[.ca] The Lies of Locke Lamora (ISBN 0553804677)

Great novel:
The twists and turns of this story are incredibly well thought out, the pacing is great, and the main character is a thoroughly interesting anti-hero. Although at some points I felt like the author was throwing in a few extra swear words or sexual references to sound like George RR Martin, this book was still a fantastic read and I look forward to reading the second one in the series.

Fantasy's appealing "dark side.":
Scott Lynch has a way with words reminiscent of George R.R. Martin; he creates a gritty world full of colorful and multifaceted characters. The plot is centralized in one city, a location fraught with intrigue and enough history to fill volumes with. There's an underbelly to the city, of course, which we are thrust into as we follow the cunning Locke Lamora's rise to infamy and his ultimate quest for revenge. One of the charms of this book is the way in which Lynch tells the story; this is anything but a straight forward narrative. Throughout the "main plot" we are told intermittently about the history of Locke Lamora, his admittance into the criminal organization known as "The Gentlemen Bastards", and his training in the art of theft. Each of the characters presented is beautifully fleshed out, with their own histories, agendas and motivations, making for a believable and engrossing novel. If you're a fan of grittier fantasy - gods, thieves, plot and intrigue, and (of course) fantastic story telling - then this is the novel for you.

A fantasy series with great potential... but overused and often unwarranted profanity lessen it's quality,:
A great fantasy read! (with some reservations) I must say, overall, that I enjoyed this book very much; the story held my interest the same way that the novels of George R.R. Martin (Series of Ice and Fire) and Steven Erikson (The Malazan Book of the Fallen) do. As with most fantasy there were elements of magic, deceit, betrayals, unexpected friendships and a smattering of romance; and in this book, there were a few areas that were witty and humorous. The story was well written and proceeded with a good pace. There was very little 'down time' in this story; something was always happening or about to happen that really held your interest...you had to read 'one more chapter'. However, there were two areas of concern...one minor (1), the other (2) more serious. 1.)There was no map. Although the story takes place in the fairly small geographic area of Camorr city, a map would have been very helpful to give a sense of direction and distances that our protagonist had to travel. 2.)Profanity!...profanity that was excessive and unnecessary (we're talking about the 'f ' word here). Profanity that occurred in situations that, generally speaking, it was very unlikely to happen. e.g. When Locke was speaking to the members of the upper crust of the Camorr society; and even more unbelievable was that fact that these members of Camorr's nobility never said a thing about our hero's continuous vulgarisms. Let me add this; I have no problems with swearing in novels when it is done in the 'proper' situation, (there are times where swearing adds realism to the situation (depending on who is speaking and what is going on at the moment). However, this novel exceeded even my level of 'reasonable' swearing tolerance. This degree of vulgarism, generally flawed, an otherwise good fantasy story. I find it hard to believe that one of the editors didn't get this problem discussed and corrected. (then again, maybe they did, but the suggestion went unheeded.) Without the two concerns mentioned above, an outstanding and intriguing fantasy effort. However, the use of unwarranted profanity has lessened the quality of this otherwise remarkable book. 3 Stars rounded up to 4