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anomandrewrake 's review for:
Red Seas Under Red Skies
by Scott Lynch
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a really fun one. I had put off continuing the series for a while and about as soon as I picked it up I was kicking myself for the error in judgement.
Locke and Jean are a constant, hilarious delight. I love the way they complement each other: Locke as the basket case with the quick wit and a scheme always cooking, Jean as the level-headed, dependable and academic heart. That feels really one-sided now that I’ve said it, and it’s hard to articulate why Locke is still a compelling character I love. He is an absolute basket case, as I said. But maybe in an intentional mirror of Jean’s feelings, he’s *my* basket case.
The structure was weird, I’ll say that. About halfway through it stops being Ocean’s Eleven and starts being Pirates of the Caribbean. I don’t mind it, quite the opposite, but it was disorienting. The pirates were so vibrant, compelling, and frankly hot that I quickly forgot I ever cared about the Ocean’s Eleven half of the book. I did have a resurgence of the feeling I got from the first book in the series: “there are only 200 pages left and I feel like a whole book still needs to happen!” It was unsettling, but I think Lynch pulled it off really well. Only the slightest bit rushed.
The knowledge of a third book (and a presumed eventual fourth) make the ending fall a little flat for me (iykyk) but I love the way it caps the recurring theme of Locke and Jean’s trust. The central question for the protagonists is “Can they trust each other?” The answer is less easy and obvious to find than you’d expect.
My last little nitpick is that Lynch spends so little time inside characters’ heads that when he does dive in there you’ve forgotten he can. So much of the book is dialogue (and it’s *great* dialogue) that the introspection comes out of left field.
Locke and Jean are a constant, hilarious delight. I love the way they complement each other: Locke as the basket case with the quick wit and a scheme always cooking, Jean as the level-headed, dependable and academic heart. That feels really one-sided now that I’ve said it, and it’s hard to articulate why Locke is still a compelling character I love. He is an absolute basket case, as I said. But maybe in an intentional mirror of Jean’s feelings, he’s *my* basket case.
The structure was weird, I’ll say that. About halfway through it stops being Ocean’s Eleven and starts being Pirates of the Caribbean. I don’t mind it, quite the opposite, but it was disorienting. The pirates were so vibrant, compelling, and frankly hot that I quickly forgot I ever cared about the Ocean’s Eleven half of the book. I did have a resurgence of the feeling I got from the first book in the series: “there are only 200 pages left and I feel like a whole book still needs to happen!” It was unsettling, but I think Lynch pulled it off really well. Only the slightest bit rushed.
The knowledge of a third book (and a presumed eventual fourth) make the ending fall a little flat for me (iykyk) but I love the way it caps the recurring theme of Locke and Jean’s trust. The central question for the protagonists is “Can they trust each other?” The answer is less easy and obvious to find than you’d expect.
My last little nitpick is that Lynch spends so little time inside characters’ heads that when he does dive in there you’ve forgotten he can. So much of the book is dialogue (and it’s *great* dialogue) that the introspection comes out of left field.