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Jun. 14th, 2007 11:39 aminstarec: "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch.
This was recced in a magazine I read and it really deserved it. It's about Locke Lamora, a thief in a city in the fine fantasy tradition of cunning thieves in Venetian mercantile cities, only smarter, well written, occasionally hideously gory, frequently funny. Gripping. For the first time in a while I HAD to finish it. Lynch isn't afraid to pull his punches. There are moments of truly horrible gore but they're leavened by a lot of stuff that's much more pleasant to read. The city is well and completely imagined.
The blurbs compare it variously with Mission: Impossible, Ocean's 11, Robin Hood and POTC. However, I scorn these references as not genre enough. So. Remember Silk from The Belgariad? (Come on. I know you do. Yeah, you've read those books. Yes, you have.) Well, this book is what a whole book about Silk would be like, if the Eddings' could write well, could write originally, weren't afraid to be graphically nasty, and had overactive imaginations. Also, a plot that I haven't read five thousand fucking times.
Caveat: plenty of bad language, very graphic violence. I wouldn't give it to a kid I wasn't related to and I would hesitate to recommend it to people who are uncomfortable with creatively horrifying torture. There's not a huge amount of it but it's pretty, um. ( notes on race and gender issues if you feel those affect your enjoyment of a text. minor spoilers ) Anyway, all of that aside, I really enjoyed in and would thoroughly recommend it to a fairly significant proportion of y'all.
ETA: "The Lies of Locke Lamora" stands on its own pretty well, however, there is a sequel (this month! \o/) which I am pretty excited for. HOWEVER, checking out his website, I am forced to note that Lynch has planned out in at least minor detail a full seven books. Now, do with this information what you will: I plan to keep trusting him for awhile yet. After all, Tamora Pierce manages to write to her very advanced schedule (or she has for the last five or six years that I've been following it on her website, anyway).
This was recced in a magazine I read and it really deserved it. It's about Locke Lamora, a thief in a city in the fine fantasy tradition of cunning thieves in Venetian mercantile cities, only smarter, well written, occasionally hideously gory, frequently funny. Gripping. For the first time in a while I HAD to finish it. Lynch isn't afraid to pull his punches. There are moments of truly horrible gore but they're leavened by a lot of stuff that's much more pleasant to read. The city is well and completely imagined.
The blurbs compare it variously with Mission: Impossible, Ocean's 11, Robin Hood and POTC. However, I scorn these references as not genre enough. So. Remember Silk from The Belgariad? (Come on. I know you do. Yeah, you've read those books. Yes, you have.) Well, this book is what a whole book about Silk would be like, if the Eddings' could write well, could write originally, weren't afraid to be graphically nasty, and had overactive imaginations. Also, a plot that I haven't read five thousand fucking times.
Caveat: plenty of bad language, very graphic violence. I wouldn't give it to a kid I wasn't related to and I would hesitate to recommend it to people who are uncomfortable with creatively horrifying torture. There's not a huge amount of it but it's pretty, um. ( notes on race and gender issues if you feel those affect your enjoyment of a text. minor spoilers ) Anyway, all of that aside, I really enjoyed in and would thoroughly recommend it to a fairly significant proportion of y'all.
ETA: "The Lies of Locke Lamora" stands on its own pretty well, however, there is a sequel (this month! \o/) which I am pretty excited for. HOWEVER, checking out his website, I am forced to note that Lynch has planned out in at least minor detail a full seven books. Now, do with this information what you will: I plan to keep trusting him for awhile yet. After all, Tamora Pierce manages to write to her very advanced schedule (or she has for the last five or six years that I've been following it on her website, anyway).
