A particular favourite of mine charts a famous rebellion of the ‘whores of Camorr’ which helps to define the social structure of the city’s underworld. Some are flashbacks to the training or childhood of the Gentleman Bastards, while others explore the history and politics of the world Lynch has created. But I must mention my special love for the various ‘interludes’ that punctuate the narrative. There is so much to love about this novel. ‘He was wise enough to know that the women of Camorr could be underestimated only at great peril to one’s health.’ Think Ocean’s Eleven mixed with Robin Hood, heavy on the crime and banter between ‘brothers’ and light on the morals. The timeline jumps between Locke’s early years training, failing, tricking, and atoning, and the ‘present’ where, in his early twenties, he is embarking on one of his most ambitious cons. Locke becomes swept up into an apprenticeship of sorts in the priesthood of the ‘Nameless Thirteenth’, the god of thieves. The story follows Locke Lamora, an orphan who has been making a living picking pockets on the streets of unforgiving Camorr – a fantasy city with faint echoes of renaissance Venice. This novel is 530 pages of intrigue, crime, brotherhood and, shattered hopes. Not just because you are all that I have left.’ I would rather be dead myself than lose you. ‘Jean’ said Locke, ‘you are a greater friend than I ever could have imagined before I met you I owe you my life too many times over to count.
What I love most is Lynch’s special blend of dark humour, frequent violence, foul language, complex world building, and ability to create characters that feel like family before the book is done. Before my re-read the characters still burned brightly in my memory even though it had been 8 years since I first met them.
The first book in the Gentleman Bastard Sequence has always held a special place in my heart. The Lies of Locke Lamora is ‘locked’ into place as one of my all-time favourite fantasy novels after my reread in March 2016.
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