Locke Lamora

[Baz King]

Hi,

So then, Scott Lynch, the Lies of Locke Lamora. Why didn't anyone tell me?! It's the finest book I've read in years. Until I read the sequel that is....

Seriously, what else have I been missing.Christmas is coming and I need to tell the missus what I want.

[Joebot]

I enjoyed Lynch's first book too. I loved the world-building. The character were a lot of fun, and the story was funny and exciting.

However, the casual fucking swearing put me off a bit. Not that I'm opposed to casual fucking swearing. Quite the opposite in fact. I just found the use of modern profanity / slang to be kinda jarring. It also got to be a bit much when every fucking character curses like a longshoreman. George RR Martin uses modern profanity in his books too, but he somehow does it better than Lynch. I think it's because Martin uses it pretty sparingly, so when a character DOES curse, it has some impact. Reading Lynch is like watching an old Andrew Dice Clay routine, where the constant profanity becomes mind-numbing.

I'm currently about 2/3 of the way through Lynch's sequel, and I actually like it better than the first book. The book totally goes off in a completely unexpected direction. You think it's going to be about Locke and Jean infiltrating this huge casino, but instead, much of the book is about their life at sea as pirates.

All in all, I like Lynch quite a bit. He's definitely got a unique world, and the hook (fantasy meets "Ocean's 11") is terrific and engaging.

[Mr Teufel]

I've read both. I'm quite eagerly awaiting the third book.