It opens on a scene where the Thiefmaster, a despicable character in his own rights, is about ready to kill the eponymous orphan boy, Locke Lamora – we then follow Locke’s antics as he grows up under the tutelage of Father Chains, a conman priest who tutors him in things of a less divine nature, and becomes part of a gang named the Gentleman Bastards.
Set in a fantastical version of Renaissance Venice, The Lies of Locke Lamora tells the story of the famed thief of Camorr. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves: the Gentleman Bastards.” ( Synopsis from publisher) He steals from the rich – they’re the only ones worth stealing from – but the poor can go steal for themselves. Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. They say he’s part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumor. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. Overall a worthy sequel but I wish it had done a bit less and focused entirely on the pirate plot line of the latter half.“They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. Thankfully the ending climax ramps up very nicely – I devoured the last 100+ pages in about a day. They’re not bad at all, and I continue to enjoy learning more about this relatable fantasy world, but it makes getting through the first half of the book much more of a slog than it should have been.
A few chapters early on even add an additional timeline of events that happened after LoLL but before this one. Red Seas Under Red Skies thus ends up too long and too grandiose for its own good. The casino heist peters out but the entire pirate plot line is absolutely fantastic, with a rich cast of characters and some much deeper emotional stakes.
We don’t get to the pirate stuff (as evidenced on the cover) until much later in the book until then it’s a casino heist that only circles back around at the very, very end. I still enjoy Scott Lynch’s writing style and characters, but this follow-up to The Lies of Locke Lamora is a bit too bloated, resulting in some odd pacing issues.
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