[.ca] Red Seas Under Red Skies (ISBN 0553804685)

Fun and entertaining sequel!:
As was the case with me, I'm persuaded that most of you are curious to see if this one lives up to the expectations generated by its predecessor, The Lies of Locke Lamora. Hence, let me put your mind at ease. With Red Seas under Red Skies, Scott Lynch lives up to readers' high expectations! And by that I mean that if you enjoyed Lynch's debut, you'll undoubtedly like this second volume in The Gentleman Bastard sequence. To me, Lynch's books are like summer blockbuster movies. They're big productions with plenty of action, all in all quite the roller-coaster ride. They'll never win an Oscar, but in terms of fun and entertainment they pack a sure KO punch! If you're looking for a grand fantasy epic, don't bother. But if another imaginative and convoluted caper is your cup of tea, then buckle up and enjoy the ride! Think of it as an original cross between Ocean's Eleven and Pirates of the Carribean. Locke and Jean's newest set of misadventures are sure to thrill fans of The Lies of Locke Lamora. Having screwed up things as bad as humanly possible in Camorr, both were forced to flee and eventually settled in Tal Verrar. Interestingly enough, that's where the Sinspire, the most exclusive and notorious gambling house, can be found. Orchestrating their most perfect crime, Locke has his sight set on the Sinspire's fortune. Unfortunately, Locke's plans have a tendency to go awry, and both he and Jean somehow find themselves among pirates on the Sea of Brass. Mix the Gentlemen Bastards and piracy on the high seas, and you find yourself with a recipe for one fun-filled adventure! As was the case with the author's debut, worldbuilding doesn't play much of a role in Red Seas under Red Skies. Even less so than in The Lies of Locke Lamora, truth be told. Although the action was more or less restricted to the city of Camorr in the first volume, Lynch created a veritable living and breathing locale as the backdrop for his story. Camorr sort of became a character in and of itself. The imagery wasn't quite the same with Tal Verrar, Port Prodigal and the other locations where the action takes place in this sequel. The aspect which elevates this novel to another level is the characterization. Red Seas under Red Skies is a character-driven book, and Locke is once again the heart and soul of the tale (though Jean ups his game considerably in this one). The relationship between both characters is further fleshed out, making them even more endearing. Although he can craft an exciting, action-packed story, with witty dialogues throughout, I feel the characterizations remain Scott Lynch's bread and butter. He truly excels in that department. Which is why, I believe, I was a bit disappointed by the supporting cast. There are too many clichéd "tough chicks" for my taste, and what feels like an inordinate amount of female pirates (ferocious, every last one of them, of course). Somehow, that rang a little false. I'm all for strong female characters, but other than Ezri Delmastro I found the rest too clichéd in comparison. The pace is brisk for the better part of the novel, though the rhythm becomes a bit sluggish in certain instances while the boys are at sea. Kudos go out to Lynch for closing the show in unexpected fashion! Once more, Red Seas under Red Skies is an extremely entertaining adventure. Conventional wisdom says that the author will likely not be able to maintain this level of interest with a different caper in every volume of this seven-book cycle. And yet, conventional wisdom said that the James Bond franchise couldn't last. Still, Lynch's style ensures that this tale remains fresh in a genre that is too often known for its stagnancy. In any event, there are some hints of an overall and more ambitious story arc, so I'm curious to see what Lynch has in store for us in the forthcoming Republic of Thieves. You can safely pre-order this one!:-) Red Seas under Red Skies may not be the best fantasy novel you'll read this year, but I doubt you'll have more fun reading anything else! \o...\c

Needed Editing:
I absolutely loved The Lies of Locke Lamora and therefore had immensely high expectations of this book. There is still much of what I loved, the main characters, the writing style, the unexpected twists and turns; but unfortunately the book really lags in the middle. It suffers from too many plot turns, and too many similar characters. I really wish it had been edited more, and I wonder if the whole pirate episode was even necessary. I feel as if the book got a little too complicated and clever for its own good. But, that said, there was still much to recommend it, and I look forward to the third installment.

Even better than his first book:
Red Seas Under Red Skies was a great book. I was hard to put down and kept me up late at night reading. It's a great book, lots of plot twists, mystery, wit and action. As with all great reads, the only bad part that it came to an end! I'm so happy that I found this author and hope that I have a long and fruitful reading relationship with his books. I'm really looking forward to his next book in this seven-book?)series. Really my review doesn't do it justice. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book and the first in the series, The Lies of Locke Lamora, which incidently, is going to be adapted for film. Hopefully they do it justice.

A somewhat disappointing second book!:
Less impressive than the first book ("The Lies of Locke Lamora") I had looked forward to this second in the Locke Lamora series by Scott Lynch. However I found myself less and less enthralled by this effort as I read on; mainly because of three perceived shortcomings...let me explain. 1.)Profanity...as with the first book, was an ongoing issue for me; profanity used continually and indiscriminately made me feel as if I was listening in on a group of 13-14 year olds trying to impress one another with their 'grown up' attitude. And what made me more concerned was that every one in this novel spoke this way, not just one or two individuals. To me realism in a novel is an important part of making a story somewhat believable (even for fantasy); I just found the profanity usage here was unrealistic and thus tended to make the entire story somewhat unbelievable. Makes me wonder what the editors and proof readers were doing. 2.)My second complaint with this novel was with the characters themselves. I found a number of them had very similar personality traits (with some exceptions); most were thieves (and I've no complaints with that), but all were nice, all were reasonable and all were fairly well educated. It seemed to me, that having all these same type of pleasant, courteous individuals just didn't seem realistic for a fantasy/pirate tale. 3.)No map; maybe this book was not as confusing geographically as the first book, but it's hard to think of why a map would not have been included in this book/series. On the positive side, this is a good tale that is well written and interesting; also, it was sprinkled with spots of good humor...however, these redeeming traits could not make up for its shortcomings. 2 to 2 1/2 Stars. R. Nicholson