I enjoyed [b:The Lies of Locke Lamora|127455|The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1)|Scott Lynch|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924569s/127455.jpg|2116675] straight through, beginning to end. There were a lot of things I liked about this book too. Characters I've grown to love got fleshed out even more, we get introduced to some memorable new locations, and there are new/different/interesting schemes to be played on new/different/interesting people. There's a lot to enjoy. One thematic choice kept rubbing against the grain of my personal taste though, and it kept me from enjoying the book as much as I did the first. Details below since it's hard to discuss without spoilers.

I'm very excited to read [b:The Republic of Thieves|2890090|The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3)|Scott Lynch|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406961069s/2890090.jpg|2916344]!

The one element of this book that continually hampered my enjoyment was nautical detail. Oh boy. I stress that this is a personal preference issue rather than something I perceive as a shortcoming of the book, because I'm sure other people read it and thought "Nice! Nautical terms!" My own impression went more like this:

"Locke and Jean are going to get a taste of piracy. This sounds fun, let's see where it goes."
"Mr. Lynch is not glossing over any details of seafaring here, he wants to make us feel like we're on the sea with the characters. Good on him!"
"Ok, I think I'm good now. I've had enough with the nautical detail."
"Please. No more. Start glossing over details any time now."

I liked the rest of the book so much that this relatively minor gripe stands out in sharp relief.