Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
The Lapses of Lynch’s Locke
I don’t want to piss off protected static and SxKitten, both of whom recommended The Lies of Locke Lamora, so let me first speak this novel’s praises. First: phenomenal cover art.
Either the artist read the book, or he received (and paid attention to) specific directions from the publisher. Look! Five towers! And they’re the right colors, and they have those little gossamer threads between them representing those thingies the nobles use to travel between towers! Damned impressive.
Don’t get me wrong: I enjoyed this story, and I’ll probably stick around for the sequel. As first novels go, it’s nothing short of amazing. I should be focusing on its successes, not its flaws.
Here’s the set-up. In the city-state Camorr (think Venice, circa 1580, spiced up with alchemical technology and evil-wicked mages), orphan boy Locke Lamora gets recruited by the Thiefmaker, who in short order passes the boy off to Master Chains when the kid proves too precocious and troublesome. Under the care of Master Chains, Locke and the other Gentleman Bastards receive the necessary training to con the nobles of their wealth. This violates the Secret Peace, a longstanding agreement between the nobility and the Capa (think Don Corleone with, um, swords instead of handguns) — don’t rip us off, and we’ll leave you alone to pillage the middle class. The Gentleman Bastards grow fat on their capers, but a new force comes to town. The Gray King, armed with a well-nigh-indestructible bondsmage (magical hired gun), has a plan for Locke, the Capa, and the nobles. The Gentleman Bastards’ world is about to turn upside down.
I have to give Scott Lynch credit. When I can rip through a 700+ page book in a little over a week, the author must be doing something right. (Admittedly, I grew bored around page 100 and switched to Towing Jehovah, a brilliant little fantasy about guilt and conscience, distant fathers and needy sons, nun sex and cannibalism and the two-mile-long Corpus Dei. And the sequel looks wonderful, too.) From pages 200 to 600, Lynch had me in his palm. Even the action-halting interludes, flashbacks to the Bastards’ training under Master Chains, were engaging, interesting, downright fun. They added depth to and even advanced the storyline. Usually. I’m still trying to figure out why Lynch felt it necessary to clue us in on the history of Camorr’s prostitution gangs.
But ’round page 600 I began gritting my teeth. Wait a second, Locke. Why are you walking into an obvious trap? You’re supposed to be brilliant — cleverness is your dominant feature! Yet you’re stepping into certain discovery and capture without so much as a word about a possible trap? Because — oh, yeah — the plot must be advanced.
In a story like this, the good guys outwit the bad guys. They don’t out-muscle them. Locke uses his guile in the last 100 pages, but muscle (and not a little bloodthirstiness) dominates.
I’m reminded of the ending to Doom, the movie. What’s the key feature of any version of Doom, the PC game? Guns. BIG guns, like the BFG. So how did they end the movie? With a wrestling match.
Sabetha bugged me, too. Sabetha, Locke’s long-lost love, who seems to have been damn near written-out of this book. Why mention her at all? Does she show up in the sequel? I hope so. As it stands, she’s a great big red herring.
Well, that’s all for my bitch-fest. Would I recommend this book? Yeah, sure; it was entertaining as hell, fast-paced, even laugh-out-loud funny on occasion. I’m a little disappointed, that’s all; the ending didn’t live up to the promise of the first six hundred pages.
Tell you one thing, though. This was a FIRST NOVEL and it was OVER 700 PAGES (paperback). Gives me hope I might eventually sell my SF trilogy as a single novel, which is what it really is anyway.
Apparently, all I need to do is call it a fantasy.
D.
Can’t argue with your review, though I’m a sucker for the degree of detail and backstory Lynch provided…
Yup, the backstory was indeed rich. I wish one of his readers had slapped him around about the Raven’s Reach party, though. Would have been such an easy fix, that one. The ending, not so easy, but that’s not quite as unforgivable an error, IMO.
it was entertaining as hell
That’s really what you want of a book, isn’t it?
Your critique is an example of what I’ve been bitching about: working hard at writing changes how you read. The subtext of your crit is that Lynch should have done it THIS way, or THAT way.
I go through the same thing. It’s part of the reason I couldn’t finish the Potter series.
Told you there was nun sex 😉
I haven’t read Locke Lamora, but we have it around here somewhere. I think. I know Bill read it.
Ending redeeemed the book for me. I’m not much into violence, and I got really fed up of people getting hurt in various ways. I remember thinking, when he was sealed into the barrel, that it’d be a miracle if I made it through the book.
But I liked the ending enough that I was glad that I had persevered.
Dean, you’re right. Tam feels that way, too, don’t ya Tam? Such a drag.
So, yes, the book entertained me, but I was disappointed. It could have been better.
Tam, give the book a chance. It struck me that Lynch’s world was not too dissimilar to your world, only far more urban. Same level of technology, though, and same bad-ass dark mages. Dubric is a lot more likable IMO than Locke — it took me something like 200 to 300 pages to develop any fondness for Locke whatsoever.
Marianne, what was it about the ending which so appealed to you? I would have thought the bondsmage’s fate would have turned you off, if violence disturbs you. (I’m the same way, and yes, I disliked that part. Thought it was way over the top.)
Although I’m usually an appallingly uncritical reader, I must confess that the last hundred pages almost lost me, too, for the same reasons. After racing through the first 600, I actually walked away from Locke for a couple of days. I’m glad I went back to it, though.
Has anyone read the sequel?
No. I ran out to find it as soon as I finished Lies – but it was still in hardcover. And, you know, 700 pages and all that…
But I will read the sequel.
OMG – maybe I won’t… I just Googled Lynch to find the name of the sequel (Red Seas under Red Skies), and he’s planned a SEVEN BOOK SERIES!!!
SEVEN!!!
Ahem. Sorry ’bout the shouting. But really – seven books? No wonder George RR Martin gave him a positive cover blurb.
LOL. What is it with these guys, anyway?
Neal Stephenson needs to start writing fantasy . . .
Oh, lord. I got burned by Robert Jordan and there’s no way I’m starting anything that’s a projected 7 books.
Come to think of it, I got burned by Rowling too.
I’m reading this right now, as it was gifted to my by some mysterious benefactor a few months ago so I skimmed the post to avoid any spoilers.
You know, the UK cover is much better than that one. Just my opinion.
Lyvvie – so’s the Canadian cover. It’s black with an abstract silver design, very elegant.