Wow. I’d like to thank Paul for inadvertently recommending this book via The Wolfshack. I haven’t read a book which had me wanting more in awhile. Sure, I dabble in the Star Wars novels if there are new ones, but they are the same old. This was a fresh tale of thieves and their swashbuckling ways.
The story revolves around Locke Lamora, a thief in the fictional city/village/whatever you want to call it of Camorr where it plays like something out of an old role playing game like Quest For Glory – where they have thieving guilds, magicians and brute force. In Camorr, they are under the rule of Duke Nicovante and Locke Lamora and his fellows (The Gentleman Bastards as they like to call themselves) take it upon themselves to steal from the rich and elite to line their pockets with a small wealth. They start out as regular thieves but end up becoming con-artists in the process and thinking up more elaborate schemes.
Scott Lynch (from reading his bio and whatnot) is a young chap…my age or thereabouts who wrote this marvelous tale. He doesn’t shy away from admitting that he is into video games, comic books, everything that is good in the world…so the book was like a familiar friend. The sense of camaraderie between Locke Lamora and friends made you feel like you are eavesdropping on a grand adventure. I especially liked how the author intertwined flashbacks at the appropriate times.
I haven’t read many novels this past year but I would probably say this will make it as my #1 of the year. I am tempted to pick up the second one, but the series is seven books long and the second one is the only other one out there. I feel like he is pulling a Harry Potter…the first novel was a self-contained story but left us with questions at the end which will undoubtedly be answered within the series.
3 replies on “Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora – Part One of the Gentleman Bastard Sequence”
I know this has nothing to do with this book, but seeing as you had a book review up there, it made me think of a book you may be interested in (or a series of books.)
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.
The novels are set in the period of the French Revolution. The Scarlet Pimpernel is an English individual who sneaks into France to rescue the Aristocrats from being beheaded at the guillotine.
Anyways, Baroness Emmuska Orczy is credited at having invented the “super-hero” genre through these novels.
(Be forewarned, there are no mutant powers in these novels.)
I’m intrigued. I do love a good series of novels. However, I have recently become somewhat jaded about unfinished series when I discovered that the author of one of the fantasy series that I have been reading since the beginnig of time DIED 11 books into the series!!!
Palmer, glad you liked my review over at the Wolfshack!
I finished the second book, Red Seas Under Red Skies, and while not perfect, I’m happy to say that it was still great.
I understand the fear of starting unfinished series. I’ve stopped reading series for this very reason, including George RR Martin. However, this isn’t really a series, just stories that make up a larger whole. It’s more like Steven Brust’s Taltos books, or Fritz Leiber’s Fahrd and the Grey Mouser stuff. In other words, you’ll be safe reading this one at at time.