Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

150 reviews

booksofapage's review against another edition

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3.5

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luise96's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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lybarron's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Fun as hell. An excellent grimdark heist fantasy. The world felt immersive and despite it's crassness and dark themes it was funny and I enjoyed following along with the antics of all the characters.

I do think the book could have had better representation of women, but my hopes are that this first book will set the foundation for better stories to come.

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aur's review against another edition

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dark

3.75

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cassie7e's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Dark and violent but consistently funny and compelling as well. An intriguing world, subtle grounded magic, and lovable thieves. Scenes from different timelines woven together at just the right times to reveal information and character development.

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raincloud35's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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ceeceereads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Lies of Locke Lamora

★★★★☆ 4/5

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW:

A worthwhile fantasy to read, 4/5 stars overall. Some readers may find the pacing jarring, as every chapter jumps from the present to the past in ‘interludes’, often disrupting the flow of present events. I personally quite liked it, as none of the interludes were wasteful, and all shed further light on something.

QUICK SUMMARY OF PROS & CONS:

Pros:

Great prose that balances detail and progression
Great overall world-building
Morally grey main character that is actually morally grey (this trope is too overused and many authors do not fully commit to the bit)
This is one of the few books I’ve read where dialogue intended to be comedic actually landed.
Certain plot points that felt like irrelevant filler at first had great payoff.

Cons:

A bit of a slow start which may be off-putting to some. You may not feel like you have a good grasp of the world and plot until around 30-50% into the book.
Some plot points felt more convenient than clever.
A major world-building element feels illogical if you think too hard about it.
Many interesting side characters feel underdeveloped in favour of world-building (could be a pro if you really enjoy world-building, however!)

REVIEW WITH SPOILERS:

Writing style and world-building:

I really enjoyed Lynch’s prose; if I had to try to describe it, it would probably be something like ‘flowery but not allergy-inducing’. Though I know many disagree, for me personally, his sentences carry the right balance of detail versus straightforwardness, and he constructs imagery with a subtle touch of elegance. Some of my favourite phrases were:

‘Throwing blondes at Locke Lamora was not unlike throwing lettuce at sharks, and the Doña Sofia was very blonde.’
‘When you're a priest, people tend to see the robe rather than the man.’
‘She was not so much withered as collapsed, a spindly living caricature like a wooden idol animated by the sorcery of sheer willpower.’

The world was difficult to get a good grasp on initially, as you are thrown directly into the plot of Locke’s first game with Don Lorenzo. However, as you read, you are fed small bits and pieces of information until the jigsaw becomes complete, and you feel completely immersed in Camorr.

The interludes contribute greatly to establishing both the world and the characters. There were small tidbits of information that initially felt like filler but then were met with fantastic payoff. For example, I loved the callback to Jean always showing up to save Locke’s ass as children, and it felt right for Jean to be the final distraction that doomed the Grey King. Admittedly, I do feel the interludes disrupt the flow of the main plot at times (and that some are just utterly boring!), and it’s understandable why many are put off by them, but overall the benefits still outweighed the costs for me ~~(I will also take all the Father Chains scenes I can get, thank you)~~.

My one major gripe with the story is the logistics of the bondsmagi. Because there is still so much unknown about them, they read as some sort of deus ex machina to the plot. The book doesn’t (at least not yet) justify why they are in the position of power they are in. If they are as powerful and feared as they are, why haven’t they taken over the world? If they are low in numbers, why aren’t they being actively hunted by, well, everyone? If it’s because they are extremely unified, which they are described to be, why hasn’t there been any infighting amongst them? The book details that the faction can overpower singular detractors through a sheer numbers advantage, but what prevents the faction itself from splitting off into two and fighting each other for control? And what are they doing with the money they accumulate? Surely they’d have a huge hand in the economy with all the money they make…

They were such an integral part of the plot, and yet I feel their existence had not been justified to me properly. I hope this was a deliberate choice, and that I’ll get answers from the rest of the series, otherwise, I’ll be extremely disappointed.

Protagonist:

Locke is one of the best depictions of a morally-grey character I’ve read. I feel that many books these days are advertised as morally grey, but so few live up to those words. For me, personally, a protagonist who sometimes does bad things is not morally grey; a protagonist who feels bad about their actions is not morally grey. For me, a morally grey protagonist is someone who unapologetically does bad things, suffers the consequences for doing those things, feels bad about it, and yet continues as they are because…it is who they are. Locke fits the bill here.

I also enjoyed how the story stays consistent with his weaknesses. It was established early on that Locke was a strategist, not a fighter, and relied heavily on Jean for any roughhousing. I like that Locke wasn’t forced into a training arc to get physically stronger and that he never pulled some friendship-powerup-BS to win against an opponent he should never be able to win against in a straightforward fight.

With that said, however, I did feel that some of his victories felt a tad…convenient. For example, there was no reason that the bondsmage shouldn’t have suspected that Locke’s name was false. It was just such a convenient moment of arrogance from the mage that wasn’t properly established. He deals in names to evoke magic, and you’re telling me that he doesn’t have the foresight to suspect Locke’s name might just not be Locke Lamora? He literally knows that Locke is the Thorn of Camorr! If there had been an earlier scene establishing that Locke somehow planted that idea into his head, then the victory would have felt much more satisfying.

Female characters:

A common line of criticism I’ve read throughout several reviews is that the female characters in this book are weak, to which I must disagree. It is true that the female characters do not take center stage in the book, but that is more so due to the limitations of the novel being almost entirely from Locke’s POV (with a few exceptions). In fact, aside from Locke (and Jean), most characters are not extremely fleshed out. Even the other three Gentlemen Bastards aren't extremely fleshed out. It is a limitation issue, not a female-character issue. It’s a common trade-off fantasies must make, especially in the first of a series, to ensure solid world-building. I don't necessarily agree with it, I merely recognise the difficulty of maintaining such a balance.

Under-developed characterisation aside, I do not believe the female characters were poorly written anyhow. Lynch takes great care in showing that almost all the major events of the novel were driven by the women in the story: Nazca, Doña Sofia, the Spider, the Berangias sisters, not Sabetha (her payoff better be good, I tell you! *shakes fist*).

There is an interlude in the book titled The Daughters of Camorr, which explains that Barsavi’s Camorr was built upon the earlier rebellion of ‘the whores of Camorr’, who unified into gangs and gradually seized control of the city and the prostitution trade, thus that their power and demands could no longer be ignored. I interpreted the purpose of the interlude as a contrast to the instances throughout the story where the men underestimated the women around them, thus suffering consequences for it: Barsavi was overthrown and killed by the Berangias sisters as it never occurred to him that they could be capable of betrayal; Don Lorenzo’s naivety would have lost him his fortune if not for Doña Sofia’s caution; Doña Sofia’s instincts eventually led to the reveal of Locke’s identity; nobody suspected the Spider was a woman…

Make no mistake; writing relevant women who feel like actual humans is not some feat of amazing writing, though it may feel that way sometimes due to how lacking the fantasy genre is as a whole in this department. I am not applauding Lynch for doing the bare minimum; rather, I’m applauding the subtle yet impactful execution of his female characters. The events of the book cannot unfold in the way that they do if not for these characters.

Overall, The Lies of Locke Lamora is worth a read for any lovers of adventure, flowery prose, and morally grey con artists. I look forward to reading the sequel!

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kiwij96's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It took a moment for me to get used to the structure of the book: chapters written in parts with an interlude at the end of each chapter which is like a flashback. Once I got used to this stule of stroytelling, it became easier to engage with, however, there were times when the story was engaging and I couldn't put it down for like 100-150 pages, and other times where I struggled to get to the next part. It also felt like some of the paragraphs had been very heavily attacked by a thesaurus which meant I had to reread sections just to understand what was going on.

Criticisms aside, the story was full of twists and turns and more deaths that a season of Grey's Anatomy. The worldbuilding was full of description and even had its own calendar system. The characters were fantastically written, both good and bad characters. They brought me joy, anger, and heartbreak at times. Locke is an interesting character to me because as someone who is supposed to be the brains of the operation, he sure does make a whole bunch of mistakes and then continues acting like he is the cleverest being known to man.

I am unsure if I will continue the trilogy as this one felt like it could be a standalone, but we shall see.

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sandeater's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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