The Lies of Locke Lamora

[Hound Dog]

Currently reading this book. I'm on about page 80, and I can't help wondering... does it get any better??

....or is disappointment what I get for listening to all the hype?

Please tell me it gets better. Pleeeeaaasssse!

[polishgenius]

If you're reading it because lots of people have told you its good, how come you think that suddenly lots of people are going to tell you it's not good just coz you've read some of it?

It's awesome.

[Rhom]

Currently reading this book. I'm on about page 80, and I can't help wondering... does it get any better??

....or is disappointment what I get for listening to all the hype?

Please tell me it gets better. Pleeeeaaasssse!

Thought it was one of the best reads in a long time when I read it a few years back. It gets much better.

[Frank Fitzpatrick]

I finished it two weeks (and the sequel last week). I for one loved it. His writing style reminded me a lot of Joe Abercrombie (who I am a massive fan of). I'd argue that the book does start slowly, as many fantasy books do, as Lynch is trying to set the tone and the scene of both the city and the story. I'd recommend sticking with it, but at the end of the day, if you aren't enjoying a book, perhaps it may not be for you.

[SkynJay]

If your not into it in 80 pages then you missed something. The style doesn't change. Count it as a difference of opinion, then move on. I have spent too much time reading books that never got better for me.

[Hound Dog]

If you're reading it because lots of people have told you its good, how come you think that suddenly lots of people are going to tell you it's not good just coz you've read some of it?

It's awesome.

Some books start off slow and then become something great... while others don't. I was wondering if others felt the same slowness to the narrative as I do, but stuck with it and were rewarded. That's all.

[MisterOJ]

It's a good book. If you don't like it, there is something fundamentally wrong with you as a person.

That said, Scott Lynch made me a permanent fan yesterday when he went on a rant against DRM. I asked him if he was cool with those of us who had bought his books stripping off the DRM and he replied:

Scott Lynch ‏@scottlynch7814h

@ojinrvk Yes, I am personally and ethically utterly cool with it, though *cough* this does not constitute a legal endorsement. *Cough.*

[Migey]

The Lies of Locke Lamora is quite possibly my favourite stand-alone book ever, period (despite the fact that it is the first book of a series, the book works completely as a stand-alone, and it ends with no real hanging plot threads of hugely unanswered questions about the primary plot. It leaves itself open for sequels, but if it hadn't been successful enough to warrant one, it would have been a fine stand-alone). I love it to bits. I personally think it gets slightly better as it goes along, yet I loved it from the first page, so if you don't like it by now, then I guess it isn't for you.

[Myrddin]

It's a good book. If you don't like it, there is something fundamentally wrong with you as a person.

That said, Scott Lynch made me a permanent fan yesterday when he went on a rant against DRM. I asked him if he was cool with those of us who had bought his books stripping off the DRM and he replied:

Scott Lynch ‏@scottlynch7814h

@ojinrvk Yes, I am personally and ethically utterly cool with it, though *cough* this does not constitute a legal endorsement. *Cough.*

I find your thoughts interesting and would like to subscribe to your newsletter follow your Twitter feed. :)

It's good to see Scott so active on Twitter.

[Ninefingers]

I thought LLL was better in concept than execution. I chalked that up to first book still working out the writing kinks though, and liked it well enough to read the 2nd.

The 2nd was the last one I'll read though. It felt like Lynch had a different book mostly written, and then shoehorned it into a Locke Lamora story. I was not a fan.

[Hound Dog]

I thought LLL was better in concept than execution. I chalked that up to first book still working out the writing kinks though, and liked it well enough to read the 2nd.

Interesting. Far from finishing the book, I still agree with what you say here. It was the summary that initially attracted me to the book (along with its legions of fans!), although now that I'm reading it, I'm not so impressed. The writing gets to me somewhat. It's got a very technical feel to it and it's as though I can't get into the heads of the characters... as soon as I think I'm about to, a wall goes up and I'm just looking in from the outside. Some parts I do find to be really interesting... the flashbacks... that little Bug kid... the alien city.

I'm giving it another 30 pages and then that'll be it. I may try again another day. There's supposed to be around 5 or 6 books in total, isn't that so?

[Errant Bard]

There's supposed to be around 5 or 6 books in total, isn't that so?

Only two out right now, third to be published very soon, or maybe it's already out.

I'm not sure if the half decade between second and third and the problems the author encountered had an impact on the rest of the planned publication.

[Snowborn]

I found it hard to get into for the first 30% of the book (I read it on Kindle). I liked the writing and the story, the characters were fun, but I just wasn't all that interested. Then, after a month long break from the book, from chapter 4 on, I found it great and couldn't put it down, I finished it in two or three days.

[Frank Fitzpatrick]

Only two out right now, third to be published very soon, or maybe it's already out.

I'm not sure if the half decade between second and third and the problems the author encountered had an impact on the rest of the planned publication.

He admitted last year that depression stole several years from his life.

[baxus]

Currently reading this book. I'm on about page 80, and I can't help wondering... does it get any better??

....or is disappointment what I get for listening to all the hype?

Please tell me it gets better. Pleeeeaaasssse!

didn't you already ask if some book "gets any better" recently?

sorry if i'm confusing you with someone else, but if i'm not and you're whining about books so often this "these books are beneath me" act is getting old.

either continue reading the book or decide the book is not worth your time and move on to some other book.

Please do it. Pleeeeaaasssse!

[Ferrum Aeternum]

didn't you already ask if some book "gets any better" recently?

sorry if i'm confusing you with someone else, but if i'm not and you're whining about books so often this "these books are beneath me" act is getting old.

either continue reading the book or decide the book is not worth your time and move on to some other book.

Please do it. Pleeeeaaasssse!

Believe it was denstorebog who started the 'does book x get any better?' threads. I remember Name of the Wind and First Law editions, specifically.

I don't see anything wrong with asking the opinion of the folks in this subforum if there are specific reasons continue reading a book that doesn't seem interesting at first. Lots of good books contain considerable setup that may seem boring at first glance.

[TrackerNeil]

It's got a very technical feel to it and it's as though I can't get into the heads of the characters... as soon as I think I'm about to, a wall goes up and I'm just looking in from the outside.

Although I enjoyed LLL, I get you here. It seems to me Lynch's characters aren't very distinct from each other, at least in terms of the way they speak. Ideally, you should be able to get an idea who's talking without being told, but that was not my experience with LLL. I felt as though pretty much any character could have said pretty much any of the dialogue, and that's not a good thing.

That being said, I enjoyed the novel, read the second in the series, and will likely read the third. Lynch did a good job at world-building and the plot was engaging. It's not exactly breaking new ground in fantasy, but I thought The Lies of Locke Lamora was well worth whatever I paid for it.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

Currently reading this book. I'm on about page 80, and I can't help wondering... does it get any better??

....or is disappointment what I get for listening to all the hype?

Please tell me it gets better. Pleeeeaaasssse!

I was disappointed though it does get better half way through. I liked the second book much better. The first book has a kind of cool twist in the direction of the story, a curveball if you will, that makes the second half much more interesting. I might go back and read it again, I haven't read it in years.

[Serious Callers Only]

Interesting. Far from finishing the book, I still agree with what you say here. It was the summary that initially attracted me to the book (along with its legions of fans!), although now that I'm reading it, I'm not so impressed. The writing gets to me somewhat. It's got a very technical feel to it and it's as though I can't get into the heads of the characters... as soon as I think I'm about to, a wall goes up and I'm just looking in from the outside. Some parts I do find to be really interesting... the flashbacks... that little Bug kid... the alien city.

I'm giving it another 30 pages and then that'll be it. I may try again another day. There's supposed to be around 5 or 6 books in total, isn't that so?

Try Douglas Hulick Tales of the Kin series instead. It's similar (not quite as carperish).

I also thought the second book was weaker, but i gather that it was a rough time for him.

[TrackerNeil]

I was disappointed though it does get better half way through. I liked the second book much better. The first book has a kind of cool twist in the direction of the story, a curveball if you will, that makes the second half much more interesting. I might go back and read it again, I haven't read it in years.

Funny...I enjoyed the first book more. I felt like Red Seas got kind of lost in the middle, and wandered around a bit until it got back to business. Different strokes, I guess.