Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentleman Bastard, #2)

by Scott Lynch

Escaping from the attentions of the Bondsmagi Locke Lamora, the estwhile Thorn of Camorr and Jean Tannen have fled their home city. Taking ship they arrive in the city state of Tal Varrar where they are soon planning their most spectacular heist yet; they will take the luxurious gaming house, The Sinspire, for all of its countless riches.

No-one has ever taken even a single coin from the Sinspire that wasn't won on the tables or in the other games of chance on offer there.

But, as ever, the path of true crime rarely runs smooth and Locke and Jean soon find themselves co-opted into an attempt to bring the pirate fleet of the notorious Zamira Drakasha to justice. Fine work for thieves who don't know one end of galley from another.

And all the while the Bondsmagi are plotting their very necessary revenge against the one man who believes e has humiliated them and lived; Locke Lamora.

Reviewed by adamfortuna on

4 of 5 stars

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Building on the first one, I felt that I enjoyed the heist side of this one much more. It reminds me of the movie "Lucky Number Slevin" (which wasn't as good as this book), where our heroes are thrust into situation after situation where they are being exploited for their unique set of skills. The main arc with the Sinspire was the the one I was most interested in, but felt the resolution wasn't as strong. Leaving off much more in the middle of the story than the first book, I'll need to read #3 to know where this one goes.

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  • Started reading
  • 30 September, 2016: Finished reading
  • 30 September, 2016: Reviewed