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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
After this volume, Scott Lynch sees himself right near the top of my favourite author's list, wedged firmly between the likes of Patrick Rothfuss and George R.R. Martin. Lynch's style is different from the both of them, but without any doubt shares a certain quality of excellence.
I took quite a break between reading this book and the first (The Lies of Locke Lamora). I took the break because Lies ended on a rather heavy note. I tried to go straight from it into this one, and found myself needing a breather which is completely out of the ordinary for me. I typically fly through a series, or even an authors entire body of work.
After finishing this one, however, ye Gods, if the third volume was already available (The Republic of Thieves) I'd be onto it in a heart beat. Red Seas ended on a cliff hanger... Of a sort. I don't want to give the wrong impression here. The story does not simply end in the middle or anything of the kind. The story woven within Red Seas is more than satisfactorily concluded... There is however an important thread which carries on forward. And already I risk saying too much so I shan't say more other than that I burn for the next volume!
If you read and enjoyed Lies, you know what to expect, and there is a passing good chance you'll enjoy Red Seas as well. If you didn't enjoy Lies, well, I don't expect there will be much to recommend the sequel to you, although it does depend why you didn't enjoy Lies. If the brutality Lynch shows his main characters in Lies turned you away; there is less of that here. So if you otherwise enjoyed the story of Lies, continue forward!
Thieves Republic is currently slated for a Nov 2011 release. Can. Not. Wait.
I took quite a break between reading this book and the first (The Lies of Locke Lamora). I took the break because Lies ended on a rather heavy note. I tried to go straight from it into this one, and found myself needing a breather which is completely out of the ordinary for me. I typically fly through a series, or even an authors entire body of work.
After finishing this one, however, ye Gods, if the third volume was already available (The Republic of Thieves) I'd be onto it in a heart beat. Red Seas ended on a cliff hanger... Of a sort. I don't want to give the wrong impression here. The story does not simply end in the middle or anything of the kind. The story woven within Red Seas is more than satisfactorily concluded... There is however an important thread which carries on forward. And already I risk saying too much so I shan't say more other than that I burn for the next volume!
If you read and enjoyed Lies, you know what to expect, and there is a passing good chance you'll enjoy Red Seas as well. If you didn't enjoy Lies, well, I don't expect there will be much to recommend the sequel to you, although it does depend why you didn't enjoy Lies. If the brutality Lynch shows his main characters in Lies turned you away; there is less of that here. So if you otherwise enjoyed the story of Lies, continue forward!
Thieves Republic is currently slated for a Nov 2011 release. Can. Not. Wait.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
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:
Yes
adventurous
tense
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Frist things first: It's great. It's exceptionally well written, interesting and gripping from start to finish and presents a veritable layer-cake of intrigue and political interplay that must have been a huge pain in the ass to set up, let alone execute as well as it has been. So, very much recommended, if you liked the first one.
I did, however, come to the realisation that, just as too much can go “right” in a story, thereby making it unbelievable, I also have a limited tolerance for things going wrong. On the one hand, repeat failure ads to realism, and this book is extremely good at weighing actions and consequences, as well as having characters not dumbly play along with whatever the main cast have in mind. Somebody says “this will never work”? Well shucks, it doesn’t. Thumbs up for consistency! That being said, I felt there was a definitive imbalance between the schemes that did end up working out and those that didn’t, in the sense that those that didn’t were incredibly carefully constructed master-plans that fell apart due to unforeseen circumstances time and time again, whereas those that did often seemed shallow and thrown together by comparison and had a feel of “let’s just wrap this up”.
The plot is still realised very well, and you want to keep spending time with it. The characters are also consistent in such a way that almost all of them can make a scene gripping, and the world feel like a construct of many moving pieces, rather than a monolithic block. I just feel that the level of undue punishment heaped upon the main cast became almost slapstick after a while, if not downright indulgent. All of these people seem very aware of the fact that the world doesn’t evolve around them, so it’s strange when that’s exactly what seems to be happening in the narrative.
So, yeah. Great book, fun read, just a little much here and there. Maybe one or two layers of intrigue less would have made the plot more consistent to me.
I did, however, come to the realisation that, just as too much can go “right” in a story, thereby making it unbelievable, I also have a limited tolerance for things going wrong. On the one hand, repeat failure ads to realism, and this book is extremely good at weighing actions and consequences, as well as having characters not dumbly play along with whatever the main cast have in mind. Somebody says “this will never work”? Well shucks, it doesn’t. Thumbs up for consistency! That being said, I felt there was a definitive imbalance between the schemes that did end up working out and those that didn’t, in the sense that those that didn’t were incredibly carefully constructed master-plans that fell apart due to unforeseen circumstances time and time again, whereas those that did often seemed shallow and thrown together by comparison and had a feel of “let’s just wrap this up”.
The plot is still realised very well, and you want to keep spending time with it. The characters are also consistent in such a way that almost all of them can make a scene gripping, and the world feel like a construct of many moving pieces, rather than a monolithic block. I just feel that the level of undue punishment heaped upon the main cast became almost slapstick after a while, if not downright indulgent. All of these people seem very aware of the fact that the world doesn’t evolve around them, so it’s strange when that’s exactly what seems to be happening in the narrative.
So, yeah. Great book, fun read, just a little much here and there. Maybe one or two layers of intrigue less would have made the plot more consistent to me.
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-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:
Yes
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I almost gave up about one hundred pages in. Thankfully after about the one hundred and fifty mark it took off.......Time to order the third book.
Stick with it.... it'll be worth it.
Stick with it.... it'll be worth it.
Less awesome, even though it has pirates in it (which is pretty much an instant win for me).
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes