The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch
My fantasy nerd friends have been telling me to read this book for years, and I'm happy to say I finally got around to it. It's really fun! If you read a lot of fantasy, the tropes can get incredibly tedious. In fantasy, I prize originality above all, and my friends didn't steer me wrong.
Locke Lamora is as fun a main character as you're likely to read, devious and smug yet loyal to a fault. Locke lives in the city of Camorr, a heady mix of Venice and Lisbon with a healthy dash of Imperial Rome and the surprising but fun addition of inexplicable buildings left by a long-gone alien race. Camorr has a wealthy aristocracy, an omnipresent police force, and an extremely healthy criminal underground run by the fearsome Capa Barsavi. Locke and his brothers in arms, the Gentleman Bastards, run a fantastically successful con game out of the basement of a fake Temple of Perelando. They are so good at conning aristocrats and hiding it that not even Barsavi knows they're doing it. Someone else, however, does...
The writing can be a little overly cinematic at times, usually during, before, or after a fight. Eyes don't really ever flash with hatred, or with anything, and some of the dialogue borders on ridiculous rather than clever. But it's quite a fun read overall, enjoyably diverting and well-constructed.
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Locke Lamora is as fun a main character as you're likely to read, devious and smug yet loyal to a fault. Locke lives in the city of Camorr, a heady mix of Venice and Lisbon with a healthy dash of Imperial Rome and the surprising but fun addition of inexplicable buildings left by a long-gone alien race. Camorr has a wealthy aristocracy, an omnipresent police force, and an extremely healthy criminal underground run by the fearsome Capa Barsavi. Locke and his brothers in arms, the Gentleman Bastards, run a fantastically successful con game out of the basement of a fake Temple of Perelando. They are so good at conning aristocrats and hiding it that not even Barsavi knows they're doing it. Someone else, however, does...
The writing can be a little overly cinematic at times, usually during, before, or after a fight. Eyes don't really ever flash with hatred, or with anything, and some of the dialogue borders on ridiculous rather than clever. But it's quite a fun read overall, enjoyably diverting and well-constructed.
Shop indie!
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