Scott Lynch’s Red Seas Under Red Skies is a worthy follow-up to The Lies of Locke Lamora, a novel I thoroughly enjoyed. In this sequel, Gentlemen Bastards Locke Lamora and Jean Tannen find themselves caught up in a whirlwind of treachery, piracy, and deceit that kept me turning the pages until the novel’s near cliffhanger ending.
The story takes us from the Venetian-like city of Camorr to the bustling, exotic city of Tal Verrar. At the heart of this new setting is the Sinspire, a decadent gambling house where Locke and Jean are planning an elaborate heist. The resulting plot is a thrilling game of deception involving more than a few ruthless enemies, including one particularly deadly foe bent on revenge for the events that transpired in the previous novel.
Yet it’s the adventures on the high seas that make Red Seas Under Red Skies such an engaging read. By the novel’s midpoint, Locke and Jean find themselves among a crew of pirates led by the indomitable Zamira Drakasha, a pirate queen as charismatic as she is formidable. The maritime escapades, filled with swashbuckling sea battles and cut-throat pirate politics, are some of my favorite parts of the story.
However, what sets Lynch’s narrative apart is the humor that underlies the tale. One classic example involves a superstition about cats being good luck on ships, a belief firmly held by all sailors. Of course, Locke and Jean promptly disregard this, leading to a series of hilarious misadventures that add a light-hearted counterpoint to the book’s more serious and suspenseful moments.
Although Red Seas Under Red Skies may not surpass The Lies of Locke Lamora, it comes remarkably close. By the end, this book proves once again why the Gentlemen Bastards series is a must-read for anyone who enjoys fantasy adventures laced with humor and filled with a cast of characters who will stay with the reader long after turning the final page.
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