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mikavon 's review for:
The Republic of Thieves
by Scott Lynch
Hmm
The first book was great. The second book felt like filler. And this book...felt like backstory. The plot was split in two between the present (the election in Karthain) and then past (the whole "let's put on a play and cover up a murder"), but the emphasis of both plots was the relationship between Locke and Sabetha. She seemed quick to anger and it was easy to empathize with Locke's confusion...I'm not really sure why she left in the end. The bondsmagi woman showed you a picture of some random dude standing with a redheaded woman and claimed that it was Locke, so you run away? Really? She literally could have painted the thing herself an hour before showing it off. Or, she could have been lying. Lols, funny that a bunch of conartists barely even consider that possibility... But even if it were real and Locke really was some reincarnated bondmagi, I'm still not sure why Sabetha would leave. Super annoying.
I'm really confused about Patience's role in the end, the part with her being called the seamstress.... what did that have to do with Locke? I think I missed something. I thought she meant that she was his lover or something, conning him into falling for her. Which would make the falconer his son probably and would have been pretty fucked up. But it doesn't seem like that's what she meant because no one reacted as they would have if that had been the case... so I'm still confused.
Ok. Honestly, the book wasn't bad. It was pretty fun--I didn't care much for the politics of this "5 year game", and they didn't do anything particularly clever that made it exciting. It was nice to see Carlo and Galdo again, which makes it even more sad that they're dead... But the revelation about Locke's true identity really came out of no where. Patience just walks in and drops that bombshell without any leadup or foreshadowing, it was really random and jarring. I hated it. And I didn't beleive it, and expected her to be lying just to get Locke and Sabetha to stop focusing on each other and get back to work. But, nope...
I don't know. I love the sarcastic style of the narrative and the characters are super fun, but the plot was just as forgettable as the second book.
And this book made me realize even more how irrelevant the second book was. That entire adventure could not have happened and this book would hardly have been affected at all.
Also Jean's role in this book kind of sucked, he didn't really do anything.
ok I'm done ranting.
The first book was great. The second book felt like filler. And this book...felt like backstory. The plot was split in two between the present (the election in Karthain) and then past (the whole "let's put on a play and cover up a murder"), but the emphasis of both plots was the relationship between Locke and Sabetha. She seemed quick to anger and it was easy to empathize with Locke's confusion...I'm not really sure why she left in the end. The bondsmagi woman showed you a picture of some random dude standing with a redheaded woman and claimed that it was Locke, so you run away? Really? She literally could have painted the thing herself an hour before showing it off. Or, she could have been lying. Lols, funny that a bunch of conartists barely even consider that possibility... But even if it were real and Locke really was some reincarnated bondmagi, I'm still not sure why Sabetha would leave. Super annoying.
I'm really confused about Patience's role in the end, the part with her being called the seamstress.... what did that have to do with Locke? I think I missed something. I thought she meant that she was his lover or something, conning him into falling for her. Which would make the falconer his son probably and would have been pretty fucked up. But it doesn't seem like that's what she meant because no one reacted as they would have if that had been the case... so I'm still confused.
Ok. Honestly, the book wasn't bad. It was pretty fun--I didn't care much for the politics of this "5 year game", and they didn't do anything particularly clever that made it exciting. It was nice to see Carlo and Galdo again, which makes it even more sad that they're dead... But the revelation about Locke's true identity really came out of no where. Patience just walks in and drops that bombshell without any leadup or foreshadowing, it was really random and jarring. I hated it. And I didn't beleive it, and expected her to be lying just to get Locke and Sabetha to stop focusing on each other and get back to work. But, nope...
I don't know. I love the sarcastic style of the narrative and the characters are super fun, but the plot was just as forgettable as the second book.
And this book made me realize even more how irrelevant the second book was. That entire adventure could not have happened and this book would hardly have been affected at all.
Also Jean's role in this book kind of sucked, he didn't really do anything.
ok I'm done ranting.