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Tuesday 17 February 2015

Red Seas under Red Skies

Just read the second of Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard series. 



What can I say? Still head and shoulders above many in the fantasy genre, but didn't quite excite me like Book 1 did.


The plot is sound enough- Locke and Jean are running a scam, which then seemingly gets turned on its head. They get dragged into the politics of their new found city, and then lumbered with a strange nautical mission. 


I won't say any more, as spoilers are a pain, but I think my issue with the book was pacing. The first part is fine- enough hooks, with well inserted flashbacks. Usual banter, which could've benefitted from a tighter edit.


The second part really limped along, though. Not enough scamming and conniving for my taste. The period on the sea, and the characters they met didn't seem well realised enough.


The third part, picks up, but was rushed. Clever realisation of the scams, nice twist, but felt jarring after the mediocre momentum of the middle.


Lynch is a great writer, but he lost his way a bit here. Few too many Deux et Machina aspects with alchemy, excesses of banter, and misjudged pace- yet, as I said, still superior to most in the genre.


Definitely reading the third book... 

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