The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1) in /r/Fantasy Discussion Group

Sep 30, 2019 Rinaldo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, united-states

4.15/5

If you ask me, The Lies of Locke Lamora is heist fantasy meets gangster/mafia genre. Featuring the titular thief Locke Lamora and his Gentleman Bastard crew, this book tells the crew's deeds in pulling an elaborate con while trying to survive a major gang war. The tropes like gangster family, tribute system, and revenge plots remind me a lot of movies like The Godfather and Goodfellas (I especially suspect the term Right People in the book is a tribute to the latter).

I have a conflicted re 4.15/5

If you ask me, The Lies of Locke Lamora is heist fantasy meets gangster/mafia genre. Featuring the titular thief Locke Lamora and his Gentleman Bastard crew, this book tells the crew's deeds in pulling an elaborate con while trying to survive a major gang war. The tropes like gangster family, tribute system, and revenge plots remind me a lot of movies like The Godfather and Goodfellas (I especially suspect the term Right People in the book is a tribute to the latter).

I have a conflicted relationship with this book. The first half of the book forme is a middling slog with really fascinating bits of worldbuilding, while the third quarter is where things start to pick up and build to a crescendo, and the last quarter is an excellently orchestrated chaos with sweet, sweet epilogue. Pacing is surely a subjective thing since contrary to the popular consensus, I feel the majority of the book is a slog it sent me to a reading rut (it took me 5 weeks with 6 Cradle books and 1 literary fiction -Tiger! Tiger!- in between to get rid of the rut).

The mood and plot of this book are a mixed bag for me. I guess I'm a bit of SFF traditionalist in a sense that I prefer good or even goody two-shoes heroes compared to the 'selfish' ones. Some elements in this book are too close to cynical/grimdark outlook to my taste. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the camaraderie shown by Locke and his friend. The worldbuilding is dense but almost always enjoyable with a lot of focus on canal cityscapes and alchemy, and the climaxes are satisfying. It's also always delightful to see how Locke, a unique blend of Cleric and Rogue archetypes, always tries to bullshit his way out different situations; a breath of fresh air compared to usual combat-heavy fantasy fare.

Humour-wise, I enjoyed most of Locke's inventive insults, but for some reasons, the "Nice bird, arsehole," line fell painfully short for me. At this point, I feel popular fantasy one-liners in general are personally underwhelming, like the infamous "Ashaman, kill," from Wheel of Time and the ubiquitous "Witness," from Malazan Book of the Fallen. I'm not quite sure if it's a matter of expectations (since I learned about those lines through osmosis, even when they were spoiler or context-free) or if it's just my affinity with one-liners in general. I'm curious about my future reaction to "Honor is dead," in Stormlight Archive.

In any case, despite my complaints, I still feel that The Lies of Locke Lamora is a great heist-gangster fantasy with tight plot, likeable cast, and fascinating worldbuilding. I'd recommend this book for any heist fantasy aficionados or SFF readers who enjoy snappy dialogue in general. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 07, 2020 Ketutar Jensen rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf

Life is too short to read bad books.

Well... The Lies of Locke Lamora isn't a bad book. In fact, it is well beloved by many readers, nominated by many as one of the best Fantasy books ever written, and Gentleman Bastards are mentioned as one of the best Fantasy series, even when it's not even finished. I think there's three books in the series of seven, or something like that. I cannot correctly judge the writing or language or anything like that, all I can say if I like it or not.
And I don't li ...more

Like · see review

Jul 24, 2013 Emily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, poc-sff, im-here-for-the-meta

It's fun ye olde urban fantasy. A Mediterranean setting is a refreshing place to see Bondsmagi and alchemists running around. And, and, women with many relevant competencies, and not a single damsel among them!

And the Elderglass? Genius. Here's my nitpick: this book shows how important history is to fantasy world-building. George R.R. Martin does history by building narrative on the foundation of the intricate politics between the Houses of Westeros. J.R.R. Tolkien gives us the poetry and stori ...more

Like · see review