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Falling somewhat behind, but I'm still participating in this... Legolas Send a noteboard - 02/07/2013 10:50:27 PM

View original postI do remember that the second chapter was essentially a large metaphor for what Locke and his gang are doing. I liked the second chapter more than the first. The first was an introduction to the gang as adults and the start of their Salvarra game. There was nothing wrong with it, but the time-hopping, going back and forth between the present and the immediate past even outside of the interludes, took a little getting used to at first, and at the end of the day, it's still an introduction.

Very much an introduction, yeah. Probably necessary to set up the rest of the book, though, and it's amusing enough.
View original postBut in that second chapter we get Locke at his finest fakery, completely slipping into the confidences of the Salvarras. While in the background, people fight and are devoured by various dangerous sea creatures. It's a metaphor for what will happen to Locke and his gang if they slip up, if they're careless, which makes you worry whether or not Locke has fully grown up from being the boy who stole too much.

Yeah, you can hardly call it subtle as metaphors go... but it's a good reminder of a point made earlier in the prologue, about how utterly ruthless the Camorran establishment is. Have to say I liked the floating gardens, although I'm having a hard time imagining how the kind of vessel I pictured could possibly fit into the improvised floating amphitheater setting mentioned.
View original postI like the confidence game element of this book. It's something you don't see in fantasy very often, or at least I haven't, but it's a lot of fun. This book actually came out fairly close to Brandon Sanderson's first Mistborn novel, which featured a heist, something else you don't see much in fantasy. Of course, Sanderson never really focused on his heist, and the book ended up being about something else. But Lynch gives us the confidence game and the wonderful abilities of the Gentleman Bastards all the way in. I appreciate it for that. The book really is something different, rather than being a cover for something else. (The something else that Mistborn turned into, especially over the full trilogy, is really very good, but it's not what it started out pretending to be.)

I still haven't read any of the later novels in Lynch's series - does it stay that way, or is there more of a traditional epic fantasy plot later on?
View original postI remember thinking this time around that it was just a touch unrealistic that the Don would fall so quickly and fully for Locke's game. But I have to remember that the rich of Camorr are completely unused to being the targets of thieves. The city is under the Secret Peace, and the wealthy are supposed to be untouchable. Which makes it a lot of fun that Locke and his company come along and touch them, just for the fun of it. I love that they have a huge vault full of the money they've stolen, and they don't even do anything with it. They just like to run daring plans and get away with it.

I was struck by the amount of money that was spent on that wine they offer him (the real one, that is). If you put a few of the earlier statements about money in Camorr together, you realize that it's a staggering amount they spent on that. One would think that, assuming this is their biggest con game yet, a rather large part of their earlier winnings must have gone into the preparations of this one. Even in con games, it seems to require wealth to obtain more wealth...
View original postBut of course, I think Lynch also realized that Salvarra's complete gullibility was just a little hard to swallow, so he had Locke himself lampshade it in the next chapter, which we'll get to shortly.

Haven't gotten around to that yet.
View original postI liked the bit with the Austershalin brandy, especially with the fake cask of the unaged stuff. You really get a sense of what an enormous temptation this is for the Salvarras. Which of course is why they should have been more careful of it. And perhaps they would have been, given just a little more time to get into things, which is why Locke's upcoming internal lampshading ends up being so brilliant.

It's nice, but it kind of pushes credibility for me, to blatantly take that aspect of modern society and transplant it into a medieval setting just like that. I'm not sure that it makes economic sense for an otherwise pre-modern society to have the whole "bottles of that brand of wine from that year are worth millions" thing. For one thing, they wouldn't have the levels of standardization required to ensure the constant quality you need to build a brand that strong.

Yes, I know, I criticize odd things.

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Reread: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - 03/06/2013 10:07:06 AM 1224 Views
The Prologue - 03/06/2013 10:08:39 AM 858 Views
Re: The Prologue - 04/06/2013 09:09:56 PM 919 Views
Re: The Prologue - 10/06/2013 03:34:28 PM 870 Views
I'd forgotten most of this. - 10/06/2013 03:32:26 PM 705 Views
Chapters One and Two. - 10/06/2013 03:36:57 PM 692 Views
I was waiting for someone else to go first. - 13/06/2013 03:39:31 PM 782 Views
What do you mean by "lampshading"? - 18/06/2013 02:52:46 PM 746 Views
I will explain! It requires Chapter Three information. - 18/06/2013 03:55:55 PM 711 Views
Thanks; I'd never seen the term before. *NM* - 25/06/2013 04:57:47 PM 332 Views
Falling somewhat behind, but I'm still participating in this... - 02/07/2013 10:50:27 PM 1227 Views
Not as entranced as I thought I would be. - 18/06/2013 02:47:24 PM 683 Views
Re: Descriptions - 24/06/2013 05:00:34 PM 782 Views
Re: Descriptions - 25/06/2013 04:59:28 PM 720 Views
I'm inclined to agree with that assessment. - 02/07/2013 10:54:32 PM 822 Views
Chapters 3 and 4. - 18/06/2013 02:53:34 PM 702 Views
Initial thought: - 18/06/2013 02:55:52 PM 682 Views
This is another one with messed up timelines. - 24/06/2013 04:47:16 PM 2895 Views
Re: This is another one with messed up timelines. - 25/06/2013 05:01:35 PM 2538 Views
It's funny - your comment above had spoiled me so... - 08/08/2013 05:25:31 PM 804 Views
Re: Sabetha - 08/08/2013 05:42:18 PM 759 Views
The first part of the book is a little slow, I've decided. - 25/06/2013 05:05:45 PM 706 Views
It does really pick up, doesn't it? - 13/08/2013 10:37:26 PM 609 Views
Chapters 5 and 6. *NM* - 25/06/2013 05:06:10 PM 309 Views
Things really pick up now. - 28/06/2013 04:04:27 PM 737 Views
Re: Women (spoilers) - 01/07/2013 04:56:07 PM 724 Views
Re: Things really pick up now. - 13/08/2013 10:56:37 PM 764 Views
Chapters 7 and 8. - 10/07/2013 06:22:02 PM 777 Views
Chapters 9 and 10. *NM* - 10/07/2013 06:22:22 PM 367 Views
Lynch can be such a tease. - 16/07/2013 04:35:51 PM 788 Views
I love Doña Vorchenza - 30/07/2013 02:28:30 PM 820 Views
Chapters 11 and 12. *NM* - 24/07/2013 06:34:25 PM 332 Views
Lynch is ruthless in these chapters. - 30/07/2013 02:40:19 PM 825 Views
Poor everyone. - 02/08/2013 11:04:34 PM 745 Views
Chapters 13 and 14. *NM* - 24/07/2013 06:34:41 PM 345 Views
These are very satisfying chapters, on the whole. - 30/07/2013 03:11:28 PM 761 Views
Chapters 15 and 16 and the epilogue. *NM* - 30/07/2013 02:09:39 PM 326 Views
Disappointing, on the whole, I felt. - 14/08/2013 09:25:31 PM 781 Views
I liked parts of it, but you make good points. - 15/08/2013 05:45:14 PM 872 Views
Yeah, I liked parts too - but still. - 15/08/2013 06:54:19 PM 706 Views
I enjoyed it enough to overlook any deficiencies, apparently. - 21/08/2013 08:09:54 PM 864 Views
Re: Disappointing, on the whole, I felt. - 22/09/2013 11:22:19 PM 810 Views
Oh my. - 23/09/2013 06:00:44 PM 690 Views
Re: Oh my. - 09/10/2013 10:12:55 PM 746 Views

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