The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1) in Fantasy-Faction.com

Jun 16, 2016 Seán rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2016, reviewed

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I enjoyed it so much that I'll forgive the near 200 pages of fragmented introduction to the world that we begin with, and dish out for 4 stars instead of 3. Almost the entire first half of 'Locke Lamora' is character and world-building, with the main plot being teased at and set up slowly. But when things kick off, they do so in an excellent manner, and by the end of the book I felt like my time with the first half was well invested - not just in this story In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I enjoyed it so much that I'll forgive the near 200 pages of fragmented introduction to the world that we begin with, and dish out for 4 stars instead of 3. Almost the entire first half of 'Locke Lamora' is character and world-building, with the main plot being teased at and set up slowly. But when things kick off, they do so in an excellent manner, and by the end of the book I felt like my time with the first half was well invested - not just in this story, but in the series as a whole.

Although the pacing of the exposition is a bit slow, the structure and content that is delivered is fantastic. I love the format that most chapters follow: first we get the main plot advancing in a traditional manner, but following this we get an 'Interlude,' which expands initially on Locke's background and his life in Camorra, and then later in the book, on the city and the world as a whole. We get details that are both ancillary to the plot as well as teasing the world of Camorra and beyond. I found this to be an excellent structure for delivering exposition - the main problem being that these 'Interludes' have more apparent content than the actual chapters early on, creating a fragmented and staggered pace. Luckily, this is a problem that sorts itself out - once I hit the 250 page mark, I flew through the rest of the book.

Lynch has created a fun and entertaining character with Locke Lamora, and he does a good job of not slipping into 'Mary-Sue' territory. Sure, Locke is excellent at what he does and gets away with a lot of situations that most would fall down in, but, as we read though the book, we can believe that Locke has worked hard on his abilities and has earned the right to be confident in them. Lynch is also not afraid to get dark and graphic when the story requires it, something which keeps Locke in the world of mortals.

One thing that I certainly appreciated, especially in retrospect, is the setting that has been introduced by Lynch. There appears to be a vast and detailed world for us to explore, and it looks that the next book will extend beyond Camorra, so I am very interested to see what Lynch does in the follow-up.

In short: I thoroughly enjoyed 'The Lies of Locke Lamora'. It is slow to start and requires a bit of patience, but once things pick up at around the half-way mark, they do not stop until a satisfying ending. This is a series that I feel strongly invested in after the first book, and I am looking forward to picking up the next one. ...more

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