/lit/ - Literature

>>18363025
The Lies of Locke Lamora, Gentleman Bastard #1 - Scott Lynch (2006)
I had dropped this when I first looked at it, but then I read it as a group read. I made it through the prologue this time, which at least a few have described as being very much a stumbling block to reading it, and finished the book. This wasn't a case where I felt like I was particularly missing out. Although it's a relatively well read and rated book by /sffg/, I don't find myself agreeing with the consensus opinion.
The setting is roughly 1600s not-Italy, as it doesn't take place on Earth. There's magic, and it's quite powerful, and very much regulated by its practitioners, not by governments.
As the protagonist is a thief, there's a focus on thievery, specifically of the con artist variety. I would've preferred the book to have been exclusively about these sort of schemes, but it wasn't. The narrative becomes too entangled in gang warfare and vengeance.
The story is presented through a split temporal narrative. One is the early years of the protagonist and in the other he's in his mid-twenties. These past interludes didn't add much to the story for me and I would've preferred in this case to have had a single narrative as it created problems of momentum for me. Because of this narrative choice, reading it felt like I was alternating between reading a novel and a collection of short works, as the interlude are not continuous and seem to have little overall relation to the present. Mostly they are to either justify what happens so that plot points don't "appear out of nowhere" or to provide "color" as it were to the world. This is fine, but surely there was a better way to accomplish both of these.
There were various times where I couldn't help but groan at how ridiculous some scenes were. I can only assume they were intended for a tv/movie adaptation and that they would look cool there at the expense of everything else. However, there were various parts that I enjoyed well enough, mostly when it focused on on details and deigned to focus on its supposed primary draw, the cons, but it wasn't nearly enough for me. This is to say that it was very uneven in most every way, which is unfortunate. There were so many baffling decisions that were made, one of which is consistently mentioning a character and how important they are but they never appear in the story, not even in the past interludes where the character really ought to have been.
The books after the first supposedly aren't as enjoyable if I'm to believe the random poster(s) in here, though that isn't supported by the ratings in the group. I'll probably eventually read more from this series, but I don't have high expectations and it's not a priority. It's a shame that I didn't read this in 2006, as I have little doubt that I would've enjoyed a good bit more at the time. I'll have to find books that are similar, but more enjoyable.
Rating: 3.5/5 (rounded down on GR)

>>18643398
Red Seas Under Red Skies, Gentleman Bastard #2 - Scott Lynch (2007)

What I read wasn't what I wanted, but it is entirely what I should've expected. As with the first book, the con artist parts were enjoyable. If it had stayed with that sort of thing the entire time, this would've been an easy four stars. Unfortunately, that was maybe half the book at best. The other half is "piracy" which was far less what I wanted. It wouldn't have been a problem if it was done well, but it's in quotes because I didn't think it was.
I had issues with the pacing as well. The book is presented in three parts. The first part is half the present and half the recent past, similar to the structure of the first book. Fortunately I enjoyed its usage more than in the first book. The second part is bloated and takes far too long to do much of anything at all. The third part may as well be a montage for all it tries to accomplish in as few pages that it does.
While it is a change of pace that each book seems that it will be designed to be almost wholly self-contained, overall I would prefer more of an overarching story. Regardless of how it's structured if I had enjoyed it more I wouldn't have minded.
And so, this may well be where my journey ends with this series. Maybe I'll change my mind in a few years and read the third book, or not. I admit I'm concerned as to why I see listings for up to a seventh book in the series when the fourth book is so long overdue. I don't feel like I'd be missing out on much, which counts for a lot. It's unfortunate, but it's how it sometimes goes.

Rating: 2.5/5