5/5 Stars Twisty, Tricksy, Dirty Deeds done with panache and flare. Brilliant
I have been meaning to read this book for some time and boy was it worth the wait. I am a massive fan of Douglas Hulick’s Among Thieves – Tale of the Kin, one of my favourite fantasy reads and I thought I would struggle to ever find something comparable but now I have.
I will confess that for whatever reason I did not rip through this book in a few days, though it merits it, so well was it written. I guess it was a slow-burner. That is not to say I did not enjoy every page but rather I think it was the overarching storytelling style the book started in. As our story opens we hear of Locke Lamora in a roundabout way for the first few chapters, he is spoken of rather than introduced. It was an interesting and compelling way to set the foundations for what was to come and a great introduction to Camorr the city-state our tale is set in. And my, what a fascinating, detailed and mysterious bit of world-building that was.
I loved the detailed and rich characters that inhabit the world. The bad ones, of which there are many, and the good ones which are few but all are richly unique and imagined. The dialogue deserves special mention because it is some of the best I have read. I also liked the mystery of the previous occupants of Camorr of which little is known, it added a unique element to everything.
The Gentlemen Bastards as Locke and his crew coin themselves are long cons whose misdeeds go unnoticed (for the most part). Like Robin Hood, they steal from the rich, but in the GBs case, they most assuredly do not give to the poor. In fact, they don’t seem to know quite what to do with their ‘earnings’ and it sits unspent for the most part. See they have been nurtured and trained by Father Chains for the big one and the Gentleman Bastards are about to pull it off with their biggest con yet.
Unfortunately, for the Bastards there is more going on in the underworld they inhabit. There’s Barsavi the Thief Lord of Camorr, the mysterious Grey King formenting trouble and the Grand Duke’s Midnighters on the prowl for the Thorn of Camorr. It all paints a fantastic picture and weaves a twisty, bendy story of dodge and cheat, murder and mayhem. It is brutal and dark and unforgiving all at the same time and no one is safe. Locke is a character you will root for as are all of the GBs though I was rather taken with Jean Tannen the more his past and present is told.
The story is told in the present day but rather cleverly has numerous interludes mid-chapter that take you back in time to Locke and his crew when they were younger and learning under Father Chains. A really good way to reveal more of what makes them all tick and how their deep-seated bond of brotherhood was founded.
Though this is book one it is a complete story, so whilst there are lots of cliffhanger chapters there is a satisfying (depending on your point of view) ending.
Finally, an amusing observation. As I was writing this review I couldn’t help but notice that The Lies of Locke Lamora was ranked on Amazon at #181 in Parenting & Families. No. Just no, lol. This book most definitely does not belong there.
A D Green 