The Republic of Thieves

Nikoros came away from the meeting having learned several new words, as well as some novel hyphenations of familiar ones, and a fascinating twist to the art of negotiation that his education had previously neglected

Oh boy, was my review of previous Gentlemen Bastards book Red Seas Under Red Skies an unknown premonition. The mages reappear and what a fun adventure they create for our heroes.What more fun could there be than to try and fix an election for sport under watchful eyes of mages of Karthain (and with their blessing). Once again the book is really two stories - one happening “now” and the other one during Locke’s childhood - providing more background and insight into characters and their motivations. Politics and theater were never so fun before.How can you steal an election if everybody cheats and (almost) everything goes? Blackmail, subterfuge, thieving and other skulldaggery. And oh what joy it is to read the banter between Locke & Sabetha and learn about their past in the theatre troupe.Scott Lynch always seems to strike a great balance between providing enough interesting information and background, while not overwhelming. I didn’t realize how much history he held back in the previous books and it did not even bother me - he doles out history and context as needed and it’s masterfully done.This might have been my favourite Gentlemen Bastards book yet. Looking forward to the next ones.

...shouted Locke. "What am I?"
"You're a man who doesn't get to know the answer," said Patience, and now her smile was genuine.


"Republic of Thieves" continues to focus on our favorite Gentleman Bastard and the introduction to the elusive Sabetha. Like other books in the series, this one is told through a combination of flashbacks and present day activities.

The present day story line started off interesting but I feel that the story didn't have time to grow because this novel was very heavy on flashbacks. I am not sure how else Lynch will be able to put Jean and Locke in to a vice and write their escape, but I appreciate he is trying to create unique stories and not rehashing the first book.

As for the flashback, it was great to have more of the Gentleman Bastards involved. There is probably a lot of story left for Lynch to uncover through flashbacks so at the very least that will make the remaining books entertaining.

I am sure there was something profound or meaningful in the play the Camorri performed but I didn't put the effort in to looking for them. I appreciated the fact that the story wasn't page after page of script from the "Republic of Thieves" play.

Finally, every book is building on an action. "Lies of Locke Lamora" threw a pebble in the pond of Bondsmagi. The ripples from that action are still felt in this book, and appear to be growing, especially as the story takes place in their main outpost of Karthain. I like the subtle building of this mysterious practice and am excited to see how future books will incorporate them.

He tardado muchísimo en leer este libro, pero la culpa ha sido de que no he tenido tiempo, no de la calidad. Además es el primero de la saga que me leo en inglés (las ediciones de bolsillo inglesas son mínimas) y tengo que decir que es el que más me ha costado leer en ese idioma.

Ahora toca libro.
La historia empieza poco después del final del anterior con un encargo para los protagonistas de amañar unas elecciones y derrotar a su rival contratado por la otra facción.
La trama política no tiene tanto gancho como las anteriores de ladrones y piratas, pero al menos la ha conseguido hacer entretenida. Para acompañar a la trama principal, hay otra secundaria ambientada en el entrenamiento de los Caballeros Bastardos, que a mi parecer está mejor conseguida.

POSIBLE SPOILER
En toda la historia he echado en falta un plan maestro que se fuera desarrollando desde el principio para resolverlo al final por sorpresa, aquí ha sido todo más relacionado con el toma y daca que la maquinación.

As much as anything, I liked this book because it didn't follow the exact script that the first two did. Instead of an Oceans Eleven heist, the job in this book was rigging a political election. In the end, it honestly all seemed fairly pointless, but it was fun to read all of the insults Scott Lynch comes up with, and all of the hellraising his characters pull off.

Like the first two books, there's also a secondary storyline taking place years ago when Locke & Jean were still learning to be thieves. That story was... well.. meh. I guess I had a hard time being entertained by the whole Sheakespeare-esque stage actor thing.

Yes, there's Sabetha. She's a nice complement to Jean & Locke. I'll leave it at that.

The final chapter was kind of cool, although the final premise was basically lifted from the Harry Potter books. Hopefully Lynch actually makes use of this little plot device in future books. Rowling sure as Hell didn't.

With The Republic of Thieves author Scott Lynch returns to the world of Locke Lamora and the Gentlemen Bastards for a third time.

The central characters of Locke and Jean owe more than a passing resemblance to Fafhrd and Grey Mouser. Which is I'm sure not accidental. However there's generally more of an Oceans 11 con-element to the plots than straight out thievery. Which is one of the things I really enjoy about the series.

This time round the con-games are generally speaking on a smaller scale than we've seen before which is rather a shame because the scenario which puts Locke and Jean up against Sabetha their former partner in crime should have been the setting for ever more outrageous shenanigans.

The return of the Bonds Mages of Karthane and a further exploration of the Eldren and the backstory of this world was certainly a very interesting element. But the supposed A plot seemed rather weak and it really wasn't at all clear and their meddling in the 5 year game elections didn't really live up to previous escapades.

It was certainly interesting to finally get to meet Sabetha who has been so frequently referenced in the previous books. Naturally she couldn't quite live up to that billing, but Lynch did give us a character who was easily able to hold her own against Locke and Jean without making her into some sort of paragon.

The basic structure of each of these books always involves a B story set earlier in the Gentleman Bastards career. It's a common enough storytelling technique, but I personally have never cared for it since it invariably just gets in the way of me finding out what's going on in the A story. It's not that it's badly executed, I just personally don't like that particular trick. It's just something that I accept when reading this series.

Lynch's stories tend to use surprises and twists on a regular basis in keeping with that Ocean's 11 vibe he has going. However, it's generally the sort of twist that adds to re-read value rather than removes it.

I this case however, the big twist is something of a massive disappointment to me. It's not at all clear to me why it would be necessary make Locke more than he already is. For the moment I'm withholding judgement, but if this isn't a red-herring I could see myself souring on the series quite quickly.

The other element I didn't care for was the introduction of a nemesis at right at the end of the book. That's a move that screams of seriesitus where the books stop being largely self-contained (as they have been up to now) and become just another chapter in a longer work that really doesn't stand on its own.

These are things that definitely have me worried for the next book in the series, but they don't significantly hurt this book so it still gets an unreserved recommendation from me.