Red Seas Under Red Skies

Hardcover, 576 pages

English language

Published July 31, 2007 by Spectra.

ISBN:: 978-0-553-80468-3
OCLC Number:: 123969028

(10 reviews)

In his highly acclaimed debut, The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch took us on an adrenaline-fueled adventure with a band of daring thieves led by con artist extraordinaire Locke Lamora. Now Lynch brings back his outrageous hero for a caper so death-defying, nothing short of a miracle will pull it off.After a brutal battle with the underworld that nearly destroyed him, Locke and his trusted sidekick, Jean, fled the island city of their birth and landed on the exotic shores of Tal Verrar to nurse their wounds. But even at this westernmost edge of civilization, they 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. This time, however, they have targeted the grandest prize of all: the Sinspire, the most exclusive and heavily guarded gambling house in the world. Its nine floors attract the wealthiest clientele--and to rise to the top, one must impress with good credit, amusing behavior...and excruciatingly impeccable play. For there is one cardinal rule, enforced by Requin, the house's cold-blooded master: it is death to cheat at any game at the Sinspire. Brazenly undeterred, Locke and Jean have 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....From the Hardcover edition.

5 editions

Øyvind reviewed Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch (Gentleman Bastard, #2)

The Gentleman Bastards strikes again

5 stars

A few years has passed since the last time we saw Locke and Jean, and they have established themselves in the city of Tal Verrarr planning another spectacular heist. It's interesting to see how they deal with everything that's they face of challenges in they way of their heist, and how they deal with the outfall of both them and the ending of the last book. Even though we have moved away from the city of Camorr is the worldbuilding still great and we get to visit quite a few interesting places, and meet a few interesting persons. A few potential action sequences where cut from the book, however the way it was done was quite clever so I can't be to hard about it.

It's a great book that I'd recomend to everyone that have read The Lies of Locke Lamora if you haven't I'd recomend that you start …

It's a great book that I'd recomend to everyone that have read The Lies of Locke Lamora if you haven't I'd recomend that you start there, although you'll probably be fine jumping into things here as well. The main downside of th Gentleman Bastard sequence is that it's far from finished, and the gap between book 3 and 4 is on over 10 years.

ju reviewed Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

Good adventure

4 stars

Although it's an entertaining read, with plenty of intrigue, pirates and villains, I was not as taken by it as the first Locke Lamora novel.

Kadomi reviewed Red Seas Under Red Skies

Review of 'Red Seas Under Red Skies' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Set two years after The Lies of Locke Lamora, this book continues the story of Locke and Jean after their flight from Camorr. In the first part of the book, we receive plenty of flashbacks into the time between Camorr and their current home, the island city of Tal Verrar. There, the two of them are working on an elaborate two-year scam to catch them their biggest coup yet. Of course, things turn out very differently, when the Bondsmagi of Karthain and one of the rulers of Tal Verrar catch wind of their presence and uses them for his own bargain.

Red Seas Under Red Skies has all the markings of what made the prequel so outstanding for me. The writing is still extremely entertaining, the characters are colorful, and the women of this world are remarkable and all tough as nails and powerful. Yet I am only giving this book four stars, whereas the prequel got five. Unfortunately, I felt this book dragged a bit in the middle part. I think it took way too long for Jean and Locke to end up on the Poison Orchid. I mean, sure, I learned a lot of nautical terms as well, but I just felt that went on way too long. I also missed some of the astounding twists and turns from the first book. The twists here were all fairly rushed at the end. Maybe I just didn't like the setting. I preferred the faux-renaissance world of Camorr to Tal Verrar and the pirate life.

I did however really enjoy all the characters aboard the Poison Orchid. I am always impressed when an author is not afraid to kill off very likeable characters, so be prepared to be shocked. I also appreciated the deeper insights we got into Locke and his motivations, and added depth for both him and Jean.

Despite my misgivings, I would fully recommend reading both books, and the last part of the book left plenty of open questions, to make me anticipate the next book greatly. It's a colorful world I wouldn't want to miss.

cjhubbs reviewed Red Seas Under Red Skies

Review of 'Red Seas Under Red Skies' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

An entertaining con game story, but not as compelling as the first book in the series ("The Lies of Locke Lamora"). A lot of plot layers to keep track of, and while the pirate angles are entertaining, it doesn't quite live up to the original. Still, a fun read.