Okay, my friends had been recommending this series to each other for years, and when I saw the third book was available on NetGalley, I jumped in and started reading. Â WOW. Â This is some great fantasy writing for sure! Â Take Ocean’s 11, add in magic and alchemy, stir with swords and hatchets, and you’ve got the gist of it. Â The stories follow Locke Lamora and his best friend Jean, as they lead a life of long cons and thievery. Â Each book intersperses the ‘present day’ chapters with a story from the past that helps illustrate the central pot of each novel – it works because the more you learn about Locke, Jean and the other ‘Gentlemen Bastards’, the more you want to know how they got the way they are. Â The downside is, the main plot gets delayed, but soon enough you’ll like the characters so much you won’t really care.
I won’t spoil the books, but they are filled with daring capers, weird magic and alchemy, disguises, loves lost and found again, and a man killed by a leaping shark. Â And that last one wasn’t even in the awesome pirate-themed second book. Â Many of the twists and turns were jaw-dropping, and I couldn’t wait to see how they resolved things. Â It’s really great fun, and a great palate-cleanser if you’ve been reading denser, more grim or serious fare. Â Not that there isn’t grim, serious moments here but damn if it isn’t funny and action-packed too.
The first two books, The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies have been out for a while now, and the third, The Republic of Thieves, comes out October 8th.
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