Lies of Locke Lamora
28 Jan 2007 11:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
salineaI've finished reading the Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch today. Lies appears to be the new book all the cool kids read. Since I rather loved previous books similarly hyped (see Erikson' Malazean Book of the Fallen and Bakker's Prince of Nothing), I was rather expecting to be blown away.
Well, I was disappointed.
Lies is a pretty good book, enjoyable and fun to read, but that's all it is.
My biggest grip with the story was characterization. I could never feel much empathy and liking for the characters, either Locke Lamora (who is supposed to be a charming, clever rogue who could talk the sun out of its shine), his friends, enemies, dupes or mentors. Mostly they came across as dull and lacklustre and I couldn't care much whether they get away with their ingenious tricks or not.
Sadly it so happens that characterization is the thing I prize most while reading so my enjoyment of the book too a heavy blow. Charisma is the least one should expect from a anti-hero, damnit!
On the plus side, this is a good story. The plotting is clever and twisty enough, the setting has just the right amount of ambiance, originality and classical stuff and sheer gustos to work for it. The writing is good and occasionally very amusing. The various swindle, lies and double-crossing one would expect are well pulled off and compelling to read. The tone didn't shy away from some grittiness when necessary though I seldom felt that it gave it the gravity necessary, resulting with a lightness of tone too similar to a shallow action movie (where the heroes are always right no matter what horrid thing they do because they're the hero)
Recommended if you're a big fan of Jack Vance and that kind of old school fantasy with clever tricks and glib fast talking, definitely. But maybe worth waiting for the paperback.
Well, I was disappointed.
Lies is a pretty good book, enjoyable and fun to read, but that's all it is.
My biggest grip with the story was characterization. I could never feel much empathy and liking for the characters, either Locke Lamora (who is supposed to be a charming, clever rogue who could talk the sun out of its shine), his friends, enemies, dupes or mentors. Mostly they came across as dull and lacklustre and I couldn't care much whether they get away with their ingenious tricks or not.
Sadly it so happens that characterization is the thing I prize most while reading so my enjoyment of the book too a heavy blow. Charisma is the least one should expect from a anti-hero, damnit!
On the plus side, this is a good story. The plotting is clever and twisty enough, the setting has just the right amount of ambiance, originality and classical stuff and sheer gustos to work for it. The writing is good and occasionally very amusing. The various swindle, lies and double-crossing one would expect are well pulled off and compelling to read. The tone didn't shy away from some grittiness when necessary though I seldom felt that it gave it the gravity necessary, resulting with a lightness of tone too similar to a shallow action movie (where the heroes are always right no matter what horrid thing they do because they're the hero)
Recommended if you're a big fan of Jack Vance and that kind of old school fantasy with clever tricks and glib fast talking, definitely. But maybe worth waiting for the paperback.
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Date: 29 January 2007 01:24 pm (UTC)While I think the charatcerisation was weak to beging with, I think the flashbacks really helped. Among my favourites was the one with Jean Tannen in the rose garden.
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Date: 29 January 2007 01:33 pm (UTC)Maybe there's something wrong with me given how many people loved the books, but, at the same time, it's not like I didn't like it. It's just that I feel the characters are flat and lifeless.
I did like the flashbacks better. Locke as a child in the beginning was better. When he started growing up I lost all sight of motivation and depth.
I thought the rose garden scene was cool, too. But mostly because of the description and ambiance.
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Date: 29 January 2007 01:43 pm (UTC)Locke gets better by the end and is not just a prodigy thief anymore, but Jean gets more depth from the very start, when he freaks out on Locke. Then later when the dynamics between him and Locke are developed and Jean goes to the rose garden.
Another side of Jean Tannen is his shrewdness when it comes to his training perdiod in the Aza Guilla monastery. It shows him being shrewd, but in a very different way from Locke. Locke goes for the dramatic, Jean for the pragmatic. Still, it's very symbolic when this huge man walks around dressed as an Aza Guilla priest (aka a priest of death), then rips of his robes and kills.
In my opinion, Jean is one of the most down to earth badasses I've ever read about. :)
(OK, so I may be a bit of a fangirl :p )
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Date: 29 January 2007 09:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 29 January 2007 09:46 pm (UTC)But really, real Jack Vance sounds better.^^