The Lies of Locke Lamora

I found this book to have a very slow start. I actually tried to read this book before and made it about 50 pages before becoming distracted by a different book. However, a good friend recommended it to me, and I usually like what she directs me to, so I gave it another go. I'm glad I did.

This book is a crueler version of Ocean's 11. It is slow, but it is also enticing. Once the plot was set, I had trouble putting the book down (but, that did take awhile). I am not a fan of how the chapters jumped between the present and the past, but I adore how everything tied together. Every chapter had a purpose.

I am still debating whether or not I will pick up the next book in the series. I'm sure if I come across it I will, but I probably won't go out of my way for it. ( )

This is a descendant of Leslie Charteris' "The Saint" featuring an amiable con man with a heart of gold. I cannnot say I'm as fond of Locke than I am of Simon Templar, but most readers will have a good time. ( )

The Lies of Locke Lamora is great concept filled with brilliant characters, vivid imagery, and a compelling story. The world sent me into an alien Italian Renaissance land with enough food descriptions to make me gain pounds before the end of the novel. My main complaint is the structuring of the novel. The beginning was extremely rough to follow, and I felt that there were chapters added that could have sufficed as a paragraph or two. 3.5 stars out of 5 ( )

Lynch, Scott. The Lies of Locke Lamora. Gentleman Bastard No. 1. Spectra, 2006.
Patrick Rothfuss, the author of the Kingkiller Chronicle, used to be miffed when he was called the “new Scott Lynch,” but on rereading The Lies of Locke Lamora, he said he realized Lynch had a better title, a better opening, and better dialogue than he did in his first novel, The Name of the Wind (2007). Maybe so, but Rothfuss and Lynch are certainly two of the best twenty-first-century writers of epic fantasy. Writers of fantasy must often balance pre-industrial realism with plots dependent on magic. George R. R. Martin, Rothfuss, and Lynch lean more toward realism than Tolkien. There is some magic in The Lies of Locke Lamora, but one could almost imagine rewriting it without Bondsmages and magic potions. The world of Locke’s childhood reminds one of Fagin and the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist, and the Gentleman Bastards have more in common with the Gangs of New York than they do with Tolkien’s band of hobbits, dwarves, and elves.
Rothfuss is right to praise Lynch’s prose. Paragraph by paragraph, and episode by episode, Lynch builds an original and credible world. His characters are sharply delineated and readers care about their fates. We get to know Locke and his whole circle of friends and enemies. Larger structures are more problematic. A reader is too aware that this is the first novel in a trilogy that is bound to leave some loose ends. Sabetha, a girl compared early to Locke and who becomes the presumable love of Locke’s life, exists for the reader only as a name and reputation. One hopes she gets a bigger part later in the series. A strong 4 stars. ( )

I do so love it when I'm wrong. See, I had sat this book aside as just not being for me, a while back. I'd just finished The First Law series so I just wasn't ready to visit another world.

But reddit claimed and claimed and claimed some more that I need to pick the book back up. Well I'm here to thank reddit.

I had stopped at page 80 and wouldn't you know that the excitement really picked up like 10 pages later! Suddenly I was engrossed. Suddenly I cared. And suddenly my opinion was set- this book is good.

If you like city fantasy- I've seen requests for such- this is for you. Oceans 11 meets fantasy. It's been a while since I cursed outlook at a situation or gasped in intrigued amusement. ( )