Scott Lynch’s The Republic of Thieves.. SPOILERS

[Rhom]

I am glad they didn't do away with the flashbacks for an instant or two of additional dialog. I really liked the play and all the intrigue that went into it. Were they strictly necessary to the plot? Well, no, if you think the main plot was the elections... but that's a faulty assumption right there.

And that might be an important distinction. The main story could be seen as the play with the present day stuff serving as merely a transition into the grander overall plot.

I liked the book, but I also completely understand the complaints that others have with the pacing and the lack of "stakes" in the main story. I would also hazard a guess that the impressions suffer due to the delay in presentation. Had we received the book as Scott originally planned with another shortly in the wings, then expectations may not have been quite so high.

[Lord of Rhinos]

I didn't think the election plotline was terrible, per se. It was just more light fun rather than thrilling. A low-stakes convenient way of healing Locke and reintroducing Sabetha.

I am glad they didn't do away with the flashbacks for an instant or two of additional dialog. I really liked the play and all the intrigue that went into it. Were they strictly necessary to the plot? Well, no, if you think the main plot was the elections... but that's a faulty assumption right there.

The main story in TROT is Locke and Sabetha's lovestory. The election is just a flimsy excuse to have the two of them face off. Problem is the love story doesn't really work.

(1) The conflict is internal, the only reason Locke and Sabetha aren't together is Sabeth. (2) Love story is completely undermined by the end revelations (3) Love story doesn't reach a conclusion. Sabetha leaves because she doesn't trust Locke's feelings for her but that's exactly where the story started so we've really made no progress whatsoever.

The problem with the flashbacks is they don't really do much for the characters that isn't pretty obvious. Locke is a good-looking, charming, criminal genius and Sabetha is a good-looking, charming, criminal genius. They grew up together. It isn't surprising that they were a couple, it would have been surprising if they hadn't been. The reason for their break up is handled via exposition from Sabetha because the flashback never manages to make it that far. I think someone could TROT, skip the flashbacks, and have just as good an understanding of the story as someone who read both.

[ductastic]

And that might be an important distinction. The main story could be seen as the play with the present day stuff serving as merely a transition into the grander overall plot.

I liked the book, but I also completely understand the complaints that others have with the pacing and the lack of "stakes" in the main story. I would also hazard a guess that the impressions suffer due to the delay in presentation. Had we received the book as Scott originally planned with another shortly in the wings, then expectations may not have been quite so high.

As someone who has read all the books in the last two months, I wholeheartly agree with you. The book probably suffered from people waiting so long to finally read it.

It also seems a lot of people list TLOLL as their favorite book so far, whereas I'd dare to say it's TROT for me. It's definitely a character-driven novel where the election storyline merely served as a means to have a reunion/face-off between Sabetha and Locke. As Tarant said, I also consider Locke and Sabetha's relationship to be the main storyline.

I will make my final judgement after reading The Thorn of Emberlain; OTOH I can also understand people's complaints about the missing stakes in the book.

[Winter's Knight]

RE Sabetha leaving in the end.

Apart from the painting playing into her already deep-rooted paranoia about her hair, I got the impression that Patience told her something, along with showing her the painting but looking back over the dialogue, I can't find evidence for this.

I enjoyed the book intensely and I loved Sabetha. I liked how flawed and real she was, I understood her consciousness and dislike of her hair colour, her resentment towards Locke taking over leadership and her issues with commitment.

[peterbound]

I still don't understand, nor remember the book ever saying Lamor Acanthus was Sebetha's dad. Where are you guys getting that from?

[Rhom]

I still don't understand, nor remember the book ever saying Lamor Acanthus was Sebetha's dad. Where are you guys getting that from?

Speculation. The picture that is said to be a remarkable likeness but looks nothing like Locke, etc.

[Jussi]

I just wanted to leave one more comment here about how much I absolutely adored this book. There is just so much negative criticism here that I think that it is almost unfair to not share that once again for the benefit of someone coming here trying to decide to read it or not. It has been a couple of months now since I have finished, and the story still dances through my head.

+1. I enjoyed The Republic of Thieves enormously, it's one of my favourite reads of 2013. I'm really surprised with the negative comments in this thread. Amazon.com reviews for TRoT are mostly positive.

Here is the first blurb for The Thorn of Emberlain:

THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN, the fourth book in the Gentleman Bastard sequence, picks up about half a year after The Republic of Thieves and finds Locke Lamora and Jean Tannen trying to get back on their feet with a major con. Theyre trying to sell the services of a non-existent mercenary company to the besieged city-state of Emberlain, hoping to escape with the hiring fees before the chaos of the Vadran civil war overruns Emberlain. Naturally, things dont go according to plan

[Punkhazard]

Interview with Scott Lynch about ROT and future books (Spoilers!). Definitely a lot of great stuff, including information about The Falconer/Eldren etc.

http://www.hypable.com/2013/11/04/hypable-author-interview-scott-lynch-goes-deep-in-the-republic-of-thieves/2/

[Jussi]

From Twitter:

Wowza. LIES and RED SEAS are getting a fresh round of American reprints (mass market formats).

That makes grappling with their baby sibling, THE THORN OF NGGGGGGH GOD WHY AREN'T YOU DONE YET, a bit sweeter.

[Frank Fitzpatrick]

Interview with Scott Lynch about ROT and future books (Spoilers!). Definitely a lot of great stuff, including information about The Falconer/Eldren etc.

http://www.hypable.com/2013/11/04/hypable-author-interview-scott-lynch-goes-deep-in-the-republic-of-thieves/2/

I really enjoy reading/ watching Scott discussing his writing, he comes across as incredibly intelligent, just a shame there's so little of it.

No matter what people thought of the narrative, it's hard to deny that Lynch is an incredibly gifted world builder.

[alguien]

Interview with Scott Lynch about ROT and future books (Spoilers!). Definitely a lot of great stuff, including information about The Falconer/Eldren etc.

http://www.hypable.com/2013/11/04/hypable-author-interview-scott-lynch-goes-deep-in-the-republic-of-thieves/2/

Thanks for posting that! Really interesting info.

[Flayed Man]

Am I really the only one who thought the man in Patience's painting was Chains? And that Sabetha is his daughter?

Also, since this is literally the first time I've posted in half a decade, hi Ser Scot and Malt. :)

[Jussi]

https://twitter.com/scottlynch78/status/415753373766266880

I have spent Christmas eve alternately at the fire station and in Emberlain. Emberlain is more fun.

[Punkhazard]

This was almost 2 months ago, but I noticed that Scott mentioned he might be reading an excerpt from the Thorn of Emberlain:

http://scottlynch.us/blog/category/thorn-of-emberlain/

SATURDAY, 11:30 AM: Reading (Hall 8B)

I will be reading a great and secret something, possibly from THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN.

This was at the World Fantasy Convention, did anyone happen to attend?

It's too bad Lynch doesn't have a GRRM-like following, anytime GRRM reads something from Winds there is a 20 page thread discussing it...

[Castel]

Speculation. The picture that is said to be a remarkable likeness but looks nothing like Locke, etc.

I thought that was only about the woman's red hair (and the fact that Patience knew whatshisface). Do we have any reason to assume otherwise?

[Rhom]

I thought that was only about the woman's red hair (and the fact that Patience knew whatshisface). Do we have any reason to assume otherwise?

Folks earlier in the thread (or maybe it was another thread :dunno: ) seemed to think maybe the resemblance that Patience mentioned wasn't regarding Locke (notice, neither he nor Jean comment on it) but rather that the wife had a resemblance to Sabetha and therefore was her mother; which in turn makes the whole thing a creepy incest kind of thing where Locke is actually Sabetha's dad reborn... or something.

[Castel]

Folks earlier in the thread (or maybe it was another thread :dunno: ) seemed to think maybe the resemblance that Patience mentioned wasn't regarding Locke (notice, neither he nor Jean comment on it) but rather that the wife had a resemblance to Sabetha and therefore was her mother; which in turn makes the whole thing a creepy incest kind of thing where Locke is actually Sabetha's dad reborn... or something.

Ah, that makes sense.I'm going with the simpler explanation but that seems very...Seamstress-like.

[Rhom]

Ah, that makes sense.I'm going with the simpler explanation but that seems very...Seamstress-like.

Yeah, I don't know if I buy it or not... but its pretty plausible for a crackpot theory.

[Castel]

Yeah, I don't know if I buy it or not... but its pretty plausible for a crackpot theory.

Yeah, it would explain why

Locke liked Sabetha before ever seeing her hair; he recognized her features. Or it could be a way to hint that it's all bullshit, one can hope I suppose

[Jussi]

According to Fantasy-Faction, The Bastards and the Knives will be published in 2014.

This will be one of two Locke Lamora books released in 2014… Yep. You read that right: two! Although this is only a couple of novellas, as opposed to a full length novel, Scott’s short stories – that have featured in numerous big name anthologies – have never disappointed; and we can’t see one based on Locke Lamora being the first!