Red Seas Under Red Skies

Building on the first one, I felt that I enjoyed the heist side of this one much more. It reminds me of the movie “Lucky Number Slevin” (which wasn't as good as this book), where our heroes are thrust into situation after situation where they are being exploited for their unique set of skills. The main arc with the Sinspire was the the one I was most interested in, but felt the resolution wasn't as strong. Leaving off much more in the middle of the story than the first book, I'll need to read #3 to know where this one goes.

This is a great follow-up story to a fantastic first book! I really care for these characters and their allies. That's obviously important in a multi-book series, but what keeps me going are the new situations, the new cons, and the twists and turns that follow. It's been pretty obvious in both books that the Gentlemen Bastards are going to pull off all their long-cons successfully, but they're always pulled off with unforeseen results and consequences.

The most fun part of this book is the plot. Taking our flawed, yet beloved heroes and making them unwilling pirates is a twist on the fish out of water (no pun intended) trope that I don't think I've ever encountered. Scott Lynch's realization to make that the focal point of the book is genius; and making them break into the life of being pirates the way only Locke and Jean could, by conning, is a testament to how well Lynch knows his protagonists.

The ONLY gripes I have about this book are fairly moot. First is that it's too obvious when a certain major character is headed to meet their maker. The whole setup is just like, “Well, OK, they're not making it to the end of this chapter”. It's just a bit disappointing because I didn't get that obvious foreshadowing in the first book's dealing with major characters' death; but I digress.

The other fault is more of a pet-peeve. In TV shows, I greatly dislike it when the show opens with a major battle, or a “WTF situation” and then the credits role and you're presented with “24 hours earlier” first act. Ugh, that bugs me. There's no need to do that unless the story leading up to that moment is sub-par and you (the writer) know it.

In this book, the story begins with an impossible situation from close to the end of the book where Jean betrays Locke. The point is thrown in the reader's face that the always-aware Locke sees no hand signals from Jean that he's playing a role, and then BAM, you rewind a few months to the actual beginning of the story; Chapter 1. Pretty intense. The whole time reading the book, that moment is in the back of your mind. You can't wait for it to happen! Then you kinda forget about it as you are too busy being engrossed in this great story. Then, a chapter begins with a familiar situation to the reader and you say, out loud, “Hell ya, this is it!”. Then the moment happens, the situation is played out and, just like in those TV episodes, it turns out to either be a misunderstanding or a double-cross you see coming from the actual story leading up to the moment. In “Red Seas Under Red Skies” case, the explanation is super lame and a total cop-out. It feels like Scott Lynch himself forgot he wrote that Prologue, realized he needed to craft a scene with it, and then explains what happens in the most character-breaking moment in the history of ALL BOOKS EVER! /hyperbole

So, ya, stop doing that crap, writers. It benefits no one. Focus on the story and not an “inside of the jacket paragraph”-type prologue to grab your audience. There are so many other great pay-offs in this book that the in-your-face moment that needed a huge pay-off was pitiful.

So, after that diatribe, get reading this series. It's fantastic!

I was told Red Seas wasn't quite as good as Lies, but it was still pretty great. I very much enjoy Lynch's style of writing, his slow reveals, and determination not to pull any punches (save one which is the reason this book is going at 4 rather than 5).

Most of this book could stand under the same review as Lies: Locke is great. Jean is great. This book also reminds us that cats are great. The new characters are a fun bunch, and I absolutely love how Lynch decides to completely upend the “Women are Bad Luck on Ships” to “Go out to ship without a woman and you are DOOMED!” He cadre of lady pirates (which does make me think of that Muppet Babies episode with the PiRETTES! Anyone remember that? No? Awesome) are great not only because they are fabulous examples of buccaneers, but because not once does anyone every question their skill or authority because of their gender. Too many times, women are brought into “manly” roles to just have it pointed out how special they are for achieving these roles against the odds. In Lynch's world, there are no odds. People in their roles got them through skill or luck or bribery or whatever, but never because or in spite of their gender. Lynch even makes a point of mentioning both male and female extras among the guards, crews, and other Redshirts that appear throughout the book. As messed up as Locke's world can be, this part they got right.

Thrilling adventure, fast pacing, convoluted schemes. If you like Lies (and are okay with letting the Bondsmagi plotline sorta drop off for a novel), you'll enjoy this one.

The only thing that really bugged me was the teaser scene. You get this great lead in to the story and then slowly build up to that point over the course of the novel. We know Jean would never turn on Locke as sure as we know Locke is not going to die of poison anytime soon in this 7 book series. What we don't know is why he is faking it. The answer seems obvious, but Locke goes out of his way to say that Jean is giving him no hand signals. NO clue. This is getting real, y'all. Then we build and build and build and find that Locke just missed Jean's hand signal. Locke, master of observation missed this hand signal? That just doesn't pan out and was such a let down. Maybe if there'd been some sort of Bondsmagi trickery that made Locke miss the hand signal ... maybe... but that is never explained. I'd even forget it if Lynch hadn't used it as the teaser for the whole book, setting it up as some huge epic turning point only to end up an utterly forgettable moment. Boo hiss.

Rant aside, the story still stands, the world still stands, and I'm looking forward to the series continuing, though I may wait a bit to read three until four is closer on the horizon.

Executive Summary: This book is uneven, and I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as [b:The Lies of Locke Lamora 127455 The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1) Scott Lynch http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320532483s/127455.jpg 2116675], but the second half more than makes up for the first to make this an enjoyable read.Full ReviewThis book is very uneven. The beginning was painfully slow. It seemed like little happened and Mr. Lynch was determined to describe everything in minute details.A lot of what did happen seemed like a rehash of the first book in a new city and not nearly as fun.Locke and Jean are dealing with the aftermath of the first book and things aren't going well. Like the last book this book mixes chapters of the present with flashback chapters filling in the reader on past events as they are relevant to the current story. I still think this works well.Thankfully somewhere in the middle or so the book takes a turn. We have ships, and pirates, and of course plots within plots.This book adds some greatly needed female characters, and provides interesting superstitions about sailing a boat without female officers and cats. Cats? Yeah, though kittens seem preferred.The humor and the relationship of Jean and Locke continue, albeit under even more strain than the last novel. There are a lot of great quotes to choose from again.I would almost call this book stand alone like the last save for some very major plot points left unresolved at the end and obviously the need to have read [b:The Lies of Locke Lamora 127455 The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1) Scott Lynch http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320532483s/127455.jpg 2116675] first.Overall the second half of the book was much better and despite the slow start the book really got it's hooks into me and was hard to put down.I debated between 4 stars and 3 on here and decided to round up since it ended better than it began.3.5 Stars

When you stop and think of the effort Lynch has had to put into creating the world these Gentleman Bastards, you've got to tip your hat to him. It's truly mind-boggling. Even if you aren't charmed by Locke Lamora, if you don't cheer for Jean Tannen, if you don't want to see them triumph over all their marks, if you don't find their games – long and short – amusing, ingenious, daring, clever, and occasionally nail-biting, you still have to acknowledge the sheer brilliance of this man's work – it's so intricate, so well-developed, so detailed, it's breathtaking. Oh, and you're wrong to not fall in love with this series. Utterly wrong.

Red Seas picks up a couple of years after the events of [b:The Lies of Locke Lamora|127455|The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1)|Scott Lynch|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320532483s/127455.jpg|2116675], with Jean and Locke still dealing with the fallout – with some flashbacks to the days immediately following it, where the psychological and physical damage is a lot more evident. There's a lot for these guys to recover from, and the best way they know to do that is to get back on the horse and try to pull off a job, and not just any job – where's the fun in doing anything less than the impossible?

Because, like [b:The Lies of Locke Lamora|127455|The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1)|Scott Lynch|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320532483s/127455.jpg|2116675], this book's plot involves several con jobs, a lot of back-stabbing, double-dealing, and other forms of lying and duplicity, it's very difficult to write much about the plot without spoiling something. So let me just say, in the midst of the multiple layers of twists and turns here, you get a casino, assassins, enough aliases to really confuse a guy, a corrupt military mastermind, a twisted variation on gladiatorial games, poisons, blackmail, counterfeit antique furniture, love, extortion, and pirates!

I'm simply in awe of the way Lynch does all that he does with these books. Do yourself a favor, and start reading.

Full review at SFF Book Review.

This is just a very quick impression. I could talk about Scott Lynch for days.
If you loved The Lies of Locke Lamora as much as me, you will feel an equal reluctance in returning to that universe of awesome fantasy places, quippy con men and a group of guys who are like brothers. Too much has been lost at the end of book one, too many things were still resonating with me and so I took a break.

The break lasted until now - another publication date set for The Republic of thieves (October 2013) and my boyfriend reading Locke Lamora for the first time, chuckling and shouting “That is so awesome” on every other page.

Scott Lynch has managed something very few authors do. To bring back a sense of the known and beloved characters and world he set up in book one, and to add something entirely new, to thrown even more difficult situations their way and have them get out by the skin of their teeth - if at all.
This swashbuckling adventure on the high seas and in the vibrant city of Tal Verrar was possibly even more fun than our first stop in Camorr. Please don't make me choose!

If you're just looking for a hint whether to pick up the second book at all: DO IT!
It's the same humor we learned to love in book one, the same great characters, just new adventures, cleverer tricks, cons within cons and - a special bonus for me - kittens!

9,5/10 stars

Edit added 6/26/2020: Recently it???s come to light that Scott Lynch is a serial emotional abuser and manipulator. I did not know that at the time I wrote this since I don???t move in the same spaces as his victims, but I???m leaving this note here now to say that, despite my high praise of this novel, I absolutely do not condone his behavior at any point in time, whether I was aware of it or not. Any of his books that I now have will not be reviewed on this blog. Review of any of his future work will depend upon whether he has demonstrated any actual, genuine change in his behavior going forward.

One of the great things about having friends who share the same tastes in books as I do is that we get to pass books around. If I discover something that I absolutely enjoy, I can tell my friends about it (via Twitter, usually, or face-to-face whenever possible), and they'll pick it up. If they, in their turn, have a book they think I'd enjoy and so recommend to me, I'll go out of my way to pick up the book in question and read it ahead of anything else I might have planned to read (as was the case with Ender's Game, which I wasn't planning on reading at all until it was recommended to me - most insistently, at that). Sometimes they like it as much as I do, sometimes more, or sometimes less. The degree of liking doesn't really bother me much; we're different people, after all, and I don't expect them to always agree with me. They treat me in the same way, as well - and for that I'm grateful, because I dread to imagine what would happen if liking or disliking a book was a deal-breaker for our friendship.

It was in this spirit of sharing and caring that I most vigorously recommended The Lies of Locke Lamora, the first of Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards series of fantasy novels. I'd already read and reviewed the novel, but had not begun the sequel, Red Seas Under Red Skies, since I have a policy of spacing out my reading when it comes to series. My friend Hope, though, practically devoured The Lies of Locke Lamora, having fallen in love with it, and went straight to Red Seas Under Red Skies, finishing three-fourths of it by the time I decided to pick it up. And another friend, Sian, who lives in Cebu, picked up the first novel just recently, and I could hear her heart break all the way here in Manila when certain events (which she - rightfully, now that I think about it - compared to the Red Wedding in George R.R. Martin's Storm of Swords) occurred during the course of her reading. This has, naturally, caused a flurry of giggling, squealing, and shrieking over on Facebook and Twitter - the natural result when we all fall in love with a book or a series of books.

In my review of The Lies of Locke Lamora, I stated that the novel was one of those rare few that turned me into a shrieking, giggling fangirl, and there was good reason for that. As a pragmatist, however, I was somewhat concerned that Red Seas Under Red Skies would not quite be the same. I was worried that it would not have the same brilliance, the same shine, as the first book. It turns out that I was right - and I am quite happy that's the case.

Red Seas Under Red Skies takes place after the events of The Lies of Locke Lamora. Having no choice but to flee Camorr after the events in the first novel, Locke Lamora and Jean Tannen, the sole survivors of the diaster that befell their gang, have escaped first to Vel Virazzo, and then to Tal Verrar. These events, of course, are not told in sequence: the prologue is actually an event that takes place in the middle portion of the novel. Vel Virazzo, though, is where Locke and Jean first make landfall, as it were, after fleeing from Camorr, and Locke is deep in depression and guilt over what happened there. He eventually snaps out of it, though (or rather, Jean snaps him out of it, both literally and metaphorically), and they lay down plans for their next big heist: to rob the notoriously impenetrable and well-guarded vault of the Sinspire of Tal Verrar - a place the reader would recognize as a very exclusive casino.

Unfortunately, things don't quite go as they should for Locke and Jean, and after two years of carefully laying down their plans for the Sinspire heist, they are suddenly caught up in a plot involving the Archon of Tal Verrar, who has been informed by the Bondsmagi of Karthain (who have their own bone to pick with the two Camorri conmen) as to Locke and Jean's true identities. Desperate to stay in power, the Archon decides to use Locke and Jean's inimitable skills as conmen to stir up trouble amongst the pirates of the Ghostwinds in an attempt at power-play against the Priori, a group of merchants who control almost all the wealth of Tal Verrar. Locke and Jean have no choice in this matter (how is made clear in the novel), and so go off to sea, with Locke spinning plan after plan and scheme after scheme in the hopes that everything will turn out as he and Jean want it to.

When I mentioned earlier that this isn't as brilliant as the first novel, that is quite true. It's still quite witty, but not as much as Locke Lamora. Locke is still extremely clever with his schemes, but they do not show the same panache as the schemes he executed in the first book. There is an edge of desperation, almost, in the schemes he concocts. To be fair, they are still mind-bending in their scope: I sometimes wonder how it is that Scott Lynch can get away with Locke hatching all these ridiculous plans and still making the reader believe that Locke and Jean pull through somehow, but I suppose this is because the groundwork for belief (or the suspension of disbelief) has already been laid in the first book. No matter how insane the scheme, no matter how crazy the plan, the reader is reasonably confident that Locke and Jean will pull through because they've already done precisely that in the first book.

And now that I speak of Locke and Jean, their relationship is further explored in this novel. It has already been made clear in the first book that they are very close friends, but that relationship is put to the test even further in Red Seas. In Locke Lamora they have had everything taken away from them; there is nothing for them left in Camorr, which is why they have fled the city in the first place. They are all the other has left in the world, and they must either cling to each other in order to survive. Of course, given everything that's happened, it should come as no surprise that a certain amount of strain would be put on their relationship, and Lynch does not shy away from it in the least. This further exploration of the relationship between Locke and Jean will please those who have been looking for a bit more characterization for Locke; the first one-third of the novel is pretty much about Locke and Jean strengthening their relationship in the face of everything that's happened - and that includes learning to trust each other again.

That strengthened relationship, though, serves them well later on in the novel, as it's their trust in each other that's the only thing that sees them through some of the most insane plot events that I have ever read yet. To be sure, there was a lot going on in Locke Lamora, but it was easy to keep track of most of that. The layers in Red Seas however, are exceptionally thick, with Locke and Jean taking on multiple identities at the same time, managing not just one, but two cons at the same time. This should have been easier, one would think, but then one remembers that it would have been easier if the rest of the Gentlemen Bastards were there, and they are most assuredly not there anymore - not to mention the Bondsmagi are out to get Locke and Jean for what they did to the Falconer.

This means that in Red Seas, Locke and Jean both lose some of the polish they formerly had in Locke Lamora: they are grittier now, harder around the edges, and less flippant than they were in the first book. Given everything that's happened so far, this really should come as no surprise. In fact, it's only right.

Another thing that constrains Locke and Jean is the environment they're operating in. Tal Verrar is nothing like Camorr; it's essentially ruled by a military dictator, and military dictators imply the presence of military police - the Archon's Eyes, as they're called. Corruption still works, but not as effectively as it did in Camorr, and there is no Secret Peace and no Capa that controls the Right People of Tal Verrar. Without the same freedoms they are accustomed to, Locke and Jean have no choice but to operate very carefully indeed, because they do not have the support of “their kind of people.”

All of that changes, of course, when the Archon sends the two of them off to stir up trouble in the Ghostwinds, amongst the pirate fleet there. After a series of very odd events, what begins as a heist novel turns into a pirate novel when Locke and Jean find themselves on the Poison Orchid, captained by Zamira Drakasha, aided by her second, Ezri Delmastro. In the crew of the Poison Orchid Lynch has created a bunch of new characterst that are easy to love: from the cranky Scholar Treganne to the cleverly-named Mumchance, those of the crew that have a face and a name are given enough time to work their way into the reader's heart.

Also, once more Lynch does the female of the species great credit in his world. There is no Sabetha yet, but the novel doesn't want for fun female characters. There is Selendri, confidante (and lover) of Requin, master of the Sinspire. There is also Merrain, right-hand to the Archon. Both of these ladies are deadly in their own right, feared and respected by those around them.

And then there are the two most important people on the Poison Orchid: Zamira Drakasha and Ezri Delmastro. The first impression the reader gets of Drakasha is this quote of Jean describing the captain of the Orchid:

She had it. She wore it like a cloak. The same aura that he'd once seen in Capa Barsavi, something that slept inside until it was drawn out by anger or need, so sudden and so terrible. Death itself was beating a tread upon the ship's planks.

This comparison to Capa Barsavi is crucial, and sums up in a few words the kind of authority that Drakasha wields on her ship. Further on in the story her characterization deepens, because then she is represented as a fair leader and a mother, especially since she has brought her two children aboard, despite all the dangers of the pirating life. The reasoning for this is a very solid one, and the fact that she is presented as a mother at all is something I thoroughly approve of.

As for Ezri, she is everything that the best of the Gentlemen Bastards were, before the destruction of their gang: pugnacious, fearless, and extremely loyal. As the reader gets to know her, it is easy to see her working alongside Jean and Locke on some heist, especially when the relationship between Jean and herself begins to deepen. But it will also do the reader well that Lynch is no wishy-washy writer, and any wishy-washy desires really ought to get shunted to the side.

All in all, Red Seas Under Red Skies is a most worthy continuation to The Lies of Locke Lamora. The narration and dialogue are still as clever as they were in the last novel, and the world-building is still fantastic, but Red Seas is a little darker, a little edgier, with less of that easy cleverness that predominated in Locke Lamora. This, however, is to be expected, and will definitely leave the reader wanting to know more and read the third book (which comes out later this year).

While I may not have loved this one as much as Lies, it was still fantastic to take a trip with Locke and Jean and meet, and lose, some fantastic new people. It was also a blast to learn about the sea of glass the sin spire and more. If y loved Lies yang miss this one.

Another fantastic book by Scott Lynch. This book was a little different from the first, in that it ended differently than what I was hoping for. That doesn't make it any worse, just different. Great read, and it definitely has me hooked to read book 3. I HAVE to know what happens after the end of book 2.

Unlike many reviewers, I thought this book was as good as the first book, The Lies of Locke Lamora. Of course, what I liked the most from that book can be found in this book also – the lavish descriptions of setting, costumes, and the pirate boat itself. Mr. Lynch makes note in the book that he is no sailor and that many aspects of the pirate scenes may not be wholly accurate, so I give him a pass if he misses the mark on the pirate boats. Since I don't read much nautical-oriented fiction (or non-fiction), it seemed fine to me while I was reading it; I had no problems picturing the vivid scenes in my mind.

The action is not the same as that in the first book, but the action is still very much there in this book. This book really focuses on one great scheme designed by Locke and Jean (main characters), while the first book had several smaller schemes. In this book, the scheme has “sub”-schemes that begin to weave away from the main scheme.

I thought this book was just as entertaining, funny, and wonderfully written as the first and highly recommend it.

My review of this book is here: http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2007/09/red-seas-under-red-skies.html