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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
I liked Republic of Thieves, but it doesn't quite come together as well as the previous two books. The character development and world building are still great, but the through line of both plots in the book don't quite come together for me.
Like the previous two books, Republic of Thieves has two parallel stories, each of which informs the characterizations of the other.
The present story is Jean and Locke working to rig an election in a competition against their estranged friend Sabetha. The 'thieves as political operators' is a cool take, but it suffers for the focus on Sabetha and Locke's relationship and Lynch handwaves a lot of the events towards the end in an unsatisfying way.
The past story is about the Gentlemen Bastards working to save a theater troupe and become players themselves and has some development of characters who haven't been as present, like Calo, Galdo, and Sabetha. I liked this story a bit more than the present timeline, though similarly, it struggles for being so focused on Sabetha and Locke.
Lynch uses the fact that the relationship between Locke and Jean has been well established and strengthened in previous books to let this story be more about Locke and Sabetha. Unfortunately, this pairing isn't as strong. Locke is earnest (if clumsy) in this arena and Sabetha is standoffish and cold, which makes it hard to find much to like about her. The plot focuses so hard on exploring this relationship that both of the capers in the book get short shrift and are less satisfying because of it.
This book is still a fun read and advances the story in some very interesting ways, it just isn't as incredible as the first two. I am definitely looking forward to the next books in the series when they eventually come out and I hope Lynch can find his way back to the heart of these stories.
Like the previous two books, Republic of Thieves has two parallel stories, each of which informs the characterizations of the other.
The present story is Jean and Locke working to rig an election in a competition against their estranged friend Sabetha. The 'thieves as political operators' is a cool take, but it suffers for the focus on Sabetha and Locke's relationship and Lynch handwaves a lot of the events towards the end in an unsatisfying way.
The past story is about the Gentlemen Bastards working to save a theater troupe and become players themselves and has some development of characters who haven't been as present, like Calo, Galdo, and Sabetha. I liked this story a bit more than the present timeline, though similarly, it struggles for being so focused on Sabetha and Locke.
Lynch uses the fact that the relationship between Locke and Jean has been well established and strengthened in previous books to let this story be more about Locke and Sabetha. Unfortunately, this pairing isn't as strong. Locke is earnest (if clumsy) in this arena and Sabetha is standoffish and cold, which makes it hard to find much to like about her. The plot focuses so hard on exploring this relationship that both of the capers in the book get short shrift and are less satisfying because of it.
This book is still a fun read and advances the story in some very interesting ways, it just isn't as incredible as the first two. I am definitely looking forward to the next books in the series when they eventually come out and I hope Lynch can find his way back to the heart of these stories.
Ok so first, I still hold that Scott Lynch is one of the best fantasy writers. The characters, plot, world-building and dialogue were spectacular as usual. I enjoyed seeing characters and settings return from the first book, and I loved all of the new thespian characters.
The issues I have with the book are more down to personal preference. Mostly I didn't enjoy the romance element of this book. It takes up around 80% of the book, and going from the previous two books that focused mainly on Locke's schemes, it felt like an odd shift. The romance isn't done badly, it's good and both characters are great. I just personally don't really like romance, and so coming into that so strongly after the previous two books, with the focus on crime and other such fun stuff, I found it a bit boring.
The book also didn't feel as dense as the other two. The plot felt less complex and overlapping, and I was surprised that I managed to knock out this 700+ page book out in a few days (where as The Lies took me 3 months).
And did Jean always have this obsession with coffee? I might be remembering wrong but he seemed to have gone from zero to 100 on his coffee mentioning in the third book.
Lastly I didn't really like the twist near the end of the book concerning Locke's identity. I feel like it takes away from the image of Locke just being an orphan criminal genius with a vague background. I love that about him, and him being ordinary is what makes him so interesting. I feel like with this new information that has been overturned and he has become something much bigger. Again, this is personal preference and could all change in the next book.
Even with all those personal nitpicks, the book is fabulous as always. This is one of the best fantasy series around and absolutely worth the read. I look forward to seeing all of these characters again in the next book!
The issues I have with the book are more down to personal preference. Mostly I didn't enjoy the romance element of this book. It takes up around 80% of the book, and going from the previous two books that focused mainly on Locke's schemes, it felt like an odd shift. The romance isn't done badly, it's good and both characters are great. I just personally don't really like romance, and so coming into that so strongly after the previous two books, with the focus on crime and other such fun stuff, I found it a bit boring.
The book also didn't feel as dense as the other two. The plot felt less complex and overlapping, and I was surprised that I managed to knock out this 700+ page book out in a few days (where as The Lies took me 3 months).
And did Jean always have this obsession with coffee? I might be remembering wrong but he seemed to have gone from zero to 100 on his coffee mentioning in the third book.
Lastly I didn't really like the twist near the end of the book concerning Locke's identity. I feel like it takes away from the image of Locke just being an orphan criminal genius with a vague background. I love that about him, and him being ordinary is what makes him so interesting. I feel like with this new information that has been overturned and he has become something much bigger. Again, this is personal preference and could all change in the next book.
Even with all those personal nitpicks, the book is fabulous as always. This is one of the best fantasy series around and absolutely worth the read. I look forward to seeing all of these characters again in the next book!
Lynch does it again. Ugh. The ending was just a punch to the gut.
There were times, unfortunately, that it did drag. Politics is not really my thing, and that's what this was about. Because of that, parts were quite hard to make my way through. However, the first part, and last, were quality I have come to expect. Now I have so many questions I just need answered, and that ending has me all sorts of emotions.
One star taken just for personal indifference to politics, as well as frustration towards Sabetha. FINALLY we meet her, and she almost seemed..... lackluster compared to the build-up. I will chalk that up to having only experienced her through Locke's eyes up til this point.
Still. I can't wait until the next book comes out.
There were times, unfortunately, that it did drag. Politics is not really my thing, and that's what this was about. Because of that, parts were quite hard to make my way through. However, the first part, and last, were quality I have come to expect. Now I have so many questions I just need answered, and that ending has me all sorts of emotions.
One star taken just for personal indifference to politics, as well as frustration towards Sabetha. FINALLY we meet her, and she almost seemed..... lackluster compared to the build-up. I will chalk that up to having only experienced her through Locke's eyes up til this point.
Still. I can't wait until the next book comes out.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
This was incredible. I cannot wait to read the next one (apparently coming out soon!) There's a lot to unpack here but this is a series where you think you know what is happening and it is revealed that once again, you know absolutely nothing.
This will take some time to stew over....I'm overwhelmed and underwhelmed.
You know when you start reading a series, and you have to wait forever and ever for the next installment ? Well, that is what happened here, I think I had been waiting for 3 maybe 4 years for book 3. Was it worth it ? In a word yes, yes it was. I love these characters and in searching for volume 3 I found that he has at least 3 more in the works ! This makes me very happy, I can not wait to dive in again, lets hope it is not another 3 year wait.
A solid book, I enjoyed it a lot better than the second book. I'll say I really enjoyed the ending, unexpected and enjoyable!