Okay, I am generally not that fond of high fantasy books, but this was an incredibly fun romp. The story alternates between the childhood of Locke Lamora as he learns many skills in the service of robbing the rich blind and present day when Locke is head of the Gentleman Bastards, a chosen family of skilled orphans. Together they develop long cons to swindle the highest born of Camorr. Unfortunately for Locke, several forces are individually working to complicate his life for various reasons. He’s […]
“We lie for a living, we shouldn’t lie to ourselves.”
At its core, “Republic of Thieves” is really a character study of Locke, which after being with him for two books is poignantly beautiful. He emerges out of the white-collar criminal into Locke the Human. While we’ve seen snippets and snapshots of his humanity throughout the first 2 novels, Locke’s deepening relationship with Jean, and Sabetha’s return to his life brings out a push-pull to his character that we haven’t seen before. As in his previous books, Lynch weaves the Bastards’ childhood stories in with their […]
Swashbuckling Bastards!
After two books, I think the thing I find most fun and exciting about Lynch’s stories is that he doesn’t have extra-ordinary characters. None of his characters, (aside from the bondsmagi) possess latent super-powers or even an unnatural bend towards some kind of skill. They’re just ordinary humans who get where they are by hard work and tenacity. And even when they’ve done their best, they still face very real and dangerous failure, and it’s that possible failure and its consequence that keeps me picking […]
A Gentleman Bastard Is Still A Bastard
In a nutshell this is a fantastic, fun ride. It has all the elements of a great modern fantasy: excellent characters, awesome world-building, and a fast-paced, well timed plot that keeps you interested. A lot of Amazon reviewers are comparing Scott Lynch to Mark Lawrence and Patrick Rothfuss, and as a reader of all 3 authors, I feel that Lynch’s Locke and Company are NOTHING like Jorg or Kvothe. While Jorg is a downright bastard (see Kaykay’s Cannonball 6 review) and Kvothe is cocky (see […]