Scott Lynch’s The Republic of Thieves.. SPOILERS

[SerArthurHeath]

To be fair, the initial reason why they entered the election was because Locke would have died of the poison if they had refused. Patience wouldn't have removed it if they said no.* Once they agreed, they had to play ball.

*Maybe she would have anyway if Locke is Lamor Acanthus and she needed him in some way, but that wasn't known to Locke and Jean at the time.

To be fair, the whole thing was a big con by Patience on Locke. The stakes for Locke were nothing at all to do with the contest and all to do with getting Sabetha back and the entire point for Patience was to offer that chance then deliberately sabotage it because it was the closest thing she could come up with to what was done to the Falconer, the worst thing she could do to Locke, even more so than killing Jean, because it created the illusion of Locke getting something he had lost

Am I the only one who thought that the reveal for Locke should have been utterly meaningless for every single person involved though? I can kind of see why it would have the effect it did on Sabetha, for non-logical reasons that have already been established in her character and background, but it doesn't MATTER if what was revealed was true or not for simple philosophical reasons. If he doesn't have the magic capability, doesn't have the same memory or the same personality or you know any of the same traits at all except that both true loves (and he fell for Sabetha before seeing her hair and it's clearly not his rationale for it anyway AND he gives a speech to her in the backstory about how inevitable loves are no more real or worthy than non-inevitable ones if they even exist...) have red hair, then Locke is an entirely different person from his past self with no need to worry about that person's decisions or actions and nobody has any right to judge him based on those or assume he only loves you because of your hair colour and a past love he doesn't remember anything about... The only important change is that Locke's true name is basically permanently safe

Ouch...

I really think that a TV series is not the way to go with this series. There just is not enough material per book to make a long running show. The writers would have to completely change the story to stretch it out to even a ten episode series.

This book would make a perfect movie though. I wish we lived in a world that Hollywood would invest money into good storytelling.

I completely disagree. My first thought when reading the series was "this would be an awesome mini-series on Tv". There's too much and especially too much backstory to work as a film and the books are written in an episodic manner with natural cliff hangers and breaks and character revelation and progression for a few mains with returning supporting characters and a revolving larger cast that is perfect for TV. Not 10 hours per book like GOT but around 5-6 would be perfect

Also, was it me or was the flashback sequence essentially Moulin Rouge minus the La Traviata bits?

[Ashara]

Am I the only one who thought that the reveal for Locke should have been utterly meaningless for every single person involved though? I can kind of see why it would have the effect it did on Sabetha, for non-logical reasons that have already been established in her character and background, but it doesn't MATTER if what was revealed was true or not for simple philosophical reasons

I felt Sabetha's whole thing was contrived. I seriously can't imagine anyone feeling the way she does. The best I can come up with is that she enjoys playing it to enjoy torture and manipulation aspect, and can't possibly mean this sincerely.

[Howdyphillip]

I felt Sabetha's whole thing was contrived. I seriously can't imagine anyone feeling the way she does. The best I can come up with is that she enjoys playing it to enjoy torture and manipulation aspect, and can't possibly mean this sincerely.

I found the strongest aspect of this book was the relationship and motivations between Locke and Sabetha. I have been in a relationship that was very similar to how these two played off of each other. What I think you may be missing is the objectification that Locke has towards her. She is extremely resistant to it, but has a bond with him despite it. They also have a genuine affection towards each other despite it.

Taken in this light, her actions make a lot more sense.

[SeanF]

Patience said something at the end to Sabetha that caused her to run. I wonder if she told her that Lamora's necromancy had worked, and she was his dead wife returned to this world.

[SerArthurHeath]

Patience said something at the end to Sabetha that caused her to run. I wonder if she told her that Lamora's necromancy had worked, and she was his dead wife returned to this world.

Timeline wouldn't make sense. Could be that she said that Locke's old body was Sabetha's father. I figured it was just showing her the picture though and to Sabetha it validated everything she'd feared (even though it didn't, and even if it were true it wouldn't...)

[SeanF]

Timeline wouldn't make sense. Could be that she said that Locke's old body was Sabetha's father. I figured it was just showing her the picture though and to Sabetha it validated everything she'd feared (even though it didn't, and even if it were true it wouldn't...)

I think that would freak her out.

[Maia]

Yes, I think that Sabetha is a daughter of Pel Acanthus. Either a natural one, or a successful necromantic rebirth of his wife, but raised as his daughter before whatever it was happened to put her penniless on the street. That's why she left - she recognized the guy on the portrait as her dad. And the evidence that Locke may be a body he took over when cornered is somewhat persuasive.

[Jussi]

Apparently the current target date is mid-to-late 2015.

This seems to be the plan, because The Thorn of Emberlain is missing from the Gollancz January-July 2015 catalogue.

[Jussi]

From a new interview:

AS: What are you working on right now?

SL: I’m working on my 4th novel, The Thorn of Emberlain; a couple of short stories I owe to people; and I definitely have to finish work on a new novella, The Mad Baron’s Mechanical Attic, which is very overdue. Poor Bill Schafer of Subterranean Press deserves much better. That will be part of the story that fits between my 3rd and 4th novels and links those stories. That is what I’ve got for the rest of the year.

[Jussi]

Looks like Lynch is still writing The Thorn of Emberlain:

Move your asses toward the resolution, you stupid characters, or I swear I'll go back and start deleting desserts from the banquet scenes.

https://twitter.com/scottlynch78/status/529512505882980352

[henderson]

Hope Thorn of Emberlain is better than Republic of Thieves.

[3CityApache]

Looks like Lynch is still writing The Thorn of Emberlain:

Or perhaps he meant The Mad Baron’s Mechanical Attic, which probably would be even worse.

[Jussi]

http://scottlynch78.tumblr.com/post/101989287928/you-said-in-an-interview-a-while-back-that-thorn-of

Anonymous said: You said in an interview a while back that "Thorn of Emberlain" would be out in 2014, is that still true?

No. My past self was brimming with optimism. It was going to be damn close, but I just couldn’t pull it off. The good news is there will be a) still no more fucking 6-year gaps, and b) several major goodies to announce between now and its actual release date, mid-to-late 2015.

[Starkess]

Finally got around to reading this one. I enjoyed it--spent my entire Saturday reading it--but it wasn't perfect. Sabetha was not a great character for me. Felt a little like maybe Lynch was trying too hard to make her an independent woman and she comes off as a bit of a caricature. Especially in the flashback stories, it seemed like there was zero chemistry during their awkward conversations but then no wait it really was because she liked him too? And agree with other who have said the stakes were missing for much of the book. The whole first section on Locke's poisoning--we know he's not going to die, c'mon. Felt like I would have rather picked up the story later and gotten some of the poisoning stuff in flashbacks. Just made the whole book start very slowly.

I didn't mind the electioneering story. Yes, it was mostly pranks and not true electioneering, but that was the whole point--they were supposed to be providing entertainment. The Bondsmagi didn't really care about the election itself. I thought it was a nice parallel with the play in the flashback. They're basically putting on a show on a larger scale and, given the Baron's demise in the past, both shows must go on despite looming problems.

Really hate the Falconer coming back.

As far as Locke's true identity, I hope that this is a red herring. Just another mindfuck from the Bondsmagi, one calculated to drive a wedge between the reuniting Locke and Sabetha. As far as the painting, I figured the whole point was the redheadedness of the dead wife. Sabetha freaked the fuck out when she thought Locke only loved her for her hair, so this plays right into that insecurity on her part. She's clearly a flight risk, so running is how she's going to solve this.

Also, what does it really matter? If Locke is in an entirely new body, with no memories of his past self or past life, with none of his magic capabilities, then to all intents and purposes he is Locke Lamora. I suppose maybe that's a philosophical point, but I fail to see how that would matter to anyone who knew or loved him. The only importance of it is not to him but to the Bondsmagi, discovering that new powers are available to them to pursue. And that could happen whether or not the story is actually technically true.

[Jussi]

Locus Forthcoming Books have been updated. The Thorn of Eberlain is listed as a September 2015 release.

From Tumblr:

aldebaran-k5iii asked: I really love all the world building in your books, and I was wondering if we'd ever see a larger-scale map showing where the cities are in relation to one another and such.

Yes, the time is coming when I can no longer get away with concealing the shape of Locke’s continent, and that time is THORN. This book will involve (though not all may be in the book itself, that has yet to be determined) a map of Emberlain, a map of the Kingdom of the Marrows, and a map that puts it all together with the Therin states, Syrune, Jerem and Jeresh, etc.

[MerenthaClone]

Also, what does it really matter? If Locke is in an entirely new body, with no memories of his past self or past life, with none of his magic capabilities, then to all intents and purposes he is Locke Lamora. I suppose maybe that's a philosophical point, but I fail to see how that would matter to anyone who knew or loved him. The only importance of it is not to him but to the Bondsmagi, discovering that new powers are available to them to pursue. And that could happen whether or not the story is actually technically true.

I thought the point of the painting was to show that

Locke, while in an entirely new body with no explicit memories, is still influenced by his "prior self." Or, at least to make Sabetha think so. Basically, I think Sabetha would have agreed with you that Locke is Locke not Lamor, right up until a painting showing that Sabetha looks almost identical to Lamor's wife shows up.

[bloodsteel bitterraven]

I'm a little late to the party, but I just finished this book (I liked it and I will continue reading the series, but it wasn't anywhere near as good as the first two).

Anyway, I have a question that no one seems to have tried to answer yet in this thread. Why did Chains and the other priests pick Locke to become a priest and not Sabetha? That was never explained.

[Howdyphillip]

I'm a little late to the party, but I just finished this book (I liked it and I will continue reading the series, but it wasn't anywhere near as good as the first two).

Anyway, I have a question that no one seems to have tried to answer yet in this thread. Why did Chains and the other priests pick Locke to become a priest and not Sabetha? That was never explained.

I think it was fairly obvious that he was already the leader of the group. The other boys respected Sabetha, but they absolutely loved and obeyed Locke at that point.

[Calibandar]

Locus Forthcoming Books have been updated. The Thorn of Eberlain is listed as a September 2015 release.

From Tumblr:

I'm becoming a bit sceptical. I see no Gollancz release up for September at this point, and Del Rey has listings up on amazon.com that include September, and it's not there either. This might move back further still.

[briantw]

I just caught on to this series and read the three books back-to-back-to-back. I agree with those that said Republic of Thieves was the weakest of the bunch. Not that it was bad or anything, but it just couldn't match up compared to how good the first two books were in my mind.

What I didn't like:

• I can understand why Locke is in love with Sabetha, especially given the new information we received in this book, but what I can't really understand is why she loves him. He's obsessive around her, and he manages to lose all charisma and confidence with her mood swings. I've never met a single girl who would be comfortable with that kind of love, and it made their whole relationship feel weird, disjointed, and trivial.
  
• The lack of a main caper irked me as well. As others have mentioned, the election basically just devolved into a prank war, and the stakes never seemed terribly high like they were in the first two books. It also seems like huge chunks of time pass in the weeks leading up to the election where Locke and Jean don't do anything terribly important, then all of a sudden the election is right around the corner and they still don't seem to have any concrete plan for winning it.
  
• The backstory takes way too long to finally get into gear. It's good once it does, but it moves really slowly until about two-thirds of the way into the book.
  
• Literally every time Sabetha says something positive or negative to Locke we're treated to a line about his heartbeat speeding up or his blood going cold. We get it. He's obsessed with her. This type of description got excessive and repetitive a few chapters in, yet it continued throughout the entire book.
  
• There was no resolution to the business with Moncraine. I mean, maybe we get this in a later book, but by that point I was actually invested in the backstory and wanted to know what happened.
  
• For a level five mage, Patience sure died pretty easy to a flock of birds. Granted, she wasn't expecting an attack, but you'd think that someone as powerful as her could manage protective spells at all times.
  

What I liked:

• It was another Gentleman Bastards book. I'm just disappointed, as a newbie to the series, that there aren't several more to read right now. Locke and Jean remain a lot of fun to read.
  
• Ending the election in a tie was clever and somewhat unexpected, even if the lead up to it could have been a little more engaging.
  
• There is plenty of set-up for interesting twists and turns in future books in the series.
  
• I did end up really liking the backstory with the Moncraine company. It took too long to get to the interesting twist with Boulidazi getting shanked, but once that happened it was a lot of fun and felt more like previous books.