I read the blockbusting The Lies of Locke Lamora in July 2014 and I just read this second volume of the Gentleman Bastard series today May 9, 2015, almost a year apart. I tend to do that with second volumes in most series I read for some reason. (I am only sharing this mind numbingly uninteresting fact with you because I have no idea what to write for the opening paragraph of this review!)Red Seas Under Red Skies is a worthy follow up to The Lies of Locke Lamora which made Scott Lynch one of the elite fantasy authors working today. The story feels more like a “further adventure of Locke and Jean” than a direct continuation, making each of these two books almost standalones though I do not recommend reading them out of order, and there really is no need to as the first book is a great read.As with the previous book Lynch likes to use the literary device of scrambling the timeline with flashbacks and flashforwards, probably to create tension or anticipation and – of course – to tease. I personally prefer a straight timeline but novels are works of art and authors generally know best how they should be presented. In any case Lynch is too skillful to make a mess of the narrative, there is never any confusion in reading the book. I think the main appeal of Lynch’s writing is the vivid and lively characters he is able to create, be they heroes or villains. With Red Seas Under Red Skies he has outdone his accomplishment in the previous book. Locke Lamora is still the same lovable rogue we are already familiar with but his partner/BFF Jean Tannen is very well fleshed out in this book in spite of not having the story told from his point of view, we only see him through Locke’s eyes in this book. I tend to find that the secondary character in fantasy novels are more interesting and likeable than the protagonist, in the way that Ron Weasley is more interesting than Harry Potter or Samwise Gamgee is much more likeable and capable than Frodo. The same applies for this Gentleman Bastard series (so far) but the dynamic between Locke and Jean works very well where Locke is the brains of the operation and Jean is usually the brawn, not that Jean is unintelligent or even uneducated, he is just more honest and less devious. While I enjoyed the witty repartees of The Lies of Locke Lamora I did find it a little overdone in that every single character major and minor seem to always be ready with the quips, even incidental characters who only appear in the book for a few paragraphs. The dialog of Red Seas Under Red Skies is better, more balanced and more believable. Characters seem to have more distinctive voices this time around.As the title suggests Red Seas Under Red Skies is mostly a nautical adventure as complicated circumstances lead our heroes find themselves joining a pirate ship. In this book we meet wonderful lady pirate captain Zamira Drakasha* and her equally badass Lieutenant Ezri Delmastro. Tough, fighting women in fiction seem to be based on Ellen Ripley (from Alien) most of the time but these two ladies show more feminine and even maternal sides in certain situations making them more believable and likeable. The pacing of the book is a little slow to begin with while Lynch is setting up his pieces through pages of dialogues. Once we get to the high seas adventure part the narrative shifts to higher gear and become something of a romp. The book is densely plotted and our heroes and their allies seldom have a moment to unwind as the odds are stacked against them. The language is deliberately flowery at times as it is Locke’s stock in trade as a con artist. There is even a little romance and some lump-in-the-throat poignant moments. Magic is not much in evidence in this book and weird monstrosities are only glimpsed from time to time, though there is quite a lot of alchemy and numerous steampunk-ish clockwork devices. I much prefer this kind of “low fantasy” to the traditional ones with wizards conjuring entire houses or turning people into newts, my suspension of disbelief can only stretch so far. If you like The Lies of Locke Lamora as most people seem to do you probably don’t need me to recommend this book to you. I already have the next volume The Republic of Thieves so I doubt I will wait almost a year before getting to it.________________________________________* A reader has foolishly taken Scott Lynch to task about this female pirate character, his reply is epic!
I'll be honest, when I first read this book, years ago, my reaction was kinda "meh." Or rather, I *remember* it being that way. It was a long time back, and I can barely bring to mind what I ate for lunch yesterday. So I'm not terribly reliable that way. I also vaguely remember that it wasn't as talked-up as Lies of Locke Lamora. There wasn't the same excited buzz about it when it came out, so I remember feeling reasonably justified in my "meh" feeling. That means reading through it again a second time was an interesting experience. Because now I have passed through the fiery hell that is Publishing The Second Book. Don't get me wrong: first books are hard, especially in secondary-world fantasy. You have to introduce an entire world. You're constantly walking the knife-edge between boring people by explaining too much, and confusing them by explaining too little. But on the plus side, in a first book (or movie for that matter) everything has the benefit of being shiny and new. Every revelation is fresh and exciting. Every character is a mystery unfurling. That's not the case in a second book. In a second book, you still have that problem. PLUS you have the problem that some of your readers read the first book two days ago, and some of them read it two years ago. Some of them haven't read it at *all.*On top of that, a lot of people want nothing more than for you to write your first book over again… because that's what they know and love. But you *can't* do that, because you only get one beginning. When you write the second book in a series, the honeymoon is over. Now you're in a whole different type of relationship. And love is harder to maintain than infatuation. That's why, in my opinion, shifting gears from first book to second book is THE most difficult part of being a new writer. Given all of this, I can see why people in general and me in specific might have been a little "meh" on this book. We were all butterflies-in-tummy tingly after reading Lies of Locke Lamora. We loved it, and we wanted to see the same thing again. Which I now realize is silly. I don't think I knew that then. I mention all of this because this second time through, I found myself wondering what my problem was the first time. Because honestly, the book is good. We get to explore a cool new piece of the world. There are characters that I know and love, being very true to themselves while still growing and changing and coming into conflict with each other and the world. There is wonderful craft here. And brilliant dialogue, as before. Wit and humor both. It's true, that this book might be a little less Ocean's Eleven and a little more Grifters. But that's okay. Because sequels *need* to change and grow a bit, otherwise a series stagnates and dies. And this book made me cry a bit, which the first one didn't. So that's a mark in its favor. So…yeah. Simply said, I really enjoyed it. Did I enjoy it as much as Lies? No. But not every book can be on your top-ten list. Did Seas suffer from a bit of a sophomore slump? Yeah. A bit. But you won't find me bitching, because the only thing I could say was something along the lines of, "O! Woe is me! I was expecting pure untrammeled brilliance and all I got was mere shining excellence! Also, they didn't have any loganberry cream cheese at the café this morning, so I had to have blueberry instead! Alas! I shall now weep and write poetry in my journal!" Yeah. I don't want to be that person. Nobody wants to be that person.That said, the ending leaves you hanging. So I'm *really* fucking glad the next book is out. Speaking of which, I think I'm going to wander over to the bookstore and buy a copy of that right now...
Do You like book Red Seas Under Red Skies (2007)?
Such a good sequel that was very much in line with the sass and inspiring scenes of the first book. I loved how this book put a smile back on my face because I was back with Locke and Jean and their amazing personalities - and this book even has pirates! I must admit I was a bit sceptical about the whole pirate aspect of it because I'm not much of a pirate lover. But the pirates in this book were amazing because they were funny, endearing and absolutely amazing. I understood what was going on on board the ship and I loved it.Very much worth a read and I'm definitely going to continue with the third book!
—helen the bookowl
Because I want to meet Zamira Drakasha.Oh, and because of this : As for claims to “realism,” your complaint is of a kind with those from bigoted hand-wringers who whine that women can’t possibly fly combat aircraft, command naval vessels, serve in infantry actions, work as firefighters, police officers, etc. despite the fact that they do all of those things— and are, for a certainty, doing them all somewhere at this very minute. Tell me that a fit fortyish woman with 25+ years of experience at sea and several decades of live blade fighting practice under her belt isn’t a threat when she runs across the deck toward you, and I’ll tell you something in return— you’re gonna die of stab wounds.What you’re really complaining about isn’t the fact that my fiction violates some objective “reality,” but rather that it impinges upon your sad, dull little conception of how the world works. I’m not beholden to the confirmation of your prejudices; to be perfectly frank, the prospect of confining the female characters in my story to placid, helpless secondary places in the narrative is so goddamn boring that I would rather not write at all. I’m not writing history, I’m writing speculative fiction. Nobody’s going to force you to buy it. Conversely, you’re cracked if you think you can persuade me not to write about what amuses and excites me in deference to your vision, because your vision fucking sucks.FUCK YEAH.
—Alienor ✘ French frowner ✘
I realize I’m being wayward again: most people seemed to be über-enthusiast about book one, and they tend to like book two a bit less. Not me: I really enjoyed book two, much more than the first.The main driver behind this difference, is that everything I didn’t like about book one is gone here: there’s no smooth sailing, there aren’t a bizillion tricks hiding in Locke’s sleeve, and the whole “Look how clever I am”-feel of the book is gone. This cat might still have seven lives; he isn’t always falling on his feet anymore. I also thought the general plot was better, with a lot more suspense and with more emotional depth than we’ve previously seen. Apart from that, it’s still marvellously written, with a lot of wit and banter. I also liked the play on traditional superstitions. In this world, being out on sea without women and cats is bad luck. And I love that this kick-ass pirate chief is a woman, and a mother of two toddlers, who doesn’t have a piece of paper left that isn’t scribbled on by the kids. I like!
—Hanne
