Red Seas Under Red Skies (Mass Market Paperback)

by Scott Lynch (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Like its roguish protagonists, Lynch's colorful sequel to 2006's The Lies of Locke Lamora is charming, unpredictable and fast on its feet and stands surprisingly well on its own given its convoluted plot. Initially poised to rob the Sinspire, the notoriously thief-proof casino where the penalty for cheating is death, Locke and his partner, Jean, are unwillingly sidetracked into joining and then leading a pirate crew, swindling their way across the sea as they had previously done on land. The cinematic influences on Lynch's fantasy setting are evident, the borrowing is mostly ingenious and the prose frequently enthralls, but tone and pacing suffer from odd inconsistencies. A handful of dark moments clash uncomfortably with the overall devil-may-care atmosphere. Most frustrating of all is the handling of key secondary character Ezri Delmastro, who shines too briefly as an energetic romantic interest for Jean. The ending promises at least one more installment, but fans may be unhappy if the saga strays too far from its amiable roots. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* The science-fiction caper novel constitutes a small genre to begin with (Keith Laumer and Harry Harrison may be its best-known names), but Lynch added something entirely new to it with his debut, The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006). That novel, which told the story of a young boy taken under the wing of a master thief, was set on a distant planet but at a stage in the planet's history roughly equivalent to our own pirate age. Now Locke, the talented boy who became a world-class thief, returns with a caper so big it defies all reason—to penetrate the vault of the Sinspire, the most protected casino on the planet, and take its contents. If the first novel had undercurrents of Oliver Twist, this one is more in the vein of Ocean's Eleven or The Sting: fast paced, colorful, funny, with a fiendishly intricate plot containing plenty of right-angle turns. Locke and his partner, Jean, trade banter like Redford and Newman and work their light-fingered magic with charm and panache. Lynch hasn't merely imagined a far-off world, he's created it, put it all down on paper—the smells, the sounds, the people, the feel of the place. The novel is a virtuoso performance, and sf/fantasy fans will gobble it up, though they'll have to fight with caper novel aficionados for every crumb. Pitt, David --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 784 pages
• Publisher: Spectra; Reprint edition (July 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553588958
• ISBN-13: 978-0553588958
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #113,535 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A sagging middle, August 5, 2007

By	LL (California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Seas Under Red Skies (Hardcover)

This book was enjoyable and entertaining, but if you're a fan of the first, I say lower your expectations. Overall there's A LOT going on in the plot. I would have been satisfied with just the Sinspire plot, but he also threw in a whole pirate part in the middle. And that's where I personally think this story sags and lags. It's weighed down by a lot of tedious description (I'm sure there are people who enjoy this, I'm not one of them) and not enough robbing. Pirates are fun yes, but unfortunately this seemed a bit out of place and was inconsistent. Which is why I enjoyed the first and last third of the book, and skimmed through the middle. I plan to keep reading the forthcoming books in this series, but I hope to see more of Locke doing some thieving and robbing in the future.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Locke and Jean up to their old tricks again, August 19, 2007

By	Andrew Gray "Beezer Review" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Red Seas Under Red Skies (Hardcover)

Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch is the second book in the Gentlemen Bastards sequence, the first book being The Lies of Locke Lamora. This is the second novel that Mr. Lynch has published, it is quite evident that Mr. Lynch truly has a gift for weaving an incredible story. If you have not read The Lies of Locke Lamora you really need to do so before you even think about picking up this book. Events and discussions that happen within the pages of this novel will make much more sense having read the first book. Plus, the first book is simply bottled magic and a fantastic read, every fantasy fan should read it in my opinion.

The plot of this book follows Locke and Jean as they plan their next major heist on the shores of Tal Verrar. On the surface this seems like a straight forward plot, however, much like the first book - things aren't always as they seem. This is a much more involved plot that you would think; there are also a couple sub-plots that occur along the way. I don't really want to talk about those sub-plots though for fear of ruining a part of the book for anyone. If you read the first book though, you understand that rarely do things go exactly as planned for Locke and whoever is following him. We'll leave it at that. Suffice it to say that the plot of this novel is well done and succinct and rarely is there a slow moment in the entire book.

The story clearly focuses on Locke and Jean, two of the characters from the first book. There is a great deal of character development for Locke and Jean in this book, much more than the first book for sure. There are also a great deal of additional characters added, which only makes sense sine Locke and Jean completely uprooted themselves and moved to a different place. The addition of these new characters is seamless. They flow right into the existing story and fit perfectly into the grand scheme of things. Each character that Mr. Lynch adds is done with a reason and a greater purpose in mind. Mr. Lynch also has a way of getting the reader to hate certain characters; there are two that come to mind right away. All the characters in this novel, from the main heroes to the beer seller, are all richly detailed with just enough information given that the reader is allowed to form their own picture of what the character looks like, and acts like. They are truly unique characters, no clichés here. Characterization is definitely a strong suit for Mr. Lynch.

I do have two minor criticisms about this novel. While a great deal of this book takes place on a ship, and Mr. Lynch does his best to set the ambiance of life on a ship. There are times when Mr. Lynch has dialog with countless nautical terms. He obviously did quite a bit of research to make that dialog as realistic as possible, however, the dialog during those moments felt forced and didn't flow with the rest of the story. Secondly, as with the first book, Mr. Lynch talks about the all powerful Bondsmagi. However, we learn nothing more about them than we knew after the first book. I am all for keeping things mysterious, however, there should be a little information revealed to keep the reader interested by the mystery. After all, the adage `out of sight out of mind' holds true. I know they are present, but if I don't read much about them, then I will soon forget they are there. I hope that changes in the next installment.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel - although I think it just missed in living up to its predecessor. The magic that was the first books seemed to be slightly off in this one. That could be merely me loving the first book so much that I gave this one unfair expectations. This is a very good book and one many fans will enjoy. If you liked the first one than I have no doubt that you will enjoy this one just as much. In my eyes, Mr. Lynch has cemented himself as one of the best up and comers in the fantasy genre today. I will continue to recommend this series and I can not wait until the third installment hits the shelves.

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One good book is far better than two great books..., May 19, 2008

By	James Carlson "Literary Architect" (Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Red Seas Under Red Skies (Hardcover)

Even more so, when neither book is good. It's very difficult to satisfy two very different audiences, and in this case, Scott Lynch fails miserably. As a fan of Lies of Locke Lamora, I was excited when I learned about this sequel. Most authors get better with experience, but, unfortunately, there is the exception that proves the rule, where Red Seas over Red Skies is that exception. Lynch makes the following mistakes in this book.

1. He believes he's capable of writing a sea adventure. He is no Patrick O'Brian, Robert Louis Stevenson, or C.S. Forester. Reading up on several nautical terms does not give an author the understanding to do so, and changing them does not make a good story. The old adage, "write what you know" applies here. Lynch didn't follow that rule.

2. Fantasy cliches abound: pirates with hearts of gold, who look like Xena but act like Rowling's Hermione, corrupt military leaders trying to instigate wars in order to secure their ruling position, and thieves who bumble from near-death experience to near-death who survive because the author refuses to end the novel. Stock characters and elements can be fine when you want to make things familiar, but they should not be your entire story!

3. Heroes who survive on the might of strawmen and divine fate to carry them through the plot. In life sometimes you are saved by dumb luck, but no one has the winning streak of Jean and Locke. After three or four times everything becomes contrived and the reader loses all suspense of what may come. When ill befalls our heroes, we know their salvation is only five pages away.

4. The Interludes were a wonderful literary device in Lynch's first novel, but he tries to reach their magic with a similar approach and gives up half-way through the book. The Reminiscences are hit and miss, but they continued to provide much needed depth to this story. The plot in the first book worked so well, because everything was a product of the rich history Lynch created. Characters long dead were the motivations and inspiration for the present events: Father Chains lived on through the Gentleman Bastards and Capa Barsavi's murders survived in the Grey King. There is no parallel in this novel.

I could go on, but let me get to the heart of the problem. I wouldn't mind this book such a disappointment, except Lynch departed in so many ways from what made his first story grand. In Lies, Lynch found his writing voice, which he used abundantly in Red Seas, but this novel lack the focus, grit, and creativity of its predecessor. The last 200 pages of Lies were an easy read, but looking back, those chapters were the most poorly written, and, while he kept that tone throughout this book, he also kept the bad ideas. Lynch needs to find a balance between his witty fast pace writing style, and the careful detail which he crafts his worlds. That was not the case with Red Seas.