The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA
by Scott Lynch

Spectra
June 27, 2006

From Goodreads:

An orphan’s life is harsh—and often short—in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game—or die trying.

Ok. This book knocked me on my ass in just about every way possible. In ways I didn’t even know I could be knocked in my ass.

It surprised me in just about every chapter. Half of the time it outright shocked me. I saw a few things coming, but not many. I was very unprepared, emotionally, for many events.

These events brought several strong reactions out of me. Anger, joy, hilarity, intrigue, deception, and… what would you call it when you get sweet, sweet revenge? Whatever it’s called, THAT! tLoLL is one of those books that takes you through the whole emotional spectrum.

The characters were fantastic. You can’t help but like them, even if they really are bastards. (The series being called gentlemen bastards, I suppose this shouldn’t be a surprise.) Take Locke Lamora himself. At times he seems untouchable. Perfect at everything, and never makes mistake. But each time it seems like that, we’re shown yet another flaw or watch him make yet another mistake. And it’s all wonderful. Even his intro/backstory is equal parts tragedy and awesomeness.

The writing itself is great as well. Beautiful, really. Especially the dialogue. Everyone is so verbose. Even the scum of the city have a better vocabulary than I do. And yet, it doesn’t come off as forced or too much. It all seems very natural and fitting.

My only complaint was that sometimes the narrative goes on a little long. I mean, sometimes it’s okay just to state something simply. Even Tolstoy would probably roll his eyes at some of these passages and yell out, “Dude! Condense!”

In the spirit of that, if I had to describe this book in a single word, I’d call it: masterful. That said, you need to read this. You. The one reading these words right now. You might be saying to yourself, “he’s not talking to me…” I am talking to you. Read it. READ IT!

Fun fact about this book: Buddy read with the Bionic Book Worm. It was a lot of fun to message her multiple times a week with something like, “WHAT THE HELL!?!?”