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The Review of Thieves
Oct. 25th, 2013 02:55 pmHey,
So after a wait of six years (four and a half if you only picked up the US releases), we finally get the next installment of the Gentlemen Bastards in The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch. This is the fantasy con-man series where Locke Lamora and his buddy Jean wander about a fantasy world heavily inspired by renaissance Italy (but no steampunk or clockworkpunk here) committing crimes and trying to come out ahead once in awhile.
At the end of the previous book, Locke was wasting away from some arcane poison. That matter resolves pretty quickly when a wizard shows up and offers to cure Locke. Thing is, in the very first book, Locke messed up a wizard so that he couldn't use magic any more and in the second book, the wizards made some retaliation. So Locke and wizards ain't exactly friends.
But Locke is very good at manipulation and the wizard needs Locke to rig an election. All the wizards live in the city of Karthain and they use the five-year elections as a sort of game to push their agenda. No magic is allowed except that each side can nominate a champion to organize and run the event and the wizards meddle enough so that the a parties are happy to turn their political organization over to a relative stranger. So it's election time and the wizard has chosen Locke -- in part because the other side has selected the tempestuous love of Locke's life Sebetha.
This book is really a sort of two-in-one. Half of the book is a flashback that further explores Locke's training with Chains and one of the Gentlemen Bastard's early capers involving a theatrical performance and Locke and Sebetha's blooming relationship. The other half of the book is all about the election and Locke and Sebetha's current attempts to reconnect.
As always, the writing is just incredibly easy to read. Perhaps the characters are just a little too sharp-witted or wise-cracky than most people, but it's so easy to get lost in the text and the pages just fly through. It's always a pleasure to revisit these characters and watch them go through their paces.
The only downside to this book is that Locke is almost always reacting to what's going on around him. I think it's much more interesting when he can select and work towards his own goals. Certainly, no plan survives contact and there can be a lot to react too, but since the second book Locke has been under pressure from outside forces and it'd be nice to watch him stretch his legs for his own reasons.
Still, a long-awaited book and one that doesn't disappoint.
later
Tom
So after a wait of six years (four and a half if you only picked up the US releases), we finally get the next installment of the Gentlemen Bastards in The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch. This is the fantasy con-man series where Locke Lamora and his buddy Jean wander about a fantasy world heavily inspired by renaissance Italy (but no steampunk or clockworkpunk here) committing crimes and trying to come out ahead once in awhile.
At the end of the previous book, Locke was wasting away from some arcane poison. That matter resolves pretty quickly when a wizard shows up and offers to cure Locke. Thing is, in the very first book, Locke messed up a wizard so that he couldn't use magic any more and in the second book, the wizards made some retaliation. So Locke and wizards ain't exactly friends.
But Locke is very good at manipulation and the wizard needs Locke to rig an election. All the wizards live in the city of Karthain and they use the five-year elections as a sort of game to push their agenda. No magic is allowed except that each side can nominate a champion to organize and run the event and the wizards meddle enough so that the a parties are happy to turn their political organization over to a relative stranger. So it's election time and the wizard has chosen Locke -- in part because the other side has selected the tempestuous love of Locke's life Sebetha.
This book is really a sort of two-in-one. Half of the book is a flashback that further explores Locke's training with Chains and one of the Gentlemen Bastard's early capers involving a theatrical performance and Locke and Sebetha's blooming relationship. The other half of the book is all about the election and Locke and Sebetha's current attempts to reconnect.
As always, the writing is just incredibly easy to read. Perhaps the characters are just a little too sharp-witted or wise-cracky than most people, but it's so easy to get lost in the text and the pages just fly through. It's always a pleasure to revisit these characters and watch them go through their paces.
The only downside to this book is that Locke is almost always reacting to what's going on around him. I think it's much more interesting when he can select and work towards his own goals. Certainly, no plan survives contact and there can be a lot to react too, but since the second book Locke has been under pressure from outside forces and it'd be nice to watch him stretch his legs for his own reasons.
Still, a long-awaited book and one that doesn't disappoint.
later
Tom
