“Difficult” and “impossible” are cousins often mistaken for one another, with very little in common
I loved The Lies of Locke Lamora a lot and felt a bit disappointed by Red Seas under Red Skies, but in the end it was not all that bad. It was just something new that felt unknown to me.
Book Review: Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
Rating:
Title & Author: Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Release Date: June 20 2007
Series: GentleMan Bastard #2
Publisher: Gollancz
Synopsis
After a brutal battle with the underworld that nearly destroyed him, Locke and his trusted sidekick, Jean, fled the island city of their birth and landed on the exotic shores of Tal Verrar to nurse their wounds. But even at this westernmost edge of civilization, they can’t rest for long — and are soon back to what they do best: stealing from the undeserving rich and pocketing the proceeds for themselves.
This time, however, they have targeted the grandest prize of all: the Sinspire, the most exclusive and heavily guarded gambling house in the world. Its nine floors attract the wealthiest clientele — and to rise to the top, one must impress with good credit, amusing behavior… and excruciatingly impeccable play. For there is one cardinal rule, enforced by Requin, the house’s cold-blooded master: it is death to cheat at any game at the Sinspire.
Brazenly undeterred, Locke and Jean have orchestrated an elaborate plan to lie, trick, and swindle their way up the nine floors… straight to Requin’s teeming vault. Under the cloak of false identities, they meticulously make their climb — until they are closer to the spoils than ever.
But someone in Tal Verrar has uncovered the duo’s secret. Someone from their past who has every intention of making the impudent criminals pay for their sins. Now it will take every ounce of cunning to save their mercenary souls. And even that may not be enough…
I give Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch four out of five hearts, because it wasn’t a bad novel. It was actually well written and it kept me interested, it just wasn’t the same as The Lies of Locke Lamora.
It still follows Locke and Jean, which I thought was great. After the events in the previous novel, they are the only ones left of the Gentleman Bastards and that plays them a backhand on why I did not like it as much. But it was great anyway.
The novel starts out with a scene of which the reader will be like “wtf!?! Did that just happen?” and that immediately got my attention. And when that same scene returns later in the novel, you understand much more of it. This is one of the things that Scott Lynch does really well, to keep the reader engaged by having things happen out of order and such. Sometimes you may not understand a piece, but by being patience and keep reading, you will understand what is really going on. It is also one of the things I love about these novels. I am hoping the rest of the series will be the same way.
I do think the story spends a little too much time on sea for my liking, I do love the interaction between Locke/Jean and people that don’t know them. There were not many different interactions like that on sea and that turned me off a bit.
Overall I think Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch is a great novel, the characters are again great and the story itself is funny, witty and everything else.
Let me know what you thought of this book!
If you have any requests for which book I should talk about next, please let me know in the comments down below.
For now, let books enrich your life!