Customer Reviews: Read 54 more reviews...
 Simply outstanding September 30, 2008
Mr. S. W. Henry (Azerbaijan)
The Lies of Locke Lamora and the sequel weave a quite remarkable story. Reading other reviews will give you the story background and wonderful it is too. More remarkable is that they mark the start of this authors career.I just want to convince you to read them.Scott Lynch has created a tale that is totally engrossing, full of interesting credible characters and lots of wicked humour which help ease the less humorous episodes that are there too. These books should not be speed read, they really should be savoured because they'll be over soon enough as you'll have great trouble putting them down! They are amoung the handful of special books that I would unreservedly recommend to any of my friends whatever their genre preference. O.K the first few chapters read a bit like an Oliver Twist rewrite[ not a critisism], which in itself was hugely enjoyable but then things change and the story becomes something much bigger... I can see me returning to read these superb books again soon which is something I very seldom do. They are wonderfully written, I just can't believe this "new author" writes this well. I eagerly await the third book and have it pre-ordered along with the book of two novellas which go into more depth on a couple of the adventures,or tie loose ends, not that I felt anything was missing in the first place. I just can't get enough of this kind of writing.I read a lot of books due to travelling and working abroad and have seldom enjoyed a book as much as this and the sequel
I would congratulate Mr.Lynch for producing these remarkable books, they are truly outstanding and works to be very proud of.
 Really 4 1/2 stars September 12, 2008
Jon
This is a great book and by the end I was totally immersed in the story. The reason then I gave it four and a half is that it was extremely slow in the beginning and I needed all my patience to continue. But if you are able to push past this small point the book rewards you well worth its with complex characters, an extremely interesting world and a great plot.
Am now eagerly awaiting the sequel.
Life and times of the Artful Dodger August 1, 2008
Faithful (U. K.)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First of all, what a great read! It is a fresh, original and welcome addition to the ever-rising bar of fantasy fiction.
It did take me a while to get into this book, and at one point i was seriously wondering what all of the fuss was about (around the 100 page mark), but then suddenly i found myself carring about the characters, getting that 'just one more page' feeling, and that's when you know a book has done its job, (the outrageous 'shark duelling' might have had something to do with it!).
This is a strangely effective brew of ingredients: Oliver Twist with Oliver Twist taken out - in fact more like the life and times of the Artful Dodger, with a series of scams thrown in to rival the Sting, Ocean's Eleven and Hustle, and then a curiously 'Godfather/Soprano's' like gangland underworld that uses knives, crossbows and hatchets instead of machine guns!
All of this is thrown together within a city which is reminiscent of medieval Italy, except that large portions of the city are made of glass!
As with any book, for me it comes down to the characters, and the author has put together a fine ensemble cast - loveable rogues as the 'leading men,' plus a fine array of supporting characters and 'bad guys' - the Falconer and the Spider are stand-out.
Also it is expertly written, with the tension ratcheted up throughout the book;timely 'interludes' help to do this, while also providing both depth of character and dragging you deeper into carring about the central characters.
The end wraps things up very well, in fact a little too well - there are no major unanswered questions or cliff-hangers left as carrots for book 2.
The world-building is not as detailed as it could be, but i got the impression that this was intentional, leaving out the almost obligatory maps that seem to be part of the course with most fanatasy novels (personally i like maps - bit of a geek, i know, but aren't most of us that eat up our fantasy fiction?).
Oh, also, i must mention that this book is seriously funny! Dialogue is sharp and witty, although a little 'sweary' - not one i'd read to my 11 year old son!
Overall a fantastic read, written well, with engaging, rounded characters. I was most definitely entertained - i've given four stars instead of five because of my initial 'what's all the fuss about' sensation, but maybe i'm being too picky - it is only that there is so much good fantasy comming out of late that it is possible to make such picky remarks - a few years ago and this would have been stand out five star stuff. I'd like to give it 4.5, but amazon don't do halves.
Hmmm...just didn't grip me. 3-4 stars July 17, 2008
Elizabeth (Brighton, UK)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
After reading all the 5 star reviews on here, I felt it was only fair to give my point of view as it differs somewhat! Usually I buy a book off Amazon and agree with the norm, ie if the majority says 5 stars, I usually find myself agreeing. Not this time!
First of all, let me start by saying that yes, this is a good book. Exciting things happen. There are bad guys, there are good guys....both get hurt (frequently and in various ways), and it isn't easy for the 'right' thing to come about: people have to plan and slog and work at it to get what they want and right some wrongs. In that sense, it is a good book; well written, and you can tell the author has taken time to build his world before he started writing it.
HOWEVER, (and it is a big however)....there is something wrong with this book that I just can't put my finger on! Again, let me explain something...I am an avid reader. I LOVE books; once I've found a good one, nothing can tear me away! I love to find a new world and get lost in it, falling in love with new characters, crying as old one die, you name it. In fact, if the book/series/world the author has created grabs me enough, I will hunt don any extra information surrounding the book/books, eg extracts on websites, short stories, interviews etc. I love reading and I love to love new books!
Anyway: I bought this book for a holiday read, because I thought the front cover was good and it sounded familier enough not to be too challenging, but different enough to be exciting. Instead, I found myself...bored. I put the book down, many times. I even read other books whilest on one of my 'breaks' from The Lies of Locke Lamora. This almost never happens to me! I found that I almost had to force myself to pick it back up to find out what happened at the end, even though to be honest I just didn't care about most of the characters and what happened to them...
Another big signal that all is not quite right with this book is the fact that for 3 minutes or so when I first came across it on Amazon, I couldn't not remember why the name seemed familier....because I'd forgotten that I'd already read this book!...my holiday was in Easter. Of this year. Enough said!
Yes, this is still a good read, and maybe if im bored and really desperate, I'll get the sequals out from the library (one reviewer mentioned that there is meant to be 7 books in this series). The plot does twist and turn and take you on a ride, hence the 4 stars I've given it. I'm sorry though, it just doesn't do it for me....
Excellent July 3, 2008
Ms. L. M. Green (Kent, UK)
I find that I take a long time to get through Scott Lynch's books. I suspect this is because there is so much happening in them. There's no excess description here, not a word wasted. Every single character is a work of art, and the plot is complex but carefully structured. There's a very realistic feel to this beautifully described world, so much so that I am surprised to emerge from the novel and find myself living in a world without elderglass towers shark-filled canals.
This novel is character-driven and very emotional, and I dare you not to get sucked in from page one.
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