Scott Lynch’s The Republic of Thieves.. SPOILERS

[bloodsteel bitterraven]

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.

I would like to address some of your points (by the way your dog is really cute).

- I think Sabetha was uncomfortable at times with how obsessed Locke, but I think she genuinely liked him. And I think Locke is charismatic even at his worst moments.

- It bothered me too that the stakes didn't seem to be as high for our heroes as they were in the first two books. In the first two books they were fighting for their life and their multilayered plans (as well as those of their opponents) were what made the story great.

- I think we did get a resolution to the Moncraine business. Moncraine ran away with the money, the bastards were allowed to return to Camorr and the countess was going to help the troupe. Who knows, Moncraine or some of the other players could come back.

It would be interesting if they met Jenora again.

- To be honest, knowing they would survive made the backstory less interesting IMO. But maybe that's just me.

By the way, I'm not sure if everyone has seen this already, but I was reading this blog post by Scott Lynch on how he imagined some of his characters and I thought I should share: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/2223721-locke-lamora-read-along-bonus-3-early-visual-aids

Interesting stuff.

[briantw]

- I think we did get a resolution to the Moncraine business. Moncraine ran away with the money, the bastards were allowed to return to Camorr and the countess was going to help the troupe. Who knows, Moncraine or some of the other players could come back.

It would be interesting if they met Jenora again.

- To be honest, knowing they would survive made the backstory less interesting IMO. But maybe that's just me.

Well, I guess I should have been more specific about Moncraine. I meant we didn't really get a resolution to Moncraine in particular. The story itself had a resolution, but he just disappeared into the wind. I almost have to assume that he'll show up later, otherwise that ending just feels a little like a letdown given what he did. Regardless, that was my main complaint with the ending of the backstory plot line.

As far as knowing they would survive, well, that's going to be the case any time one of these books has flashbacks. I mean, we know that Locke is going to make it out of every book alive, being the main character and all, but that doesn't make the books any less entertaining. I just generally enjoined watching the characters in a high-stakes caper with the play, something lacking from the main plot. Sure, the stakes are lowered a bit by knowing that the characters would make it out all right, but the story itself was still fun. Ironically, that would have made a more compelling main story than the one we got.

[Jussi]

From Tumblr:

Is there a Not-Japan/Asia country in the world of GB?

There’s a whole side of the globe we haven’t seen yet that is cut off from contact with Therin/Vadran/Syresti/Okanti/Jeremite/Jereshite civilization, and it’s got something to do with those loveable scamps, the Eldren. Will this limitation be circumvented somehow, at some point during Locke’s lifetime? Well, that would be a lot more interesting than just leaving half the planet out of the party, wouldn’t it? *Twiddles thumbs*

http://scottlynch78.tumblr.com/post/107805579678/is-there-a-not-japan-asia-country-in-the-world-of

is the “they” there simply to preserve an ambiguity as to Sage’s gender or because they were a non-cis character? are there others?

The “they” was there because I had quite forgotten Sage Kindness’ gender identifiers (I looked them up later— Kindness is explicitly described as a “he” in the text of TLOLL) and because I’m a proponent of “they” being a perfectly excellent singular pronoun when one is uncertain, and indeed, even when one is certain. I think THORN is the first book in the series where a couple of characters have been deliberately described with names/details but no gender signifiers. I mean, you might be able to dig an example out of the first three, somewhere, but I guarantee it will have been accidental/incidental rather than me saying “Hey, here’s a thing I should occasionally do!”

http://scottlynch78.tumblr.com/post/107800527358/responses-to-miscellaneous

[Jussi]

http://scottlynch78.tumblr.com/post/111896974703/so-are-we-going-to-see-some-full-scale-battle

So are we going to see some full-scale battle scenes in upcoming books? Or at least get some insight into military organisation? That would be fantastic!

There are multiple depictions of field battle in THORN, featuring Vadran infantry, cavalry, and archery tactics. Plus a night commando action. Plus horses, oversized wolves, and herds of giant birds. An improvised poetry duel to the death. Sad songs on a lonely road. Lots of motherfuckers getting opened up by a certain pair of hatchets. Thrills, spills, chills, and cats galore.

[Rhom]

But will we get it before 2021?

;)

[Calibandar]

You get this nasty feeling of this book slipping yet another year yeah. It always seems to be on the verge of being ready if you go by what you're told. But then it isn't.

[Jussi]

http://scottlynch78.tumblr.com/post/111996790013/what-does-therin-vadran-society-think-of

What does Therin/Vadran society think of homosexuality or gender variance? Street they conservative or more open?

Eastern Therins (near Camorr) are more uptight about it. Southern and Western Therins (nearer Tal Verrar) are much less so. Vadrans practice open pairings between anyone and everyone. I wrote a bit about it in one of my Vadran posts a while back. The title was something like “Sex, Sexuality, and Shooting Things.” One of the major characters introduced in THORN, Anton Vorstrada, is overtly gay. As is his love interest.

http://scottlynch78.tumblr.com/post/112002396648/from-what-i-can-make-of-it-racism-isnt-such-a

On a final worldbuilding note, I should also mention one more salient feature of Locke’s world. Nobody has ever successfully colonized anybody else on a grand scale. The Syresti are a black people with arts and sciences equal to the Therins, who successfully resisted every attempt by the Therin Throne to invade them. The Okanti used to be on the same plane, but are now in the midst of a diaspora brought about by natural disaster. The Vadrans were able to seize the northern half of the Therin continent, but never could have pressed south to the population centers of the empire (and were too smart to try). We haven’t met them yet, but the cultures on the other side of the world aren’t set up to take anyone’s shit, either.

http://scottlynch78.tumblr.com/post/112010560953/what-you-said-about-addressing-racism-in-your

The Issavrai, Jeremites, and Jereshites are dark-complexioned, but lighter than the Syresti or Okanti. The Therins themselves are what you might peg as olive/Mediterranean in origin but they’ve been mingling with everyone for so long the various gradations have gone in all directions. Pale Therins are common, especially in the north, while in the south Therins the rough shade of Jada Pinkett Smith are equally common. Ultimately, the Vadrans are the only white folks the way we think of white folks on Locke’s world, and even they’ve had a caste of former Okanti living among them for 150 years or so in a decidedly non-segregated fashion. The cultures on the other side of the world I’ve just got to keep secret for the time being, I’m sorry.

The Eldren were… ha, kidding. I’m still not talking about the Eldren.

[banjax451]

You get this nasty feeling of this book slipping yet another year yeah. It always seems to be on the verge of being ready if you go by what you're told. But then it isn't.

I'm still optimistic. Still plenty of time for a fall publishing date.

[3CityApache]

I'm still optimistic. Still plenty of time for a fall publishing date.

Yeah, I remember saying the same about The Republic of Thieves somewhere around 2009...

[JamieM]

Sigh... you'd think that, after being a huge fan of Lynch since 2008, that I'd learn to not get my hopes up when these threads are updated... doesn't appear to work that way.

But maybe if we could have all of the things we wanted exactly when we wanted to they wouldn't be quite so special... I prefer the ephemeral to the mundane, I suppose.

[Night's_King]

Thorn of Emberlain cover revealed.

[Jussi]

http://scottlynch78.tumblr.com/post/112599196483/could-we-expect-a-lore-book-of-the-world-of-the

Could we expect a lore book of the world of the series at some point in the far future? Y'know, with the history of the world, the various countries, a couple of maps thrown together, some bestiaries, some influential figures throughout the world's history, all that good shit?

I would say it’s probable. :) But first, more actual stories. I’ll contemplate side projects more closely when there are more books on the shelves.

[KiDisaster]

Yes! We’re looking to publish The Thorn of Emberlain before the end of 2015

YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS :commie:

I cannot wait.

[Rhom]

Thorn of Emberlain cover revealed.

Meh.

The cover for LoLL (both versions) were truly amazing. This is standard unimaginative fantasy.

[JamieM]

I pretty much agree, faceless Knights just doesn't say Gentleman Bastard, for me.

[Underfoot]

Yeah, not blown away by that cover. Not a hatchet in sight, either :(

[3CityApache]

And what about these two novellas, that were supposed to be a bridge between RoT and ToE? Are they going to be published before ToE or not?

[Calibandar]

Looks like November/December is what they're aiming for then. For us it's wait and see until we get confirmation.

But the announcement that they expecty publication this year and the cover release at least shows they are very confident.

[a free shadow]

I pretty much agree, faceless Knights just doesn't say Gentleman Bastard, for me.

Don't the knights look immediately uncomfortable though? :ninja: As if they don't know what to do with their swords and their arms, suffocating under the mail, just standing there :laugh: As if they are regular bastardly impostors.

I do agree that the first cover (and probably the third) were much much greater though...

[Brendan Moody]

I would be more confident about the cover as a sign the book is imminent if the cover of The Republic of Thieves hadn't been unveiled in May 2010. But it's certainly good that 2015 isn't off the table yet.