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Sequel to The Lies of Locke Lamora. Locke and Jean have moved on to a new game, robbing the most heavily guarded gambling house in all the land. And in the process becoming entangled in the political reorganization of their new city, which in turn forces them out to sea to the piratical life.
Hmm. Right, okay, here’s the thing. I really liked The Lies of Locke Lamora -- it was funny and clever and a pleasant read. But what interested me was that it was the first in a series of seven. I love series mostly because you can watch authors develop over time. Which makes it noticeably less fun when they . . . don’t.
Red Seas Under Red Skies is shaped exactly like Lies right down to the ins and outs of the plot, the pacing of the delivery, the weight of virtues, and the weight of mistakes. Locke and Jean’s adventure fits precisely into the same framework -- opening clever heist plot, blackmail by a higher power into an impossible task, double-crosses, a sad death, bittersweetly redemptive and madcap victory, topped off with a final defeat and a problem for the future. La. It’s a bit more transparent the second time around.
But I did say it retains the virtues: funny dialogue, a compelling central relationship between Locke and Jean, crustily interesting writing. But it’s really disappointing that the flaws are also the same. Most notably, Locke is not nearly as clever as we’re told he is -- his “brilliant” way around “impossible security measures” is often just pedestrian rather than brilliantly simple. And the flashbacks interspersed in the text are mostly nicely illuminating, except for when they’re annoying or flat out cheap tricks (see the prologue, for the cheapest trick of them all).
So, disappointing in that way a good book is disappointing when you were hoping for a better book. Still worth the effort, though.
Hmm. Right, okay, here’s the thing. I really liked The Lies of Locke Lamora -- it was funny and clever and a pleasant read. But what interested me was that it was the first in a series of seven. I love series mostly because you can watch authors develop over time. Which makes it noticeably less fun when they . . . don’t.
Red Seas Under Red Skies is shaped exactly like Lies right down to the ins and outs of the plot, the pacing of the delivery, the weight of virtues, and the weight of mistakes. Locke and Jean’s adventure fits precisely into the same framework -- opening clever heist plot, blackmail by a higher power into an impossible task, double-crosses, a sad death, bittersweetly redemptive and madcap victory, topped off with a final defeat and a problem for the future. La. It’s a bit more transparent the second time around.
But I did say it retains the virtues: funny dialogue, a compelling central relationship between Locke and Jean, crustily interesting writing. But it’s really disappointing that the flaws are also the same. Most notably, Locke is not nearly as clever as we’re told he is -- his “brilliant” way around “impossible security measures” is often just pedestrian rather than brilliantly simple. And the flashbacks interspersed in the text are mostly nicely illuminating, except for when they’re annoying or flat out cheap tricks (see the prologue, for the cheapest trick of them all).
So, disappointing in that way a good book is disappointing when you were hoping for a better book. Still worth the effort, though.
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scott_lynch
