by Scott Lynch
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Product Description
In this stunning debut, author Scott Lynch delivers the wonderfully thrilling tale of an audacious criminal and his band of confidence tricksters. Set in a fantastic city pulsing with the lives of decadent nobles and daring thieves, here is a story of adventure, loyalty, and survival that is one part Robin Hood, one part Ocean’s Eleven, and entirely enthralling.…
An orphan’s life is harsh–and often short–in the island city of Camorr, built on the ruins of a mysterious alien race. But born with a quick wit and a gift for thieving, Locke Lamora has dodged both death and slavery, only to fall into the hands of an eyeless priest known as Chains–a man who is neither blind nor a priest. A con artist of extraordinary talent, Chains passes his skills on to his carefully selected “family” of orphans–a group known as the Gentlemen Bastards. Under his tutelage, Locke grows to lead the Bastards, delightedly pulling off one outrageous confidence game after another. Soon he is infamous as the Thorn of Camorr, and no wealthy noble is safe from his sting.
Passing themselves off as petty thieves, the brilliant Locke and his tightly knit band of light-fingered brothers have fooled even the criminal underworld’s most feared ruler, Capa Barsavi. But there is someone in the shadows more powerful–and more ambitious–than Locke has yet imagined.
Known as the Gray King, he is slowly killing Capa Barsavi’s most trusted men–and using Locke as a pawn in his plot to take control of Camorr’s underworld. With a bloody coup under way threatening to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the Gray King at his own brutal game–or die trying.…
From the Hardcover edition.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 An excellent novel from an up-and-coming author, 2008-11-29
Scott Lynch has woven a spell-binding tale set in a detailed fantasy realm. Locke Lamora lives the adventures most only dream of, and does so in style. For lovers of fantasy stories like those of Raymond E. Feist's Midkemia or David Eddings, this is a book not to be missed. Lynch goes beyond the limits of a standard fantasy book and imbues his characters with vivid humanity. The story combines high adventure with fantasy and a compelling personal tale, switching from intense combat to elaborate schemes in moments. Be sure to add it to your collection.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Disappointing, 2008-11-23
Desperate to find something to read in between Hobb's, George R.R. Martin's, Guy Gavriel Kay's, C.S. Friedman's and Donaldson's latest, I chose this title primarily based on the overwhelmingly positive reviews. I've been reading fantasy for over 25 years and appreciate all the aspects of world building, so was considerably dismayed when I saw my very own American foul language peppered throughout the pages of this fantasy. And despite all the rave reviews, I would argue the plot plods, the characters are two dimensional and the "twists and turns" become annoyingly repetitive and predictable half way through the tome. I feel no pathos for the orphan who only finds purpose in life when he seeks revenge. To keep this review short and put it bluntly, this book bored me enough to write my second review ever.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Entertaining, 2008-11-21
This book was really entertaining but felt kind of shallow. It's more of an event based story than one driven by character development. You'll care more about what happens next than how what happens next will effect the main characters.
The main point I want to make about this story is that I read it and I liked it. But I don't want to and won't be ordering the sequels. Why? Mainly because I didn't really connect to anything in the book. I should have been sad when people died but I wasn't. The Lies of Locke Lamora is a page-turner that I didn't regret reading but won't be reading again.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
 Potential Galore And Hype To Match, 2008-11-19
The Lies of Locke Lamora is surprisingly interesting, if not overly hyped, fantasy entry by a debut author who shows flashes of brilliance in his prose. Perhaps the book's greatest strength is the way in which Lynch interweaves both the current exploits of the characters with the history of the land he's describing through well-placed interludes.
Surprisingly, I wasn't hooked on the tale until around the 185 page mark where the scheming, lying, and just general conniving of the lead cast becomes more than just a novelty and instead an integral part of the plot. I particularly enjoyed Lynch's ability of painting Locke and company into corners that even the most thorough reader cannot conceivably overcome.
Also noteworthy is the author's commitment to realism in the form of lead character deaths. Not to give any spoilers, let's just say that not everyone you'll come to know makes it to the end. Additionally, his references to alien technology are certainly interesting and play a consistent role in the environment itself.
It appears Lynch's use of modern slang/ profanity in Locke's dialog has been met with mixed reaction. On the one hand he does an admirable job of creating a character with a nice dose of attitude in a world where only the strong survive. On the other, there's little in terms of character maturity save for physical growth.
The overall pacing is impressive thanks in no small part to the historical interludes mentioned above fitting neatly between chapters, which, themselves, are broken into multiple parts. It's always easy to put off sleep, work, or other responsibilities with the logic "just one more section."
All in all, a fun read that does a commendable job steering clear of the more common fantasy genre clichés with enough intrigue and personality to warrant some attention. Based on what I've heard about the sequel, it's yet to be determined whether Lynch represents the next big thing in fantasy or happened to get lucky with The Lies of LL.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Fritz Lieber meets Glen Cook, 2008-11-01
Imagine Fritz Lieber working with Glen Cook, and Harry Turtledove as a contributing consultant... I'm very impressed. This has massive amounts of imagination in a world-system that often surprises, as fantasy with SF overtones. Certainly this follows Clarke's Law, stuff in here presented as 'magic' sure feels like 'sufficiently advanced technology' from a prior civilization :-) Sure, as a first novel there is probably room for improvement, but I ripped through this in one reading, something I have not been able to do with lesser works of this length.
Tomorrow I'll start on the sequel. And another reviewer mentioned this has been optioned for a movie, this has real potential in that direction as a very visual book with lots of dialog.
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