Description from Goodreads:
An orphan’s life is harsh — and often short — in the island city of Camorr, built on the ruins of a mysterious alien race. Born with a quick wit and a gift for thieving, Locke Lamora dodges both death and slavery, only to fall into the hands of an eyeless priest known as Chains, neither blind nor a priest. A con artist of extraordinary talent, Chains passes his skills on to his carefully selected family of orphans “Gentlemen Bastards.”
Locke grows to lead, delightedly pulling off one outrageous trick after another, infamous as the Thorn of Camorr—no wealthy noble is safe from his sting. But the Gray King is slowly killing Capa Barsavi’s most trusted men and using Locke as a pawn in his plot to take control of Camorr’s underworld. With a bloody coup under way threatening to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the magically protected Gray King at his own brutal game — or die trying.
Locke grows to lead, delightedly pulling off one outrageous trick after another, infamous as the Thorn of Camorr—no wealthy noble is safe from his sting. But the Gray King is slowly killing Capa Barsavi’s most trusted men and using Locke as a pawn in his plot to take control of Camorr’s underworld. With a bloody coup under way threatening to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the magically protected Gray King at his own brutal game — or die trying.
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I'm a huge fan of George R.R. Martin's writing, and the first thing that made me interested in The Lies of Locke Lamora was the fact that in the cover of the book is a quote from Martin: "Fresh, original, and engrossing tale by a bright new voice." I mean, if this doesn't capture your attention what does? I just needed to get my hands on this book. I tend to have really high expectations of every book I'm planning to read, whether it had been rated over 4.0 or under 3.0 on Goodreads. So as one can imagine, having sky high expectations can some times (or plenty of times) result in sore disappointment. But all my expectations were met after I had finished reading The Lies of Locke Lamora.
It's just really difficult to start with this book - there are so much to say about it! First of all the writing was just so beautiful yet so effortless. Every chapter was a page turner as almost every other chapter was about how Locke Lamora ended up in a position as the leader of Gentleman Bastards, and the other half was about the events that took place in the present. The plot was incredible addicting as you just had to know what Locke and his companions are going to next and whether they succeed in their crimes. This and the witty humour of the irreplaceable characters was just a killer combination.
And how about the world? Oh, dear. Thanks to the fantastic writing, it did justice to The Lies of Locke Lamora. Lynch has an incredible mind for details concerning not only the physical world but also the history, hierarchies, and culture! The whole book is just so epic in every aspect from the grandiose city centre to the scheming of Lamora. While reading the book I felt like the world itself became reality, and I was just absorbed so that I forgot the real world around me completely.
Absolutely one of my favourite things in the novel is the Gentleman Bastards group. They pull off these scams of epic proportions and always seem to get away with them. It's really rare for me to get emotionally attached to all "good" main characters, but once again The Lies of Locke Lamora surprised me. I loved all of the members of Gentleman Bastards, even though Lamora gets most of the attention. Lamora is the brains, the twins Calo and Caldo had the wits to do anything, Jean was the muscles, and Bug was the eager apprentice. I loved how they all were so very different from each other yet they made the perfect group of conmen.
I'm so-o-o-o glad Lynch decided to do a series out of this! Even though The Lies of Locke Lamora could have survived alone, I'm super happy as I can continue the adventures with Gentleman Bastards. Even though I hate to say "to the lovers of __ series", I can't help myself to say that those who enjoy A Song of Ice and Fire series, Ocean's Eleven and The Godfather movie trilogy will also find themselves engrossed by The Lies of Locke Lamora. There is so much potential in this series to become one of my favourite series, so I'm really looking forward to see what Scott Lynch will do with the future books!
It's just really difficult to start with this book - there are so much to say about it! First of all the writing was just so beautiful yet so effortless. Every chapter was a page turner as almost every other chapter was about how Locke Lamora ended up in a position as the leader of Gentleman Bastards, and the other half was about the events that took place in the present. The plot was incredible addicting as you just had to know what Locke and his companions are going to next and whether they succeed in their crimes. This and the witty humour of the irreplaceable characters was just a killer combination.
And how about the world? Oh, dear. Thanks to the fantastic writing, it did justice to The Lies of Locke Lamora. Lynch has an incredible mind for details concerning not only the physical world but also the history, hierarchies, and culture! The whole book is just so epic in every aspect from the grandiose city centre to the scheming of Lamora. While reading the book I felt like the world itself became reality, and I was just absorbed so that I forgot the real world around me completely.
Absolutely one of my favourite things in the novel is the Gentleman Bastards group. They pull off these scams of epic proportions and always seem to get away with them. It's really rare for me to get emotionally attached to all "good" main characters, but once again The Lies of Locke Lamora surprised me. I loved all of the members of Gentleman Bastards, even though Lamora gets most of the attention. Lamora is the brains, the twins Calo and Caldo had the wits to do anything, Jean was the muscles, and Bug was the eager apprentice. I loved how they all were so very different from each other yet they made the perfect group of conmen.
I'm so-o-o-o glad Lynch decided to do a series out of this! Even though The Lies of Locke Lamora could have survived alone, I'm super happy as I can continue the adventures with Gentleman Bastards. Even though I hate to say "to the lovers of __ series", I can't help myself to say that those who enjoy A Song of Ice and Fire series, Ocean's Eleven and The Godfather movie trilogy will also find themselves engrossed by The Lies of Locke Lamora. There is so much potential in this series to become one of my favourite series, so I'm really looking forward to see what Scott Lynch will do with the future books!
☆☆☆☆☆
Great review! Now I can't wait to start this series! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's really great! I highly recommend it. :)
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