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A review by e_flah
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
When I first read The Lies of Locke Lamora in 2014, it was a solid 5-star read for me. I was shocked to find that it just didn't hold up as well for me on a reread, which led me to lower my rating to 2 stars. Some of this change is likely due to my shifting preferences as a reader but there were also elements of the book that I just wasn't dazzled as much by this time around.
To start with, the structure of The Lies of Locke Lamora is very repetitive. There will be some sort of daring con or step in Locke's plan followed by a behind-the-scenes look at how the action was pulled off then some kind of a flashback. The flashback and explanation sometimes flipped places but this "see something cool" + "see how they did cool thing" + "see hint of cool things to come" continued over and over for 500 pages. This got really boring as I knew exactly what was coming next even if some of the details were left up in the air.
If the repetitive structure had been paired with really three-dimensional characters, I think it wouldn't have bothered me so much. Locke seems like a cool guy with a truly incredible knack for schemes but I just never felt like I knew him beyond the surface level. The rest of the Gentlemen Bastards were the same. I honestly couldn't tell you the difference between Calo and Galdo Sanza, which is wild as they were some of the characters we meet earliest in the book.
I also found the lack of strong world-building frustrating. This is definitely a book that can't see the forest for the trees. We get <i>so many</i> details about everything from the market scene to the gods in the Twelve Gods pantheon that initially distracted me from the fact that there isn't much substantial world-building. How does Camorr operate outside its crime scene? No clue. Is it its own city-state? How does the city interact with other countries/city-states? No clue. Names and places and tidbits burst from the pages but fail to coalesce into something with a strong sense of setting. I don't mind a detail-heavy book if it feels like those details are adding something to the story, which wasn't the case here.
Perhaps the best thing I have to say about The Lies of Locke Lamora is that I thought of it relatively often in the 5-year span between my first read and this reread. As someone who reads a ton, particularly fantasy, and then immediately forgets it, this is no mean feat. All said and done, though, I'm not sure I'll be continuing on with this series.
To start with, the structure of The Lies of Locke Lamora is very repetitive. There will be some sort of daring con or step in Locke's plan followed by a behind-the-scenes look at how the action was pulled off then some kind of a flashback. The flashback and explanation sometimes flipped places but this "see something cool" + "see how they did cool thing" + "see hint of cool things to come" continued over and over for 500 pages. This got really boring as I knew exactly what was coming next even if some of the details were left up in the air.
If the repetitive structure had been paired with really three-dimensional characters, I think it wouldn't have bothered me so much. Locke seems like a cool guy with a truly incredible knack for schemes but I just never felt like I knew him beyond the surface level. The rest of the Gentlemen Bastards were the same. I honestly couldn't tell you the difference between Calo and Galdo Sanza, which is wild as they were some of the characters we meet earliest in the book.
I also found the lack of strong world-building frustrating. This is definitely a book that can't see the forest for the trees. We get <i>so many</i> details about everything from the market scene to the gods in the Twelve Gods pantheon that initially distracted me from the fact that there isn't much substantial world-building. How does Camorr operate outside its crime scene? No clue. Is it its own city-state? How does the city interact with other countries/city-states? No clue. Names and places and tidbits burst from the pages but fail to coalesce into something with a strong sense of setting. I don't mind a detail-heavy book if it feels like those details are adding something to the story, which wasn't the case here.
Perhaps the best thing I have to say about The Lies of Locke Lamora is that I thought of it relatively often in the 5-year span between my first read and this reread. As someone who reads a ton, particularly fantasy, and then immediately forgets it, this is no mean feat. All said and done, though, I'm not sure I'll be continuing on with this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Gore
Moderate: Vomit, Violence, and Child death