I heard so much good of this book from my friends and the reviews I’ve seen about the book has been almost nothing but praise. So I finally took my time to read the book and see how my expectations from book were fullfilled.
“The Thorn of Camorr is said to be an unbeatable swordsman, a master thief, a ghost that walks through walls. Half the city believes him to be a legendary champion of the poor. The other half believe him to be a foolish myth. Nobody has it quite right.”
The Lies of Locke Lamora is the book one of the Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch. Many books start of with a bang, but The Lies of Locke Lamora isn’t one of those books. The story builds up gradually and includes interesting ‘interludes’ just enough for you to know what has previously happened to explain events in the present. This way, the game only becomes clear when the pieces are assembled at the end of the chapter. A neat way keeping up the readers in the dark when the protagonists have all the information, and is used thorhough the book. As you progress through the book and things get really interesting the pace becomes faster until all the various plot threads come together in a frantic finale.
The “hero” of the tale is no other than the Thorn of Camorr, Locke Lamora. Locke has his own style, perpetrating elaborate and lucrative scams on the nobility of his home city Camorr. All the accumulated wealth however does not go for the poor, they never see a penny, but instead the gains go to himself and his band of thieves: The Gentleman Bastards.
There are many small gangs in the somewhat ancient city of Camorr and the Gentleman Bastards eventually find themselves caught in a mystery: The Grey King is murdering thieves which almost tears underworld apart with a clandestine war. As you can imagine, Locke and the Gentleman Bastards are unfortunately caught in the middle of it and their wits are truly tested in their struggle to stay alive.
The whole book is like a witty gangster film set in fantasy equivalent of old Venice. The atmosphere is interesting, almost tingling, and the book holds the reader with a tight grip from the beginning pages until the end.Lynch succeeds admirably by delivering a cinematic experience with interesting and somewhat unusual characters who really have depth in them; Especially Locke himself.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy novels. The Lies of Locke Lamora was colorful, cunning, humorous and really possessive book. A true “page-turner”.
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I recently picked it up, after several recommendations, and had much the same reaction. Gritty, violent, dark, witty and clever, full of passion, danger and excitement.
And so then I read the second book. And I was just as impressed. All the panache and charm of the first one, only with the added benefits of piracy added to the mix.
Other than being damn good reads, the Gentleman Bastard books can provide inspiration for intrigues and criminals in your campaigns, for anything from D&D to 7th Sea to Star Wars.
I’ve just picked up the second book and so far it has been all good.
Matt, I cannot help it, but after I finished the first I was so ready to create a city-campaign with lots of criminals and decent amount of intrigue. Definitely worth reading also for the inspiration purposes like you said!
Some think that Red Seas isn’t as good as lies, but I disagree. The Red Seas Under Red Skies is a bit different kind of book than Lies of Locke Lamora, but it has its own merits. It strengthens the main characters and exploits its “pirate adventure” theme very well.
The world of Locke Lamora itself is, like MkaY said, really inspiring for roleplaying purposes. It has some “dnd” things, like bondmages and their magic, but it has also “grittier” themes, and I think that Lynch finds great midpoint between “adventure mood” and “gritty plotting”.