The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch
Book Review by K. Feete
Have you read this book?
As a child, Locke Lamora stole from policemen, started a riot, and finally committed a crime so dire that it forced his master the Thiefmaker to sell him in the dead of night to the Eyeless Priest. Now, as an adult, Locke and his fellow Gentleman Bastards are in the middle of carrying out the greatest sting of his lifetime: robbing a nobleman... a nobleman who knows he's a thief. Now if only Locke can keep the city's crimelord from finding out he's violating the Secret Peace by robbing the aristocracy -- or getting married off to said crimelord's beautiful daughter. If only he can keep one step ahead of the Duke's dreaded Midnighters. If only he can keep clear of the Grey King who seems determined to wipe out the city's greatest criminals....
But this is Locke Lamora. And while the Eyeless Priest may have succeeded in teaching him how to lie his way out of trouble, he never managed to show him how to stay out of it.
Scott Lynch's first novel is an addictive mix of richly imagined fantasy book, swashbuckling adventure, and caper story. It's Robin Hood for the world-weary. It's an Errol Flynn movie for grownups. Locke and his fellow Gentleman Bastards are an endearing mixture of the cynical and the touchingly naive: a group of hardheaded scoundrels and liars who are also orphans, survivors, and brothers; a batch of shameless thieves who laugh at their victims but are endearingly confused about what to do with their ill-gotten gains. The other characters, the city, and for that matter the entire story exist in the same precarious balance. It's not that the book eschews questions of good and evil -- quite the contrary -- but it achieves a sense of gritty realism without succumbing to the pseudo-literary air of gloom, bitterness, and depression that so often goes along with it. It's real, but it's also fun.
It's rare for me to give a genuinely glowing review, but this book deserves it. Go. Read. Join me in hoping the sequel will be out soon. You won't regret it.
But this is Locke Lamora. And while the Eyeless Priest may have succeeded in teaching him how to lie his way out of trouble, he never managed to show him how to stay out of it.
Scott Lynch's first novel is an addictive mix of richly imagined fantasy book, swashbuckling adventure, and caper story. It's Robin Hood for the world-weary. It's an Errol Flynn movie for grownups. Locke and his fellow Gentleman Bastards are an endearing mixture of the cynical and the touchingly naive: a group of hardheaded scoundrels and liars who are also orphans, survivors, and brothers; a batch of shameless thieves who laugh at their victims but are endearingly confused about what to do with their ill-gotten gains. The other characters, the city, and for that matter the entire story exist in the same precarious balance. It's not that the book eschews questions of good and evil -- quite the contrary -- but it achieves a sense of gritty realism without succumbing to the pseudo-literary air of gloom, bitterness, and depression that so often goes along with it. It's real, but it's also fun.
It's rare for me to give a genuinely glowing review, but this book deserves it. Go. Read. Join me in hoping the sequel will be out soon. You won't regret it.
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Comment on The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch
| Comments on The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch |
| Posted by Howard von Darkmoor on 2/11/2007 |
| I also enjoyed this first book by Lynch and I've recommended it on my review blog. |
