progresses.

If you like dark, snarky fantasy, and you don’t mind a bit of a doorstopper, this is certainly a book to try.

Grade: A-

Summary:

“Why, I can smile, and murder whiles I smile,
And cry ‘Content’ to that which grieves my heart,
And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,
And frame my face to all occasions.”
–William Shakespeare, Richard II, iii, ii

The Thorn of Camorr is said to be an unbeatable swordsman, a master thief, a ghost that walks through walls. Half the city believes him to be a legendary champion of the poor. The other half believe him to be a foolish myth. Nobody has it quite right.

Slightly built, unlucky in love, and barely competent with a sword, Locke Lamora is, much to his annoyance, the fabled Thorn. He certainly didn’t invite the rumors that swirl around his exploits, which are actually confidence games of the most intricate sort. And while Locke does indeed steal from the rich (who else, pray tell, would be worth stealing from?), the poor never see a penny of it. All of Locke’s gains are strictly for himself and his tight-knit band of thieves, the Gentlemen Bastards.

Locke and company are con artists in an age where con artistry, as we understand it, is a new and unknown style of crime. The less attention anyone pays to them, the better! But a deadly mystery has begun to haunt the ancient city of Camorr, and a clandestine war is threatening to tear the city’s underworld, the only home the Gentlemen Bastards have ever known, to bloody shreds. Caught up in a murderous game, Locke and his friends will find both their loyalty and their ingenuity tested to the breaking point as they struggle to stay alive…

Download the prologue excerpt and mapshere and read an excerpt of the first chapter here.