Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
Red Seas Under Red Skies
Unavailable
Red Seas Under Red Skies
Unavailable
Red Seas Under Red Skies
Audiobook25 hours

Red Seas Under Red Skies

Written by Scott Lynch

Narrated by Michael Page

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

After a brutal battle with the underworld that nearly destroyed him, Locke Lamora and his trusted sidekick, Jean, fled the island city of their birth and landed on the exotic shores of Tal Verrar to nurse their wounds. But even at this westernmost edge of civilization, they can't rest for long—and they are soon back doing what they do best: stealing from the undeserving rich and pocketing the proceeds for themselves.

This time, however, they have targeted the grandest prize of all: the Sinspire, the most exclusive and heavily guarded gambling house in the world. Its nine floors attract the wealthiest clientele—and to rise to the top, one must impress with good credit, amusing behavior…and excruciatingly impeccable play. For there is one cardinal rule, enforced by Requin, the house's cold-blooded master: it is death to cheat at any game at the Sinspire.

Brazenly undeterred, Locke and Jean have orchestrated an elaborate plan to lie, trick, and swindle their way up the nine floors…straight to Requin's teeming vault. Under the cloak of false identities, they meticulously make their climb—until they are closer to the spoils than ever.

But someone in Tal Verrar has uncovered the duo's secret. Someone from their past who has every intention of making the impudent criminals pay for their sins. Now it will take every ounce of cunning to save their mercenary souls. And even that may not be enough.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherTantor Audio
Release dateJun 18, 2009
ISBN9781400180523
Unavailable
Red Seas Under Red Skies
Author

Scott Lynch

Author of the internationally best-selling Gentleman Bastard sequence, Scott has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award, the Locus Award, the Campbell Award, and the Compton Crook Award. He received the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Newcomer in 2008. Scott was born in 1978 in St. Paul, Minnesota, the first of three brothers. At various times he was a dishwasher, a waiter, a graphic designer, an office manager, a prep cook, and a freelancer/self-publisher in the gaming field, before accidentally selling his first novel in 2004. After training at Anoka Technical College in Minnesota in 2005, Scott joined his local fire department in St. Croix County, Wisconsin and served as a paid-on-call firefighter for eleven years. In 2016, Scott moved to Massachusetts and married his longtime partner, famed SF/F writer Elizabeth Bear.

Related to Red Seas Under Red Skies

Related audiobooks

Related articles

Reviews for Red Seas Under Red Skies

Rating: 4.094186390116279 out of 5 stars
4/5

1,720 ratings84 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Red Seas Under Red Skies is the sequel to Lynch’s fantasy heist story The Lies of Locke Lamora. While I’d usually suggest reading a series in order, it is possible to start with Red Seas Under Red Skies since the plots of the two books are separate.Locke Lamora and Jean Tannen are back on their game with plans for a huge new heist. They’ve spent the past two years in the island city state of Tal Verrar, planning a hit on the Sinspire, a world renown casino with equally renown security. Unfortunately, their identities are known and the two will land in trouble they never suspected. I’m not going to say too much, but… pirates!Red Seas Under Red Skies continues to be a whole lot of fun, even on reread. There’s some lovely bits of new world building in Tel Verrar and the other locations the book takes us. I found the bit of sailor’s lore involving cats to be simply hilarious. Namely: if you don’t bring a cat on board with you, the sea god will be very angry.There’s some hints as to Locke’s character development since the last book, which’s ending left him understandably shaken and depressed. He also seems to be thinking a lot more about his role as a priest of the Thirteenth and starting to feel twinges of conscience at times. Of course, he continues to be a super fun protagonist to read about.On the whole, I do prefer The Lies of Locke Lamora between the two. Red Seas Under Red Skies felt like it took forever to come to completion, and even in the last hundred pages it didn’t feel as well tied together as the first book did. The beginning of the novel includes an alternating timeline to show what Locke and Jean were up to after leaving Camorr and arriving at Tel Verrar. The book as a whole felt a bit too slow paced, although thankfully the flashbacks have disappeared by the climax. Then again, my problems with pacing this read through could have been due to me reading it as a group discussion over a period of five weeks.The second half of Red Seas Under Red Skies does introduce some important female characters. While I enjoyed the Spider from the last book, she wasn’t really a main character. The lady pirates of Red Seas Under Red Skies receive much more page time and are completely awesome. I particularly love Zamira, badass pirate captain mom.Red Seas Under Red Skies was less heist focused than The Lies of Locke Lamora, but fans of the first should still get enjoyment out of it. Locke and his antics are a delight, and it’s always wonderful to return to the masterful world Lynch has created.Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    So I thought I hadn't read this book yet, but upon reaching page 50 or so, I definitely realized I had, as plot details were far too familiar (though I still don't know where I got the copy I read before). A great follow-up to Lies of Locke Lamora — just enough references without being so heavy that the novel felt like it really needed its predecessor. Thieving and lying and sailing and love — all I want in a book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This second book in the Gentlemen Bastards series was something of a letdown, at least in the beginning: having thoroughly enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora, I expected to be just as thrilled with Red Seas Under Red Skies, but for the first half of this book it was not so. This second installment takes a while to finally find its legs, and that happens only when Locke and Jean, the surviving members of the Gentlemen Bastards, meet with pirate Zamira Drakasha's crew and the adventure begins in earnest.

    Until then, Mr. Lynch's story seems to wander in several directions, as if in search of its identity: the only reason I stayed with it was that I wanted to trust the author on the basis of the first book's strength and innovative storytelling - luckily for me, that trust paid off in the end, even though it was a close call.

    One of the book's saving graces comes of course from its main characters: the interplay between Locke and Jean both defines them as persons and expands on the story. Here they are often at odds with each other: the loss of their comrades, Locke's fall into depression and Jean's efforts to carry them both forward until they can recover from that loss, all contribute to a friction that explodes at times into dangerous conflict. Yet their friendship - the bond of kinship that goes well beyond mere association to become true brotherhood - comes out of those pitfalls stronger than ever.

    The pirate society - or rather the microcosm aboard the Poison Orchid, the ship where our heroes become full-fledged raiders - is wonderfully described and quite vivid: Drakasha is a memorable character, a pirate captain who is a middle-aged woman and a mother, but at the same time a ruthless brigand and a fair, level-headed commander. Her second Ezri is also a strong female character, but sadly she gets less development than Drakasha, since her function seems to be there merely as Jean's love interest, and she finally shines through only toward the end in a dramatic scene that loses nothing of its potency even as the reader realizes that events were tailored to bring that ending about.

    After the shaky beginning I mentioned the plot does gain speed and proceeds toward the end in a satisfactorily adventurous way, but still I feel that it lacks the spirited quality of the first book, that the author somehow felt the pressure to deliver that followed the debut novel in this series and this hampered his style in some way.

    Nonetheless, the misgivings I listed are not enough to stop me from going on reading - not in the least because this second book closes with a huge cliffhanger that I can't wait to see resolved...

    The rating should read as 3,5 stars.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A fantastic sequel to the Lies of Locke Lamora. Locke and Jean are setting up for a heist two years in the making and, well, things start rapidly spinning out of control. It throws a bunch of stylistically different things in a bucket—a very Jean-Pierre Melville-ian heist set-up, pirates, and multifaceted political maneuvering—and it turns out quite well. I like how Locke is way more aware of his limitations than in the previous book. He's maybe the best as what he does (conning people out of lots of money), but he keeps failing (or half-succeeding) over and over.

    Anyway, I'm excited to read the next one. VERY excited. I think at this point, I can safely say this is my favorite of the "new wave" of modern fantasy series, even more than the Kingkiller Chronicles or ASoIaF.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Enjoyable, but not as good as the first book in the series.Writers have the advantage that they can have characters perform any trick without having to physically demonstrate it. I don't believe even Locke can slide a card under a wine bottle when his right hand is trapped and he's holding the cards in his left - and that hand is being watched. That kind of trick needs distraction to allow the other hand to slide the card into place.As any fictional character should know, giving someone a lock of your hair before a battle is tantamount to a death sentence - it's a dead giveaway to the reader that one or both of them is going to die.The plot felt very contrived in some places, though it still had its highlights.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    So I wouldn't say I loved this book. I enjoyed most of it, but not all of it.

    I found the story to drag at points and not keep my attention for the whole book. The beginning, and end thirds were great, but I found myself pretty bored for the middle. It was also a bit of a drag during the first 200 pages - that's when I put it down originally. The plot seemed to meander about and things were happening, but just at a slower pace. Sometimes I can appreciate a slower pace, but I just found a lot of the description in this book to be a little unnecessary.

    I thoroughly enjoy the characters in this series I do have to say. Locke and Jean are just so interesting and funny. Reading about them and just seeing their character nuances is great. I also enjoyed Zamira and Ezri as well. I will be continuing on with the series, but I hope I enjoy the next book more.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Thank goodness the next book is coming out soon,
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This twisting tale was a good read. It was better than the first book purely because the first took so long to build the characters. As with the first book there is plots within plots. It was fun seeing it all come together at the end. I look forward to the next book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I very much enjoyed the first installment of this series; this one dragged a bit for me. The first half of the novel was a bit of a slog, though it picked up once we hit the high seas. Things I liked:Woman aren't secondary characters. They love and are loved. They hate and are hated. They are powerful and worthy of respect (and, in many cases, fear). They're kinda like, well... equal. Imagine that. It's a very nice thing to read, and makes me much more prone to forgiving Lynch his occasional windedness. The action. Mostly it's pretty fun. Just brutal enough, but Lynch doesn't go on gross-fests. I hate gore for the sake of gore. (Hear me, Game of Thrones? Ugh.)Good guys don't always win. Bad guys don't always lose. Many people are both good and bad.Liked AND Disliked:The complexity. I like how Locke and Jean create these elaborate schemes... but sometimes I get bored by them. Not sure how to fix this.Disliked:A bit too rambly.Too obvious a hook for the next book.In summary:I'll read the next one, in due time. I liked this book, though it's not worth waving around to all my friends in a bid to get them to read it. The book is big (not a bad thing, in my mind), which does limit the audience somewhat. That, of course, is okay.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It's been a while since I read the first installment of this series, but it didn't take long to get back in the swing. Likable characters with real relationships always help. A solid follow-up, though this book seemed really to be two separate books, one where they are con artists and one where they are suddenly pirates. Could've seemed disjointed, but he pulled it off.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Two years have passed since Locke and Jean fled Camorr for some much needed rest and recovery on the island of Tal Verrar. It is more than enough time to reestablish themselves at what they do best: setting up their next grand scheme to earn them a big score. This time the target is the Sinspire, the greatest gambling house in the world. Only open by invitation and heavily guarded it presents the ultimate challenge - how to lie, cheat and talk their way into it's vault. And all goes according to plan until their past comes back to haunt them to make them pay for past misdeeds.Red Seas Under Red Skies is the second in the Gentlemen Bastards series. The story starts by dropping the reader straight into the middle of Locke's current scheme and things aren't going so well. In an almost TV like way we're transported back in time with a "six months ago..." style format to catch us up to the present day. Lynch makes it work. The little tease is a great hook. He also continues with the flashback format, this time using it to fill in events that happened since the first book. And it all works well together. For the first time Lynch also gives us two strong female leads and some good female side characters. They are able to go toe to toe with their male counter parts and hold their own nicely. It was great to read! The character interactions are wonderful over all. Lynch is great at writing fun, witty banter and making characters feel real.Unfortunately, that's where the really great parts end. Gone is the wonderful grittiness of the first book. The big story twist I kept expecting never fully materialized. Yes, their original plan goes off track, but it's nothing like the situation Locke ends up in the previous book. The first few chapters were great, same tone and feel of the first novel, and then it drops off. The story started to really drag, the pacing slowed to a crawl. Even the action scenes didn't help much to keep things moving. It picks back up at towards the end with a great finale, but it wasn't enough to save it from the slow slog through the middle of the story. The characters are engaging enough that I really did want to find out what happened to everyone.Overall, I enjoyed the book. It is not as good as the first and seems to suffer a bit from middle book syndrome. I'm hoping the third book picks up the pace again as I really like the world and characters that Lynch has created.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I loved this book. The wisecracking Locke Lamora puts me in mind of Cap'n Tightpants from Firefly. There's a lot of crackling, witty dialogue in this book, perhaps more so than the first. The plot is incredibly convoluted but internally consistent- one wonders at Lynch's ability to keep so many balls in the air and cards up his sleeve. I see that there are seven books scheduled for this series, and I couldn't be happier.

    The Gentlemen Bastards are lovable rogues, amoral pirates and almost completely believable. The world-building feels solid, but Lynch is not falling all over himself to explain things, which is a lovely, lovely thing in a new author.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Well... There's one thing I hope Scott Lynch learns before book 3 comes out. And that is how to write a proper ending. Just as in book 1 Locke and Jean are working a big con and find themselves well over their heads. Everyone and their dog trying to make them do their will and the pair of Bastards spinning their own web throughout it all. It was fun and exciting though a tad bleak at times. The reason again that I only give 4 stars is that it all wraps up so quick. Chapters and chapters of setting it all up then 1 chapter and it's all over. 3 hour movie with a 30 second ending. It's just not right and I really hope the next book doesn't do the same or the stars might drop further.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    They say it is difficult to write your second novel. And doubly so if the first one had been a phenomenon like "The Lies of Locke Lamora".

    So, did this book disappoint? No, I wouldn't go that far. To be fair to Scott Lynch, we are now well aware of the antics of Locke Lamora from his first book in the series.

    So, what are the ups really? Well, you got a premise that resembles "Ocean's Eleven" and "The Pirates Of The Caribbean" in one book.

    And as for the downs, all I can say is that this book is not set in Camorr. So, some of the charm of the first book is lost. And more importantly, I thought that this book's main antagonists - Requin and Maxilan Stragos - didn't stand upto The Falconer and Gray King of the first book.

    But having said that, I think I know where the series is going. Lamora has left powerful enemies in his wake (I won't mention the names and spoil it for you)in both books who would hold a position of substantial power in both Camorr and Tal Verrar in upcoming books. So, it is going to be mighty stifling for Lamora as the series progresses.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Not quite as good as the first one, partly because now the style is a little more predictable, but that's not a flaw of the second book in a series as much as it's a feature of the first. I still love Locke and Jean and cannot wait for the next book next February.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Fun read. If The Lies of Locke Lamora was like Oceans 11 meets Oliver Twist, then Red Seas Under Red Skies is like Oceans 11 meets The Pirates of the Caribbean.This second book was a bit less serious than the first one, though still quite dark in its silliness. Perhaps it is because of all that goes on in it, as I have to say RSURS is also a lot more convoluted, with more plot twists, double crosses, triple crosses, and more aliases than you can keep track of.I admit at some points this book almost made me lose my patience, which often makes things worse as my attention tends to start to drift when that happens. But rest assured, everything does tie up together and make sense in the end, even if all of it does turn out to be crammed into the last 100 pages.Personally, I felt LoLL was a better book, but only because I enjoyed the glimpses into Locke's childhood in the first one. Though I rated this second book a little lower, it is by no means a slouch; I do like the fact it goes deeper into the relationship between him and Jean.RSURS also leaves us one HUGE problem that still goes unresolved, and now I can't wait for the third book to come out so I can find out how the Gentlemen Bastards will manage to find the answer.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book was one of those perfect reading experiences because I had already come to terms with the style -- which in a broad sense is not typically to my taste -- during the first book, so I could dive into this fully prepared and ready to enjoy the characters and dialogue (which I think was even snappier than in the first). It was very satisfying on all counts. Locke and Jeanne set off on another one of their cons, and in the process find themselves living as pirates. One odd thing is that the author has been pretty forthcoming in interviews and such about his own struggles with depression and anxiety (and my understanding is that this in part why the series seems to be quite slow) ... and it was weird to read this book with that knowledge. I get that plenty of authors suffer from depression, and that most fiction is informed in some way by emotional experiences of its author, but in this book in particular, Locke's feelings of guilt, despair, and fear of betrayal felt extremely personal to the extent that I felt vaguely bad about enjoying it so much.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Really wish Scott Lynch would write some more. These are some of the most imaginative novels I've read in a long time.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This sequel to the acclaimed The Lies of Locke Lamora is well-written, but lacks that sparkle that made the first book so extraordinary. That was apparent within the first few chapters, and it puzzled me. After all, the same wit was there. The setting was quite different; the first book is set in a Venice-like city where most residents live in squalor, and Locke and his comrades connive the rich out of their beloved coins. Red Seas begins in a city that's like a steampunk Las Vegas.But as I read on, I realized the setting--that absent, glorious dark mood from the first book--was only part of the problem.The stakes weren't as high. This book felt like it was all about greed. The first one, set in their home city, was personal. Here, I knew they didn't have as much to lose. Physically and mentally, they weren't tortured enough. The one big loss they do experience, near the end, was completely predictable.The element of magic was largely missing. The creepy, almost omnipotent powers of the Bondsmagi makes a brief appearance and then those bad guys vanish, and what negative ripples they do cause don't seem all that bad compared to what they are capable of.The book also feels episodic. The entire middle of the book takes place on ships at sea. If I wanted to read a book of naval adventures I would have sought out a series with that bent. That wasn't what the first book was about, and it's not what I wanted here, either.Make no mistake, it's not a badly written book. Maybe the problem is that the first book was so strong, so unique, that everything else pales in comparison. I have no interest in reading on in the series.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Serious let down after the first book was so good. I literally couldn't go on, and stopped reading it about half-way through. Thoroughly uninteresting. I don't understand how it happened as the characters were among my fave of all time in the first book!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Really enjoying this series. I can't wait to read the next in the series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I've got one word for you: Pirates.There. Are we all done now? We really ought to be because I don't know about you, but for me the only thing better than pirates would be pirate ninja assassin zombies and how often do you read about that?These aren't romance novel pirates, by the way. These are a mixed bunch of mercenary, chaotic neutral pirates - male and female, noble and poor, on big ships run under various political systems. They kind of rock.While I didn't enjoy Red Seas Under Red Skies as much as I enjoyed the Lies of Locke Lamora, this was a cracking good read full of humor, fun, and lots of adventure. Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Not as good as Lies of Locke Lamora but I'm looking forward to the 3rd in this series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I did not think for one second that this would live up to this first book in the series. I am pleased to say that I was wrong. This is a great follow-up to Lies. Locke and Jean are superbly constructed characters that I thoroughly enjoy reading about. The plot was great and kept me guessing up until the end. Scott Lynch is quickly becoming one of my must read authors.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The sophomore outing in to the world of the Gentlemen Bastards is, sadly, not up to par with the first effort of The Lies of Locke Lamora.Locke and Jean are as engaging characters as ever, but the structure of this book doesn't quite work. The opening third of the book is satisfactory enough, with Locke and Jean dealing with the aftermath of the first novel and setting up their next con. Unfortunately they are then roped into a scheme to foment a pirate uprising, which puts the rest of the plot more or less on hold for most of the remainder of the book. The motivations for provoking the pirates is plausible enough, the rationale for involving the Gentlemen Bastards... not so much. It is a silly, ridiculous plan, and I had hoped that Scott Lynch might massage it into something believable, but alas, he falls short. The resulting pirate adventure is all well and good if that's what you're looking for, I suppose, but the attempted intertwining of said adventure with Locke and Jean's con job is somewhat baffling and makes precious little sense.Fortunately the writing style and dialog is as sharp and humorous as ever, so while you might be scratching your head at why anyone thought this scheme would make sense, at least you'll be able to enjoy the riposte and banter. There is some slight fleshing out of the history and world in which the Bastards reside, but it is extremely minimal. Likewise, there is next to no back story for Locke and Jean presented in comparison to the first book. There are some inferences you can make from things mentioned in passing, but nothing akin to the flashbacks that occupied every other chapter of the first novel.Here's to hoping The Republic of Thieves is more in keeping with The Lies of Locke Lamora than it is with Red Seas Under Red Skies.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The first part of Red Seas Under Red Skies is painful to read. Scott Lynch went where far too many writers don't fully go. At the end of book 1 of the series, he put his characters through Hell. And he unflinchingly deals with the aftermath in both physical as well as mental terms, and their consequences.Jean takes control of Locke who is devastated as well as hurt and moves them both out of Camorr. It isn't long until Jean at least is back, and he drags Locke back into the world by sheer stubborn love and determination.Then they begin to set up a long con, which, of course, manages to become more and more complicated, made worse by the fact that someone they can't identify is trying to kill them at every turn. Not to mention them being captured by someone else entirely.And Pirates!There are a ton of twists and turns and surprises and the ending made me grit my teeth and curse the author, it was so ... so Gentleman Bastardly.Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mar11:Characters: Locke and Jean are still there and great. They sort of bring in a few more, but they're not quite as fleshed out.Plot: Still a darned solid plot. He just keeps it all moving and the balls up in the air. And yet they are going *just* slow enough you can follow along.Style: And still a darn good style. Not quite up to par with the first one. You can almost tell the nautical world was a reach. I know he apologized at the end... but still.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the second in Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards series, a set of fantasy/adventure stories following the exploits of two able, but not always lucky, thieves. Where the first, The Lies of Locke Lamora, had the feel of a Renaissance tale of intrigue, this is an out-and-out pirate adventure.I didn't warm to this one quite as much as I did the first book. The plot line was a little too disjointed, twisting together two main adventures plus several small side stories. Both of the main plots would have made for a great story line in their own right but, forced together, they didn't quite gel into a unified whole. This is in direct contrast to Lies, which was quite seamless.Having said that, we still get the vivid characters and colorful dialog. That alone is worth the price of admission if you like adventure fantasy. The ending, though slightly hurried, had an adequate amount of fireworks.My understanding is that there are seven books planned in the series. Normally, I avoid starting multi-thousand page series until the author has them finished (I want to know the ending will actually materialize). However, other than the obligatory "something went wrong in this book that will have to be fixed in the next" continuity devices, Lynch has done a good job of making each book feel like a self-contained story. You should read them in order, however, as there is a fair amount of backstory from the first that isn't explained in the second.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Summary: After the events of The Lies of Locke Lamora, Locke and Jean wash up in the island city of Tal Verrar. They've been there for two years, planning a long job at the Sinspire, the city's most glamorous and wealthy casino, with a purportedly impenetrable vault and a standing death sentence for anyone caught cheating at cards. However, their schemes are interrupted when they come face-to-face with the archon, the head of Tal Verrar's military, and its dictator in all but name. The archon knows exactly who Locke and Jean really are, and how best to get them on a leash... and how to use them as tools to provide him with exactly what he wants. Soon the duo find themselves over their heads: they're landsmen, but now they have to sail the Brass Sea and deal with pirates. They're also caught in a web of false identities, questionable loyalties, double-crosses, elaborate cover stories, and even more elaborate plots, and they'll have to keep all of their lies straight if they hope to get out of things not only with the money, but also with their lives.Review: If it weren't for the fact that I didn't seriously start writing book reviews until about the time that this book was published, I'd swear that Scott Lynch read my blog (or my mind) and wrote Red Seas Under Red Skies specifically for me. (And if I'm wrong, and Scott Lynch *is* reading my blog (or my mind): Hi Scott! Thank you for writing me such an awesome book!) Because seriously, this book is jam-packed full of so many of the things that I love that it can't be just a coincidence.To start with: this book is hilarious. Its snarky, sarcastic sense of humor almost exactly matches my own, and while I was considering copying some of the bits that I found funny into my review, there was so much funny stuff that I would have wound up copying about half the book. The best part, unsurprisingly, was the banter between Jean and Locke; if you like witty, snarky banter, this is the best you'll ever find. (I would even go so far as to say that it is equal to if not better than Buffy at its peak.) It's also some of the most colorful and creative invective I've ever read, although it's pretty coarse in places, so if your delicate ears are likely to be blistered by swearing, you may want to steer clear.To add to the excellent dialogue, this book also involves ships! I'm repeatedly on record regarding my love for the Age of Sail, and it turns out that Lynch's fantasy sailors are just as good as the British Navy. Lynch writes ship-board action clearly and in a way that feels authentic, at least for this land-lubber. Plus, there are pirates! How can I resist?But, apart from the snark and the pirates, this book was really all about the characters. In The Lies of Locke Lamora, there was a little bit of a feeling of Locke as the clever charmer and Jean as the muscle, but Jean really comes into his own as a full, complex, intelligent, and just plain wonderful character. The relationship between Jean and Locke is really the central story of the book, and it's developed slowly but elegantly throughout. The book starts off with this hint that one is going to betray the other, and you're all "no, that can't be right, they're buddies for life", but as the book progresses, there's always the niggling little question and you're never entirely sure one way or the other, and that's an impressive feat for an author to pull off.The Lies of Locke Lamora starts out as a happy carefree heist tale, and then takes a turn into some seriously dark territory about halfway through. I didn't think Red Seas Under Red Skies was as dark as Locke Lamora as a whole, although there were certainly a few individual scenes that qualified. The heist plotline was also more evenly distributed throughout the book; there were a lot more twists, turns, double- and triple- and quadruple-crosses going on, and everyone has their own plans and their own master(s). I thought it was going to be hard to keep everything straight, but it all eventually made sense, and it all came together wonderfully at the end. 5 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: Love love love. Read it. But read the equally excellent The Lies of Locke Lamora first, since the backstory is important for parts of the plot, and is never summarized in any detail.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The second in Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard sequence is looser than the first: "The Lies of Locke Lamora", but no less enjoyable. Where the setting of Lies was Thieves and Cutthroats in a thinly disguised Renaissance Venice, Lynch keeps the series alive by dropping his heroes onto a corrupt island empire surrounded by Pirates on the High Seas (arrrrrr...). Avoiding the mind-numbing bombast of recent genre movies, Lynch rediscovers the lost art of sparkling dialogue, using a genuinely amusing narrative voice that reminds of Terry Pratchett at times. With enough carefully plotted double crosses and reveals to keep you guessing (or me at least) and deep enough characterization that the death of a major character is truly regretful, I had a great time with this. Looking forward to the next and genuinely interested to see how Lynch writes his way out of the major cliffhanger at the end.