Red Seas Under Red Skies

by Scott Lynch

Locke and Jean can’t rest for long - and are soon back to what they do best: stealing from the undeserving rich and pocketing the proceeds for themselves.

They’ve orchestrated an elaborate plan to lie, trick, and swindle their way up the nine floors...straight to Requin’s teeming vault. Under the cloak of false identities, they meticulously make their climb - until they are closer to the spoils than ever.

But someone in Tal Verrar has uncovered the duo’s secret. Someone from their past who has every intention of making the impudent criminals pay for their sins. Now, it will take every ounce of cunning to save their mercenary souls. And even that may not be enough....

• Good, but overshadowed by it’s predecessor.

• Story

  • Locke Lamora and Jean Tannin are busy plotting a high stakes con in the underworld of the city of Tel Varar when they are swept out to sea to join a pirate crew, and the two ends of the story slowly tie up together.

  • It seemed a little like the two stories were too disparate, almost as if there were separate plots that had been cut together. This worked well at times, but overall it didn't carry across the brilliant inspiration that made The Lies of Locke Lamora one of my absolute favourite books.

• Characters

  • Mr. Lynch is legendary at creating believable characters, each full of quirks and 'marker's that make them stand out as distinctive. Like real people, they have all have admirable traits and deplorable ones, strengths and weaknesses. If I don't like a character, I'm still interested in them.

  • I started to get a feeling that many of the characters are becoming a little too similar, all with swagger, attitude and verbose dialogue.

• Worldbuilding

  • In this second installment, the world beyond Camorr really opens up, and it is fantastically conceived. A great amount of detail has gone into developing the different nationalities and locales.

  • There are some really cool little pieces that make this world one of my favourites. The Elderglass structures left by an ancient and forgotten race are an awesome feature. I love the sea creatures and monsters, especially when they're used in battle. The clockworks of the artificers of Tel Varar bring a powerful point of difference to many other fantasy worlds.

  • I found the world building a little to obvious, with a lot of telling and not showing.  There seemed to be many jarring  explanations of each part of the world the characters interact with.  While it does reveal the richness of the world, it also hampered the pacing and jolted me from being spellbound by the plot.

• Prose

  • As with The Lies of Locke Lamora, there are some exceptional turns of phrase and descriptions. A rich writing style, well suited to the era the books are set in.

  • The dialogue is a great strength, always raising the stakes and tension, and revealing more about each character.

  • I felt that the book didn't need to be as long as it was. Some conversations, descriptions and exposition went on for a little longer than was needed and did little to further the story or develop the characters.

• Also

  • The camaraderie between Locke and Jean is exquisite. I don't think I've come across a fantasy friendship that is this well developed. It's a primary driver for the books and makes me want to read more.

  • While I felt the premise was a little shaky, I really enjoyed the swashbuckling sea adventures. It made me really interested in the age of piracy and I want more stories set on the high seas.