Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Die Lügen des Locke Lamora: Roman

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Die Lügen des Locke Lamora: Roman by Scott Lynch

30 reviews

orionmerlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Oh, Lies of Locke Lamora, you chaotic little bastard of a book. You lured me in with promises of a slick, clever heist, and then blindsided me with a full-course meal of torture, maiming, and casual murder. Somewhere between the Ocean’s Eleven vibes and the “let’s remove this guy’s fingers one by one” energy, I had to ask myself: Am I enjoying this? The answer? Mostly.

📌 Characters - 8/10

Locke Lamora is an arrogant, overconfident con artist with a talent for thinking on his feet—and a terrible survival instinct. His best friend and right-hand man, Jean Tannen, is the brains and brawn that holds the entire operation together, delivering some of the book’s most satisfying moments (and best beatdowns). Their ride-or-die friendship is easily the strongest relationship in the book.

But the supporting cast? A mixed bag. The Sanza twins are entertaining but underdeveloped, Bug is mostly there to die tragically, and Capa Barsavi is a textbook example of a man who thinks he's in control when he absolutely isn’t. The Grey King and the Falconer make for decent villains, but their motivations are just functional—they work for the plot, but they don’t feel particularly deep.

And then there’s the glaring gender imbalance. Nazca Barsavi, the one woman who seems like she’ll play a major role, is killed off before she even gets a chance to be interesting. Vorchenza, the aging spymaster, is a great late-game addition, but she only enters the story near the end. And Sabetha? She’s referenced endlessly as Locke’s biggest regret, but she never appears, making her feel more like a plot device than a person.

📌 Atmosphere/Setting - 9/10

Camorr is Venetian fantasy meets brutal crime syndicate, dripping with grime, danger, and Elderglass towers that gleam like ancient relics of a long-dead civilization. The city breathes. From the floating black market of the Night Market to the shark-infested waters where debts are settled, Camorr feels alive in a way that many fantasy settings struggle to achieve.

That being said, Lynch sometimes falls into the Tolkien trap of describing everything in excruciating detail. The canals? Filthy. The nobles? Ridiculous. The torture? More detailed than it needed to be. At times, I felt like I was reading a guidebook instead of a novel.

📌 Writing Style - 8/10

Lynch’s prose is fast, witty, and loaded with personality—when it isn’t getting bogged down by its own indulgence. The dialogue crackles, and the humor genuinely lands, which is impressive given how dark the book gets.

But the structure? A bit of a mess. The book constantly jumps between Locke’s past (flashbacks with Father Chains and the early days of the Gentleman Bastards) and the present-day heist. Sometimes, this adds depth. Other times, it kills momentum right when things get interesting.

Also, every single plan Locke makes goes off without a hitch… until it suddenly explodes in the most catastrophic way possible. There’s no in-between.

📌 Plot - 7/10

The first half of the book delivers exactly what was promised: a high-stakes, well-crafted heist. Locke and his crew are conning Don Lorenzo Salvara and his wife Doña Sofia, posing as foreign merchants while stealing everything they can. It’s smart, it’s engaging, and it’s exactly what I wanted.

And then the Grey King shows up, and suddenly it’s less about a heist and more about Locke and Jean trying to survive a city-wide bloodbath.

Don’t get me wrong—the stakes escalate beautifully. But the shift from elaborate con artistry to full-scale revenge thriller is jarring. We go from charming deception to graphic torture scenes, and while that can work, the transition is too abrupt.

📌 Intrigue - 8/10

Even with the pacing issues, this book is incredibly engaging. I wanted to see how Locke would weasel his way out of certain death this time. The elaborate scams, the double-crosses, and the sheer audacity of the Gentleman Bastards kept me hooked.

That being said, the torture scenes killed my momentum. They’re long, brutal, and relentless, and they don’t add much beyond shock value. There were moments where I actively needed to put the book down.

📌 Logic/Relationships - 5.5/10

Locke’s scams are clever, but are they believable? Not really. He and his teenage friends are somehow running elite-level cons on the most powerful people in Camorr—and getting away with it. The idea that no one has caught onto them before now stretches credibility.

Also, the worldbuilding is excellent, but the gender imbalance is impossible to ignore. The lack of women is especially frustrating because the world itself doesn’t seem to have any built-in sexism. There’s no reason why there shouldn’t be more women in the underworld, but for some reason, there just… aren’t.

📌 Enjoyment - 7.5/10

There’s a lot to love here, but also a lot that wore me down. The heists? Fantastic. The cons? Brilliant. The action? Tense and well-paced. But the sheer brutality of the violence and the abrupt tonal shifts made this a more exhausting read than I expected.

I had fun, but I also needed a break.

📌 Final Verdict: 3.75 Stars (7.5/10 Final Score)

Is it a fun, immersive fantasy heist? Yes. Is it also way too violent for its own good? Also yes.

📌 What Worked:
✅ Fantastic setting & worldbuilding
✅ Clever cons & strong banter
✅ Locke & Jean’s dynamic was fun

📌 What Didn’t Work:
❌ Pacing whiplash (from fun heist to full horror movie)
❌ Over-the-top gore & torture scenes
❌ Glaring lack of gender diversity

🔥 Final Take: If you love elaborate heists, fast-talking criminals, and don’t mind extreme violence, you’ll probably enjoy this. If you prefer a bit more balance, chaos, and female characters that exist, you might find it frustrating. Still a solid read, but not without issues.

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ghost3_14159's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

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pbcle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

3.75

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silentquercus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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boba_nbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Spice Rating: 🫑 / 5 🌶️

Though it takes quite a while to pick up, the ending of this book is well worth the wait.

Life is harsh on the island city of Camorr, and that couldn't be more true for young orphan Locke Lamora. He's a bright young boy who just manages to escape slavery and death in order to train in the priesthood as a thief under one of the best con artists in the game. Eventually, Locke becomes the leader of a group of young men--the Gentlemen Bastards--who are infamous for fooling even the most feared in Camorr. But when a regular heist leads to something far more sinister, Locke and his friends have to decide what, and who, they are willing to risk for fame and fortune.

The Lies of Locke Lamora is a fun and witty, though somewhat gruesome, tale full of a rag-tag group of heroes, lovable side characters, and worthy adversaries. Lynch creates a vivid world that readers will be able to picture themselves in every step of the way.

Yes, this book is lighthearted and fun, but it is also quite dark and full of gory sequences as well as horrifying backstories. The character development and world building were my favorite parts of this novel as they created so much depth to the story for me.

This book only gets knocked down a bit because it took me quite a while to read. I think that's mainly on me and my reading slumps, but it did hinder my experience a bit. Maybe someday I'll come back to this book to give it my full, undivided attention.

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renpuspita's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

2 WEEKS Reading well spent and one of my Top Read 2024!!

One thing that I regret is why I just read The Lies of Locke Lamora in 2024, but if I see the state of Gentleman Bastard series that continue in limbo maybe the decision is right, lol.

Where to start? This book have so many elements that I love. Locke is an anti hero, through and through. While he become a reluctant hero near the end regarding the fate of Camorr, in the end he is still true to himself. Locke is a thief, he stole money from Camorr's nobles for his own gain. Or to quote the late Father Chains, the first garrista of Gentleman Bastard, to relieve those nobles of their wealth, lel. Just like the title of this book, we will get through so many Locke's lies. Whether when he plan to rob a unfortunate Don Salvara of his money or to save his life from the clutch of the Duke Nicovante's Spider or when he try to juggle two task at the same time that given to him by Capa Barsavi and the Gray King. I find myself read with trepidation but also excitement in the same time because I want to know if Locke will come out safely from his predicaments. Locke is not a book smart, but he is witty, savvy and even after tortured so much, he still come back from his injury to plan revenge against those who wronged Gentleman Bastard.

The Lies of Locke Lamora written in non linear timeline. In the main chapter, we will read through Locke's lies and adventure in the present while in the Interlude, we have a coming-of-age story from when Locke first brought into Gentleman Bastard and some of Camorr's history. Some of the Interlude kinda disturb the flow of the story, but the rest was proceeding smoothly. I like the Interlude when Father Chains teach Locke about the art of thievery. Not just steal here and there, but also learn about culture, clothing, language, Camorr religion that consist of twelve divine god & goddess (and the unnamed thirteenth God, the God of Thief) and cooking intricate dishes, all in order to successfully plan a disguise when they steal noble's wealth or tricking their big boss.

One of the spotlight of this book beside Locke's bigger than life personality is his friendship with Gentleman Bastard, especially Jean Tannen. Jean might have less appearance compared to Locke, but he's a loyal companion. Don't let his soft and big physique fool you, because Jean is a skilled swordmaster (or weaponmaster) with a hatchet called The Wicked Sisters. But importantly, he always ready to save Locke when he's in problem and while their relationship start rocky in which Locke once mock Jean as a softie (in which proven otherwise because Jean just barely lost his parent and he's in much grief so his temperament was running high), they become solid in the end. This book also have little to none romance, although Locke seems to can't move on from his paramour, Sabetha. I really curious what Sabetha did that make Locke still enamored but unwilling to admit it. While the women is not one of main characters (a pity), I like that Locke manage to write them all as strong characters and not one of damsel in distress or annoying and oversexualized character. The Interlude titled Woman in Camorr also one of my favorite because the Camorr's brothels and prostitutes are powers to be reckoned with.

If there's any complaint, maybe because I feel the way Lynch write the world building is unclear. From the vibes alone, maybe this book influenced by Italia in the pre-Renaissance era. Some of the term also pretty much Italian, like Capa that obviously taken from "Capo". The map in my book only show Camorr with its canal (pretty much like Venice) but I wish the map also show the entire kingdom. A glossary will be nice, though. The magic system is pretty much simple since the fantasy aspect mostly focused onto the religion of Camorr citizen and the dynamic of the nobles and the criminals. I'm willing to take aside my complaint because The Lies of Locke Lamora is the Lynch's first book to be published and I hope the world building will be explain thoroughly in the next book.

To quote a random commenter in my reading thread for The Lies of Locke Lamora on Twitter, a good book written by crazy person that maybe will finally finish the series, lol. I will recommend this book if you like your fantasy with anti hero who will charmed you from the start and never have a dull moment. The violence, blood and profanity can be too much to read, but if all of it don't bother you, then it's the time to read about how Locke Lamora spun his lies and deceits to deceive Camorr's nobility and his enemies!

"Someday, Locke Lamora,” he said, “someday, you’re going to fuck up so magnificently, so ambitiously, so overwhelmingly that the sky will light up and the moons will spin and the gods themselves will shit comets with glee. And I just hope I’m still around to see it."

"Oh, please," said Locke. "It'll never happen"

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