Questions About The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3)

by Scott Lynch (Goodreads Author)

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Answered Questions (12)

Does anyone actually like Sabetha? Am I the only one who just wants to slap the piss out of her? And Locke for that matter...Sabetha and Dena (Kingkiller Chronicles) make me want to strangle someone - worst love interests ever!

Octavia Pearce She seems to get a bit of an unfair rap, maybe to do with the setting in which she's introduced? You expect her to be absolutely brilliant, but becaus…moreShe seems to get a bit of an unfair rap, maybe to do with the setting in which she's introduced? You expect her to be absolutely brilliant, but because the majority of the book doesn't cover any actual political manoeuvring, and and the political manoeuvring itself isn't that clever or twisted, she comes across as a bit meh. If she was introduced as an opponent in a heist book as convoluted as the first or second book, and that book spent enough time focused on the heist, she would probably come across as crazy smart and badass. But instead this book focuses on Locke pursuing his feelings and she doesn't really get a chance to do anything impressive as a criminal. Instead we just get her feeling complicated things about the guy she fancies, which is realistic but not inspiring.

For starters, having a complicated past, where people have wanted to kill and/or rape you for most of your life to date, probably doesn't help you build entirely stable relationships. It doesn't exactly help that the person she's interested in has completely undermined her. She's coming to terms with going from the most talented member of the group, to being second to a child younger and less mature than her, despite it seeming that the main reason he's managed to succeed at anything so far is by being small, unobtrusive and blooming lucky. She's demonstrating actual skill, but for some reason he's the one immediately groomed to be the leader. When she tries to point this out, he just doesn't get it, which doesn't help with her mood, and then people throw their hands up and go 'Jesus she's so moody for NO REASON it's so annoying'. Imagine if the positions were switched and Sabetha stole Locke's position as head of the group - he wouldn't be happy about it either and would probably mope around!

She also probably feels pretty lonely as all the boys are Locke's allies, not hers. Locke ofc goes on and on about Jean being her friend, which he is, but if it came down to it Jean would pick Locke over her *every single time*, so again it probably feels to her like he's not really understanding what she's saying.

The only thing that was really annoying was the scene where they talked about the red hair, but that just felt like a plot device so Locke leaves her and can get confronted, and for the end of the book.

TLDR the setting doesn't give her the chance to shine, in the flashbacks she's annoyed that her talents are overlooked in her group just because a boy joined, that boy then doesn't understand why she got a bit miffed about it, and she has no best buddies to help her through and make her bad points look good.(less)

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Do I need to read the books that came for this one or not?

liquid soap I think you could kind of start here but you must definitely read the other ones either way, they're fucking glorious. …moreI think you could kind of start here but you must definitely read the other ones either way, they're fucking glorious. (less)

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Is this book any better than the second? I mostly loved the first, but was left wanting after the glorious fantasy Oceans 11 plot of the second book got dumped for the ho-hum pirate adventure. Can't decide whether to invest in a third book.

P Not to me. I reviewed it as good but not as good as the first OR second. The first rocked. Second was good enough to get me to the third...but I will …moreNot to me. I reviewed it as good but not as good as the first OR second. The first rocked. Second was good enough to get me to the third...but I will admit, I almost did not bother. (less)

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I'm reading this book right now. I loved the first two. I didn't think I would like the second one but loved the pirate thing way more than I thought I would. This book is such a drag. I finished the first two in a few weeks. This book has taken me a few months. I have about 200 pages left and I am wondering if it gets better or is it just the same boring slog?