Red seas under Red Skies
I finally got the sequel to The Lies of Locke Lamora yesterday; I was so excited about it finally being available in paperback, and so enamored of its prequel, that I picked it up without even reading the blurb. Then I got home, read the blurb, and steeled myself for a more typical novel about the ‘larcenous exploits of a band of daring thieves’:.
The Lies of Locke Lamora followed some momentuous events in the lives of a band of young priests, recruited from among the most talented and incorrigible of the orphans of the city of Camorr, whose rather unorthodox sacrament is thievery. The sequel follows the surviving priests, who have fled to another city, and according to the blurb, is about their attempt to swindle from the most reknown of the city’s gambling houses, a place where those caught cheating are guaranteed a swift, sure death.
The twist is that someone knows about their background and their plot, and is out to ‘make them pay for their sins’… Granted, his first book was off the hook, so Lynch could probably breathe new life into the old troupe of the gentlemen rogues, but if this was truly as deep as the book got, the result would definitely not be anywhere near as delicious as The Lies of Locke Lamora.
Luckily, it turns out that the sin being referred to is one from The Lies of Locke Lamora. Without giving too much away, before they fled the city, they avenged themselves on a bondsmage who killed some of their friends. They would have liked to kill him, but the Bondsmagi are a unique force in their world: they maintain a monopoly on magical ability by killing mages who attempt independent practice; their magic grants them some terrible abilities, like being able to voodoo puppet anyone whose name they know. Consequently, they can do what they will when they will without fear of retribution– the murder of a bondsmage led to the casual destruction of a city once– and will do pretty much anything for anyone who can afford their services.
Apparently, the Bondsmagi don’t like what was done to one of their own … So, an exciting premise. One as puzzling as that of the prequel: how can they possibly survive against the Bondsmagi?
Possibly relevant posts:
- The Church and the Jedi (5/26/2005)
- An old kind of conceit (7/11/2007)
- Lysergically yours (6/28/2005)
I just finished this one the other day. I, too, waited for the paperback. Spoilers ahoy!
I thought it was pretty good, although not quite as good as the first. It wasn’t as tightly plotted and left more questions unanswered, as well. I saw the death of the one more-or-less major character who died coming a mile away. I’m looking forward to the next novel (although I’ll wait for the paperback again). I hope the reemphasized Bondsmagi stuff will be more interesting than the Sinspire stuff was. And the capture of Stragos was absurdly easy to pull off when it came down to it. All-in-all, Locke and Jean seemed more catalysts than major players in this one, and I hope they have more opportunities to not be so strung along in the future.
Comment by George — 8/23/2008 @ 10:35 am
I agree that this wasn’t quite as good as the first; in fact, it was a big disappointment. After the dramatic Night Market scene happened so early in the book, I kept looking for the Bondsmagi to do something else direct, but they were out of the picture except when providing convenient explanations for the actions of Stragos and the Priori. I got the impression that Lynch is still figuring out himself how they will take on the Bondsmagi– either that, or he’s going to streeetch the Bondsmagi conflict all the way to the 7th book. I’m going to give him a free pass on this one, but if the next book doesn’t develop the story in more interesting directions, I’m through with the Gentlemen Bastards.
Comment by Alex — 8/23/2008 @ 10:52 am
Hey George, seems like you might have the same taste in books as me. Any recommendations?
Comment by Alex — 8/23/2008 @ 10:53 am
Hmmm. Well, Lynch’s Gentlemen Bastards books remind me a little bit of Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories, although not as good as Leiber’s best (or as bad as his worst).
My favorite sf authors, though, are Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe. Jack Vance writes beautifully, and his best stuff (Lyonesse, Dying Earth, Demon Princes, say) is really good. Some of his books get pretty indulgent, though. Gene Wolfe, on the other hand, hasn’t ever written anything worse than really good, I think. Some of his are really top tier (Book of the New Sun, Long Sun, Short Sun are my favorites), but they aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, probably. The narrator’s have their quirks, and don’t always tell the truth or the whole story, but you can generally figure out what really happened by reading between the lines.
I also really like C.J.Cherryh. I haven’t read her most recent stuff (only so much time, eh?), but books like Cyteen and Downbelow Station (among others) are good.
If you haven’t read Vernor Vinge’s Deepness in the Sky or Fire upon the Deep, those are really good, too. My current book is his Rainbow’s End, but I’m not far enough in to have an opinion on it, yet.
Oh, Leigh Brackett’s Sword of Rhiannon is good, if you can find it.
Have you read Edgar Rice Borrough’s Mars books?
Actually, what have you read?
Comment by George — 8/24/2008 @ 4:12 am
I read a bit of the Gray Mouser entry on wikipedia, and it seemed too simplistic, but you say it’s good, so I’ll check it out.
I read Vance’s Gaean trilogy and did not like it at all; I didn’t look at any of his other stuff, maybe I’ll look at the ones you mentioned. I’ve considered reading Wolfe’s books, but the reviews on amazon make them seem somewhat more literary (i.e. wandering and pointless) than I can usually tolerate. Do they actually tell an interesting story? I read Cherryh’s Fortress in the Eye of Time series; the starting premise was good, but the execution was drawn out and diluted– ultimately the series was a waste of time. I’ve never attempted her sci-fi stuff.
I did love Vernor Vinge’s Deepness in the Sky and Fire upon the Deep, as well as the Realtime sequence. In fact, those are among my favorite sci-fi books. Rainbow’s End is nowhere near their level.
I avoid books on Mars; I’ve never found it an interesting place
Although, I remember being impressed by Bradbury’s martian chronicles.
Mostly I read fantasy, especially epic fantasy: Steven Erickson’s Malazan tale of the fallen sequence, Glen Cook’s Black Company sequence and his new Instrumentalities of the Night series, Greg Keynes’ The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, Michelle West’s The Sunsword sextet, Kate Elliott’s Crow of Stars sequence, Carol Berg’s Transformation trilogy, etc. I do not like Lord of the Rings, or any of its emulators: the Sword of Shannara, …
I do occasionally read sci-fi, when it comes highly recommended: Ender’s Game and the sequels that follow Bean, Dan Simmon’s Hyperion Cantos, just about everything Neal Stephenson wrote, a lot of Sheri S. Tepper’s works: Grass, a plague of angels, gateway to women’s country– although a lot of her work is really on the intersection of fantasy and science fiction–, Peter Hamilton’s Night’s Dawn series, some of Alastair Reynold’s stuff, some of Ian Banks’ stuff, a lot of L.E. Modesitt’s science fiction novels, etc.
It used to be easy for me to pick novels worth my time, just by the blurbs, but I’ve long since exhausted the obvious choices, so I either wait for new releases that look interesting or rely on others’ recommendations of books that may have slipped through my filters.
Comment by Alex — 8/24/2008 @ 1:23 pm
Leiber’s Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories are sometimes extremely good, sometimes only okay, but they’re short stories. If you’ve read many short stories, you’re probably used to that.
I haven’t read Vance’s Gaean series, so can’t really compare to that. Admittedly, at his worst, he’s annoying. But at his best, he’s fantastic at giving you a feel for truly alien cultures. His Lyonesse books are epic fantasy of the type that has fairies. But they aren’t nice fairies. I really enjoyed his Demon Princes books, although they’re scifi. But they’re not epic. They’re revenge stories.
I think Wolfe is simply fantastic. He really gets you into a single character’s head, and you really see everything through their eyes. For example, Severian, the protagonist of the New Sun books, is a former member of the torturer’s guild who ends up ruling the world. He has an eidetic memory, but isn’t always honest to either himself or the reader. It’s a very interesting story, I think, through the series, but that sort of thing certainly may not be to your taste.
Burrough’s John Carter of Mars (Barsoom) books aren’t really Mars books in the sense of say, Kim Stanley Robinson’s books (which I really, really didn’t like). It doesn’t really matter much that they happen to be set on Mars. It just isn’t Earth. They’re great pulpy fun.
I haven’t read Cherryh’s Fortress in the Eye of Time books, so can’t comment on them. I really liked her first three Morgaine books, but didn’t like the later Exile’s Gate. They’re epic fantasy, so might be your cup of tea.
For fantasy, have you tried Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos books? They’re about a sarcastic assassin in a dangerous world (Dragaera), trying not to be killed by various magicians, etc. more powerful than him. Rather similar to Lynch in that way, but better in my opinion. A bit breezier. I always look forward to a new one, and there’s quite a few. The early ones are available in omnibus editions, too.
If you like humorous fantasy, you can’t go wrong with Terry Pratchett. The first couple are fairly standard stuff, but after that, they just get better and better. Not a weak one in the bunch, and it’s a very big bunch. They’re surprisingly interesting, besides being funny. I’ve seen them compared to Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker books, but it’s not really on point. They’re funny, yes, but they have actual plots and stories, and fantastic characters. If you read them, I really don’t think you’ll be sorry.
Have you read Zelazny’s Amber books? The first series is really good, although Zelazny kind of loses control, and second series isn’t as good. All ten are available in one rather large volume. And speaking of Zelazny, Lord of Light is absolutely wonderful. Don’t miss it.
Oh, and for don’t miss books, Alfred Bester’s two books The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination (aka Tiger, Tiger) are truly great. Definitely worth reading.
Comment by George — 8/24/2008 @ 4:42 pm
OK, I’ll give the Vlad Taltos books and Wolfe’s books a try; they sound intriguing. I can’t stand humorous fantasy, so I’ve been staying away from Pratchett, but maybe I’ll ignore my prejudices and give him a try.
I love Roger Zelazny. I’ve read Creatures of Light and Darkness, Lord of Light, and Jack of Shadows, so I consider Amber to be some of his weakest work: his usual lyricism is absent, and the series drags after a while. The basic idea of a platonic multiverse is pretty cool, though. His posthumous published Donnerjack is one of my favorite novels of all time; it’s somewhat similar to Tad Williams’ Otherland series, but much better.
I picked up those two Bester novels out of desperation– they were in the extremely meager Caltech popular fiction section– and was pleasantly surprised to enjoy them. From the same place, I picked up Sturgeon’s More than Human, another great historic book. All three of them are on my list of really good books.
Comment by Alex — 8/25/2008 @ 6:52 pm
I just noticed that Bester and Zelazny collaborated on another novel that was published after their deaths: Psychoshop. Might be interesting.
Comment by Alex — 8/25/2008 @ 6:54 pm