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A review by eesh25
Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
4.0
3.75 Stars
I'm not sure if you've heard, but many readers say that the Gentlemen Bastards series goes downhill after the first book. And so far, I kinda agree? I mean, this book is still good, but it's not nearly as good as the first.
The story picks up a couple of years later. Locke and Jean are in the middle of another scheme in Tal Verrar, only for the (unfair) consequences of past actions to throw a big wrench into the whole thing. Though that doesn't happen immediately. First, we spend 100 or so pages learning about Tal Verrar and how Locke and Jean came to be here.
As you might know, I'm not a fan of flashbacks, but I like the ones in this series. Though The Lies of Locke Lamora had better ones. They had Father Chains. I miss Father Chains. Still, I enjoyed these flashbacks too. Especially the ones in Vel Virazzo and Salon Corbeau. The latter gave Jean more of a chance to shine, which was great.
Then came the part where shit started going sideways, and my interest in the story varied a lot. The pacing in this book is all over the place. We spend so much time doing not-much-at-all, see some excitement, go back to not-much-at-all, and then rush the ending! The story here already isn't as strong as the first book, and then to have the climax be rushed after such a long build-up?
In so many ways, I could just call this book "not as good as the first" and leave it at that. Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy it. The book is very well-written, a lot of fun, has great world-building, some decent pay-offs, and most importantly, two fantastic protagonists. Not to mention, Michael Page does a great job with narrating. So reading it wasn't exactly a hardship. And I do want to read the third book. But...
So, before I started the review, I kinda fell down a rabbit hole of looking up the various times the fourth book was almost done or coming out in a year or two. And yeah, it's happened a few times. Lynch seems to be on the verge of joining Rothfuss and Martin on the list of Fantasy Authors Who Will Probably Never Finish Their Series. And it makes me wonder if I should read the third book. I really want to, especially since this one has a few loose threads, one of 'em really big, but the uncertainly of the series ever getting completed is putting me off. But I do already have the third book, so I'll probably read it.
Overall, this was a good read that could've used a better pace and a climax with some more scheming. And Father Chains.
I'm not sure if you've heard, but many readers say that the Gentlemen Bastards series goes downhill after the first book. And so far, I kinda agree? I mean, this book is still good, but it's not nearly as good as the first.
The story picks up a couple of years later. Locke and Jean are in the middle of another scheme in Tal Verrar, only for the (unfair) consequences of past actions to throw a big wrench into the whole thing. Though that doesn't happen immediately. First, we spend 100 or so pages learning about Tal Verrar and how Locke and Jean came to be here.
As you might know, I'm not a fan of flashbacks, but I like the ones in this series. Though The Lies of Locke Lamora had better ones. They had Father Chains. I miss Father Chains. Still, I enjoyed these flashbacks too. Especially the ones in Vel Virazzo and Salon Corbeau. The latter gave Jean more of a chance to shine, which was great.
Then came the part where shit started going sideways, and my interest in the story varied a lot. The pacing in this book is all over the place. We spend so much time doing not-much-at-all, see some excitement, go back to not-much-at-all, and then rush the ending! The story here already isn't as strong as the first book, and then to have the climax be rushed after such a long build-up?
In so many ways, I could just call this book "not as good as the first" and leave it at that. Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy it. The book is very well-written, a lot of fun, has great world-building, some decent pay-offs, and most importantly, two fantastic protagonists. Not to mention, Michael Page does a great job with narrating. So reading it wasn't exactly a hardship. And I do want to read the third book. But...
So, before I started the review, I kinda fell down a rabbit hole of looking up the various times the fourth book was almost done or coming out in a year or two. And yeah, it's happened a few times. Lynch seems to be on the verge of joining Rothfuss and Martin on the list of Fantasy Authors Who Will Probably Never Finish Their Series. And it makes me wonder if I should read the third book. I really want to, especially since this one has a few loose threads, one of 'em really big, but the uncertainly of the series ever getting completed is putting me off. But I do already have the third book, so I'll probably read it.
Overall, this was a good read that could've used a better pace and a climax with some more scheming. And Father Chains.