'One of my top ten books ever. Maybe top five. If you haven't read it, you should' Patrick Rothfuss, New York Times bestselling author of The Name of the Wind
'Fresh, original and engrossing' George R.R. Martin, the phenomenon behind A Game of Thrones
They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he's part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumor. And they are wrong on every count.
Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich - they're the only ones worth stealing from - but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves: the Gentleman Bastards.
Together their domain is the city of Camorr. Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers, it's a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the city.
But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power. A challenge from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. The Grey King is coming.
A man would be well advised not to be caught between Capa Barsavi and The Grey King. Even such a master of the sword as the Thorn of Camorr. As for Locke Lamora ...
Readers can't get enough of Locke Lamora:
'Original, engrossing, emotional, and devastatingly impactful; this extremely well-written tale of avarice and brotherhood is a treasure of gold, and you will want your share of it' Novel Notions
'A rewarding read, well written, and entertaining. I'd recommend any fantasy fan to give it a try' Mark Lawrence, Sunday Times bestselling author
'It is witty, profane, violent, over the top, and frequently hilarious. I can't believe this is Scott Lynch's first novel, and I can't wait to read more. This is an incredibly fun adventure novel. Find yourself a copy and read it' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'You guys, this story is unreal. It's so morally wrong that you don't even want it to be right. It's that luring, that gritty, that bold . . . its masterfully chaotic - so many subplots, so many characters, so much world-building. theres never a dull moment . . . its intricately woven - no movement, no scene, no word is insignificant. Everything is so interconnected on so many levels. I straight up got chills in some parts' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'A love child of Ocean's Eleven and The Godfather. With blood, deaths, betrayals, money, and drowning in horse urine . . . and it's SO. GOOD' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'It stole hours of sleep. It wrapped me in cozy myth. It gave me the blessing of feeling like a kid again, snuggled up with a book, wondering how the hell 10pm became 4am. Find. Buy. Consume' Pierce Brown, bestselling author of the Red Rising series
'I mean seriously, I loved all those characters and their cunning and deceiving ways. XD Throughout the entire book I never knew what to expect and there were about a ton of "Oh, sh*t!" moments that were shortly followed by "Jeez! NO!" and "What happened now?" exclamations' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
I read this book many years ago (way before I was even on Goodreads, so I know it was before October 2009). I bought this audiobook a few years ago to revisit this series (I only read this one book and wanted to read more, but wanted to revisit this one before going to book two). I got it as part of Audibles 2 for 1 deals. I’m just now getting around to listening to it (after I just bought book two in another 2 for 1 deal).
I didn’t remember a lot of what this story was about. I just remembered that I really liked Locke and I found that this hasn’t changed. This story is told in multiple timelines. There is a story with Locke in “present day” and then Locke as a child and going through training to become the con man he becomes (this is one of those things that I completely forgot about).
So Locke is an orphan boy that was taken in by a guy known as The Thiefmaker. The Thiefmaker takes boys and trains them to be, well, thieves, among other things. He then sells them to gangs, etc. However, Locke quickly becomes more than what The Thiefmaker is willing to deal with. He takes him to “The Eyeless Priest” known as Father Chains. Chains takes boys (well there is a girl too, but she doesn’t have a large part in this book) and trains them to be sophisticated thieves. He doesn’t want pickpockets, but people who can pull off the long con. He works to teach them accents, manners, skills, languages, fighting, etc.
In the “present”, we have Locke and his gang running a long con on the elite, or Peers, of Camorr. He is planning on having the biggest take ever. He and his gang are ready for a con this long. Things just don’t quite go as they plan.
I really love the characters of this series. Locke, as the leader of this gang, is great, even if his confidence is his biggest weakness. I also really like the other members of Gentleman Bastards, Jean Tannen, Calo Sanza, Galdo Sanza, Bertilion “Bug” Gadek (an apprentice in “present” time) and even Father Chains. They each have their strengths and weaknesses and they work together so that they all do the part they are best suited for.
This story isn’t a faced paced story. It is long and so it may be hard for some people to get through (I’ve heard that from people in the past). I even upped my listening speed, but I still really enjoyed the story.
This is a fantasy, but it takes a while to show it’s hand. It takes place in what would be similar to Italy (the majority of the names have an Italian flare to them and there are gondolas). At first, you hear some about alchemy, but then as the story goes on, you learn about the Bond’s Mage and his Scorpion Falcon. They are really the big part of the fantasy of this story. Not sure how much more it picks up in other series. It was still enough to keep me interested.
If you like fantasy that doesn’t have to be fast paced that have really great characters, this might be a good book for you. I will warn you, this is a bit like Game of Thrones in that there is not a happy ending for everyone involved (I hope that isn’t saying too much).
Locke Lamora’s rule of thumb was this: a good confidence game took three months to plan, three weeks to rehearse, and three seconds to win or lose the victim’s trust forever.
