I enjoyed it enough to overlook any deficiencies, apparently.
Rebekah Send a noteboard - 21/08/2013 08:09:54 PM
It was exciting and fun and made the interludes worthwhile. And it was a fairly satisfying end for the Grey King.
View original postTo be sure there are many good moments in them, but on the whole I found these climactic chapters a let-down, at least this time around (can't remember what I thought last time). The Spider, who has never really gotten much of a chance to display her acumen to the reader, comes across as utterly incompetent and helpless in both the Grey King's and Locke's hands. And Locke playing it straight about the sculptures and somehow convincing anyone just in the nick of time... meh. The sculptures were a boring enough plot device by themselves, but the resolution of that plotline was even more so.
I do agree about the sculptures, though. Thought they were a little off.
I didn't find the Spider all that helpless or inept, personally. She was stifled by the Bondsmage so it worked, I thought.
View original postBesides that, I had been expecting something much more exciting to explain the link between the Grey King and the Falconer, a much more intriguing explanation than "oh yeah, the Grey King is an awfully wealthy buccaneer, and also he plotted to steal your fortune to pay me my boring wages in gold with". The final showdown with the Falconer isn't that great, either, honestly - doesn't anybody know the good old rules of the evil overlord anymore? Yes, I called the Falconer the evil overlord - the Grey King's claim was never that impressive, nor is his own showdown, although I do appreciate Lynch's attempt at depicting a Locke who is finally out of ideas and just tries to settle things the simple way which he's eminently not cut out for, although I get the feeling he should have stood much less of a chance and never even gotten so close as to end it as he did.
The Grey King did what Chains had been encouraging others to do with the Gentleman Bastards all along: he underestimated Locke. (Not Jean, though.) And I think he also let his emotions get in the way too much. So Locke surviving as long as he did makes sense to me.
View original postI think part of my problem with these chapters and the climax as a whole is that they're too serious and too straight for the most part, while the strength of the first half of the novel is precisely the humour, the penchant for the exaggeratedly flamboyant and the inclination not to take itself too seriously. But some things that aren't really necessary if you're going for that style do become necessary when you try to take things more seriously.
Fair comment.
View original postI figure I should continue on to Red Seas over Red Skies now - Nate's comment about how in hindsight it might be the better novel after all is promising. I can see how it easily could be.
I'm going to set up the thread now. Bad me.
*MySmiley*
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx
Reread: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
- 03/06/2013 10:07:06 AM
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The Prologue
- 03/06/2013 10:08:39 AM
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It had been years and years since I'd read this, so I don't remember most of the plot...
- 05/06/2013 10:17:21 PM
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Re: It had been years and years since I'd read this, so I don't remember most of the plot...
- 10/06/2013 03:35:48 PM
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Chapters One and Two.
- 10/06/2013 03:36:57 PM
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I was waiting for someone else to go first.
- 13/06/2013 03:39:31 PM
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What do you mean by "lampshading"?
- 18/06/2013 02:52:46 PM
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Falling somewhat behind, but I'm still participating in this...
- 02/07/2013 10:50:27 PM
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Re: Falling somewhat behind, but I'm still participating in this...
- 03/07/2013 05:21:34 AM
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Not as entranced as I thought I would be.
- 18/06/2013 02:47:24 PM
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Chapters 3 and 4.
- 18/06/2013 02:53:34 PM
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Initial thought:
- 18/06/2013 02:55:52 PM
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This is another one with messed up timelines.
- 24/06/2013 04:47:16 PM
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Chapters 5 and 6. *NM*
- 25/06/2013 05:06:10 PM
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Chapters 7 and 8.
- 10/07/2013 06:22:02 PM
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I finally grabbed my book off the shelf so I could see what these chapters were.
- 16/07/2013 03:45:50 PM
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I'll come back to actually reply, but I just wanted to let you know that I've read this. *NM*
- 24/07/2013 06:35:54 PM
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I think this is where I became quite impressed with Lynch's plotting.
- 30/07/2013 02:20:31 PM
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Chapters 9 and 10. *NM*
- 10/07/2013 06:22:22 PM
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Chapters 11 and 12. *NM*
- 24/07/2013 06:34:25 PM
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Chapters 13 and 14. *NM*
- 24/07/2013 06:34:41 PM
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These are very satisfying chapters, on the whole.
- 30/07/2013 03:11:28 PM
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Locke's scheme is probably one of my two favourite sequences in the book.
- 02/08/2013 11:13:40 PM
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Those interludes suddenly started to remind me very strongly of Lost.
- 14/08/2013 09:01:04 PM
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Chapters 15 and 16 and the epilogue. *NM*
- 30/07/2013 02:09:39 PM
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Disappointing, on the whole, I felt.
- 14/08/2013 09:25:31 PM
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I enjoyed it enough to overlook any deficiencies, apparently.
- 21/08/2013 08:09:54 PM
864 Views