Customer Reviews

Lies of Locke Lamora (GollanczF.)

5 star:		(134)
4 star:		(69)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA is a fairly-well-hyped fantasy debut about the charismatic leader of a gang of con artists in a city that does (or tries to do) for renaissance Venice what PERDIDO STREET STATION did for Dickensian London. Overall, I enjoyed it - the prose was technically proficient, the plot hummed along efficiently, the setting was considerably more interesting than the usual plate-mail-and-offal-carts business, and there was a good deal of welcome humor. As debut novels go it's a promising start.

On the other hand, it really doesn't amount to much more than an entertaining confection. The book's apparently been optioned for a movie already, and I can see why: the dialogue's relentlessly effervescent, occasionally stretching credulity past the breaking point (characters have one-liners for every occasion even while collecting broken bones and concussions like trading cards) and the screenplay-friendly three-act structure is too often embarrassingly visible underneath the flesh of the story.

It's difficult to articulate my feelings on books like this. On the one hand, Lynch's technical talent clearly elevates him above the great gormless herd of modern fantasy writers already. And there's no denying that the book is very likeable indeed, while it seems unfair to fault it based only on what it could have been. On the other hand, it's just *too damn safe*. Lynch is going to be a major player in the genre - that much is obvious already - but he has it in him to do something Seriously Good rather than settling for being the next RA Salvatore. But it's not gonna happen until he gets over his fear of failure. PERDIDO had parts that worked and parts that didn't but Mieville wrote his ambition on every page in letters of fire, and the excitement swept me, the reader, away with him. Whereas LOCKE LAMORA felt like Lynch was parceling out his ideas and his talent and calculating every story beat based on whether it would make a good start for a franchise.

In short, it's worth the money, even if you're not big into fantasy - I'm emphatically not, aside from staples like Tolkien, Moorcock, and Martin, and I still enjoyed it. But it's not a *necessary* book.

Scott Lynch's much-heralded debut leads readers on a dashing thief tale in the best classic fantasy vein, through a vivid Renaissance-inspired fantasy city. Locke and his companions are clever rogues who must outwit not only their marks but also the city guard, their own underworld leaders, and a new vicious underworld faction.

The plot surges into high gear in the second act with the appearance of this new faction, which could have been introduced sooner. The Grey King and especially his mage are so shockingly well-informed and powerful that Locke seems helpless against them. This keeps the reader turning the pages, but it also makes Locke's eventual victory seem implausible and rushed.

The climax abandons the clever thief scheming in favor of a super-villain plot out of a James Bond movie. The villain's plan is far-fetched and poorly justified, Locke's response is oddly benevolent, and the other characters' reactions to him are unrealistic bordering on authorial wish-fulfillment.

The constant interlude chapters covering Locke and Jean's boyhood distract from the exciting heist plot. Lynch does relate them to the present story, but this material could have been shown more quickly and less disruptively in short flashbacks. In addition, the narrative's shallow point-of-view makes the characters feel distant. Only their most basic internal reactions and emotions are described in a point-of-view that shifts through different characters in the same scene, includes constant descriptions of the point-of-view character's own facial expressions, and artificially hides from the reader much information that the point-of-view characters obviously know. This leaves them feeling shallow, like movie characters on a screen rather than fully internalized novel characters.

Lynch's strengths, the vivid setting and his constant heaping of conflict onto his characters, pull the reader through this ripping thief yarn. But _Lies_ is less than it could have been if the novel had gone deeper into both the personalities of his heroes and the justifications of his villain.

Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch is the first book in the Gentlemen Bastards series. Not only is it the first in the Gentlemen Bastards series, but this novel happens to be the first novel published by Mr. Lynch as well. When I first heard that this was a debut novel I was slightly hesitant, but it came with a glowing recommendation so I took the chance. Let me say right off the bat that I am very thankful that I took the chance on this new author as this novel is absolutely fantastic.

There are several aspects of this novel that I think need to be reviewed.

The characters really allow this novel to stand out and shine. The characters are well developed and vivid. Each character is done in such a way that they all appear unique, anything from their look to their dialog. While Mr. Lynch has added many curse words, which at times, for me anyway, shocks the reader out of the dialog, it also seems to bring a grittiness to the characters. There are quite a few characters in this novel, but I didn't find any difficulty in keeping them separate and knowing what each was doing. The main character, who I would struggle to call a hero, is a rogue who is bent on stealing from the nobles of the cit. A Robin Hood type character if you will. Mr. Lynch goes to great detail to explain and develop Locke throughout the book, and he pulls this off very well. The other assortment of characters are developed at varying degrees. This just makes sense or else the book would be huge. In my opinion the supporting cast of characters are done perfectly, not too much and not to little. There are many truly memorable characters in this book.

The plot, on the surface anyway, seems rather simple in that the main character is a rogue set on fleecing the nobility out of their wealth. However, there are many things that Mr. Lynch tosses into the mix to make this a much more complicated story than just your typical steal from the rich story. This story follows Locke from when he was a very young boy all the way up to his involvement with the Gentlemen Bastards and the escapades that he routinely pulls on the noble class of the city. There are several twists and mysterious characters that are slowly added to add more depth to the story. Even though there are multiple elements added throughout the book they are not done so to cram things into this novel. It has a very steady pace and was obviously well mapped out. It's a well written plot and one that certainly leaves room for further development in later books.

This novel is set up in an interesting way, in fact I have not seen a novel like this to my memory. There are regular chapters, but interspaced between these chapters, or sections really, there are flashbacks or as Lynch calls them interludes. Were he harkens back to past events that helped shape the characters actions and choices. This is certainly a unique way of putting a novel together and at times it works beautifully, but there is at least one point where I read an interlude and was a little unsure why it was included in the story or at that point in the book. For the most part though, this idea works rather well and adds a certain depth to the book.

There are a few things that I wish would have been better developed, such the way magic works as well as a little more explanation of the `thirteen'. Since this is the first book in this series I expect that these things may be explained in greater detail later.

Overall, this is a fantastic book and one I am sure to recommend to many other people. It really is a gem and a surprising first release from a new author. I wonder just how good Mr. Lynch will become if this was the first release from him. I am eagerly looking forward to the second book in this series as I am sure many others will be once they give this novel a chance. Have no fear in picking this up, I think it will appease many a different fans. Certainly fantasy fans, but also others will probably like this as well.

Entertaining plot, reasonably amusing characters, but painfully cookie cutter - felt as if it was written using the character classes from a D&D game: "Hey, we've got a rogue, a wizard, a fighter, and a cleric! That's a great party!"

Writing is decent but nothing special; a bit *too* clever at times, as other reviewers have pointed out but no jarringly awful prose. Comparisons to China Mieville are totally misguided: Mieville approaches writing as if he is trying to create great literature or at least transcend the bounds of genre fiction. Think more along the lines of Glen Cook's Garrett novels or Matthew Reilly's "Scarecrow" series, but I think Cook and Reilly take themselves less seriously.

Would I recommend this book? Well, I gave it three stars...readable but not something particularly worth seeking out.

Impressed with the positive reviews this book received, I decided to give it a read, but finished feeling like I wasted my time. I'll skip discussing thing like technique, writing style, etc. and just cut to the chase - I didn't particularly like the story. There were some parts that I found entertaining, but another reviewer described it best as a "confection". It never felt like there were any teeth here, and in particular, I found Locke's character inconsistent with the stature attributed to him. Writing "clever" is very difficult, and the action in this book never seemed as clever as the character was supposed to be.

Somehow this book managed to be lush *and* gritty and completely absorbing. The characters are real, the pace doesn't let up, the setting is three-D and colourful and dangerous. It made me laugh aloud and gasp and, in one place, cry. By the end I wanted to cheer for Locke, the lovable rogue of the title.

The action centers around organized crime in a Venice-like fantasy city, focusing on the Gentlemen Bastards, a ring of young grifters who fleece nobles for fun. It's a right laugh until the new mob moves in and things turn deadly serious, setting them up for their biggest caper ever. Provided nothing goes wrong, of course.

This is interspersed with the backstory of the Bastards themselves, which only adds to the richness of their characterisation and the darkness of the city and its cultures.

I can't recommend this book enough. If you enjoy fantasy or crime books, it'll be a good time. It just didn't seem to have any weak spots: the characterisation, the setting, the plot were all dead-bang-right.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - it was rich in every way - characters, place, history, magic mixed with the mundane, stories waiting to be told around every corner.

This is a four-star book, and not a five, because it is like the best 'pop' music, in that it is very good for a very wide audience, but nothing is absolutely fantastic literary work that will be remembered indefinitely. If you're looking for a wonderful distraction - like a great romp of a movie, this is it.

I only hesitate in that I think (and hope) that in his future efforts, we will see improvements in the following ways:

**generalized spoilers follow**

1. (and this is the foremost one that I struggle with) Locke may be the heroic villain, but there is no true transition from immaturity to maturity. In the beginning, he's a terrible knave and in the end he's a noble knave, but we have little reason to believe he's gone from being utterly immoral and self-centered to being loyal and somewhat principled. We are told through the narrative that he is, but the implication is that if you're an evil genius you naturally become loyal to your compatriots and have what everyone would agree is a basic approach to morality - but not absolute immorality. But in the real world, people who start out like that have to be forced into realizing they can't and shouldn't be evil. Unfortunately, I couldn't love the character as much as I might because I couldn't believe he'd really learned to be 'good' even to the small degree that he was.

2. Unfortunately, Lynch did have the habit of creating 'Rocky' scenarios where the 'good guys' are totally beaten down and then suddenly out of nowhere are able to come back with a whalloping series of punches as if they'd never been down. (Granted that not everyone who we are supposed to care about works out so well, still it seems awfully fortunate time and again for Locke, in particular.)

3. I personally couldn't suffer (the way I think the author wanted me to) along with Locke, through which the suffering was channeled. This is because Locke is the one responsible for everything bad that happens to him and those around him (except, I suppose, for the final dastardly plan). If, perhaps, I saw the suffering through the eyes of those who followed Locke to their doom then I would be in more pain, but of course, I might despise instead of sympathize with Locke, mightn't I?

4. Unfortunately, the main foil to Locke's otherwise unimpeded genius and success comes off at the end as nothing more than a desperate and obsessed common criminal since his bankroll is apparently promises rather than genuine wealth and genius.

**generalized spoilers end**

But, to close on a proper note, this is a very fast-paced, FUN read. (I distinctly recall particular moments when I had to force myself to slow down so I could take in the scene properly since I wanted so badly to discover what craziness was transpiring.)

1. The landscapes of the book are absolutely wonderful in every way.
2. The customs and peoples and histories are rich and complete (while creating in me a desire to read whatever more may be written about them).
3. The lore of magic and magicians is a wonderful unusual method that makes them unusual and exotic while not being inaccessibly legendary.

I absolutely will read further installments.

This is one of the best books I have read, in the fantasy genre or otherwise. Reading this, it's hard to imagine that this is Scott Lynch's debut novel, as it reads like a book from someone who has had plenty of time to master their craft.

I hate always bringing a comparison to George R.R. Martin, but here it's inevitable, for me anyways. First, I bought the book because of Martin's blurb of praise on the cover. Martin has great recommendations and he's never let me down. But not only is it a great book, Lynch's style draws comparison to Martin in many ways. It has the simple yet easy flowing prose, the sarcasm, the grittiness, the unpredictability. Yet it has a depth of character that I find more reminiscent of Robin Hobb, (just much less sadistic, as any fan of Fitz might know) as it follows mainly one character as he grows and learns his trade. If Martin and Hobb were to collaborate on a book about thieves, The Lies of Locke Lamora might be the outcome.

Not to say that Lynch pulls heavily from other authors. This book is a breath of fresh air and very different from fantasy that's out there today. Honestly, I normally wouldn't be entirely interested in a book about thieving, but I found this entertaining as hell. It's loaded with action, numerous plot twists, flawed characters, sharp (and often times filthy) dialogue and plenty of moments where I laughed out loud and got strange looks from my wife.

Yet even with all of that, I think Lynch's greatest strength may be his world building. Throughout the book there are interludes that flash back to Locke's past, as well as the past of other key characters -namely Jean- that provide a rich back story. These interludes aren't intrusive at all, and work really well to propel the story as a whole. It shows how the characters change and grew so much from the past to the present. This is done wonderfully. And then there's the world itself. I can tell that the author put a lot of time into the environment. I had no problem at all imagining the setting with the strange Elderglass buildings and Venice-like layout of islands and canals.

From the seedy underbelly to the rich towers of the nobility, Camorr is a city worth visiting; where the villains steal and murder and the heroes... well they steal and murder too. I really have nothing negative to say about this book. Although it's the first in a series, it is a complete story within itself. The author simply uses his skill and devilishly addictive writing to ensure that you'll come back again anyways. I recommend The Lies of Loche Lamora, and its author, whole heartedly.

I almost couldn't finish this novel. I was bored from chapter one. The prologue was great, and many of the flashbacks to Locke's childhood were interesting, but the rest of the novel was not good. The book is based on one big scam that Locke and gang are planning on a nobleman, it comes to fruition pretty early in the novel, leaving the other 3/4s of the book to throw problems and trouble in Locke's way. In addition to the plot not keeping my interest, the writing style was strange. An event would happen, then we would have to go back in time and read about how it happened, just to pick back up at the event happening. An event would happen, there would be a twist, then we have to read about how exactly the thieves accomplished the twist. Just explaining the twist was enough. I really wanted to like this book, I could have given up much earlier but since I spent so much time on it I felt compelled to finish. This book is mostly dialogue, but the characters weren't interesting enough for me to enjoy that. The capers weren't funny, fun, or exciting. In my opinion, a failed attempt at something that could have been good. If told a little differently, and rearranged a bit, this book would have shown promise. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend it.

Desperate to find something to read in between Hobb's, George R.R. Martin's, Guy Gavriel Kay's, C.S. Friedman's and Donaldson's latest, I chose this title primarily based on the overwhelmingly positive reviews. I've been reading fantasy for over 25 years and appreciate all the aspects of world building, so was considerably dismayed when I saw my very own American foul language peppered throughout the pages of this fantasy. And despite all the rave reviews, I would argue the plot plods, the characters are two dimensional and the "twists and turns" become annoyingly repetitive and predictable half way through the tome. I feel no pathos for the orphan who only finds purpose in life when he seeks revenge. To keep this review short and put it bluntly, this book bored me enough to write my second review ever.