Retro Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora
/When I started this blog, I had been posting reviews on Goodreads for about 6 months. In the interest of having all of my book writing in one place, I will post one of these old reviews every Friday. They weren't written with a blog in mind, so please forgive the lack of summary and off-the-cuff tone.
5 stars. Game of Thrones + Ocean's Eleven + The Name of the Wind. In this epic fantasy, a group of thieving scoundrels dare to pull off an huge, sophisticated heist. As expected, the group, who call themselves the Gentleman Bastards, encounter complications - some small, some deadly - along the way.
This was so much fun. Top-notch world building, spectacular writing, detailed imagery, colorful characters, and clever dialogue - and so much fun. I really appreciated this book, perhaps even above the A Song of Ice and Fire books, because the exposition was done so carefully. I've often complained that George R.R. Martin includes details about his world to, essentially, rub your face in his craftsmanship. Scott Lynch seems to approach world building with a detailed but gentle touch. The info dump is palatable and doesn't impact the storytelling in a negative way.
I could honestly go on and on about how witty and stunning this book is, but that's already been done here - many times. So I'll leave it at that.
This books offers lovely writing, an interesting premise, and a wonderful adventure. You don't have to love fantasy to appreciate this one.