The Lies of Locke Lamora

[cynara_linnaea]

It came so highly recommended. Just finished it, and I have to say I was completely underwhelmed. Felt utterly like run-of-the-mill pseudo-medieval fantasy to me. No fantastic animals, and it was set in Expy!Venice instead of Expy!RegularContinentalEurope, but other than that, it was just a few steps above J.V. Jones' "Book of Words" trilogy

Comments

[dr_whom]

I really liked it, but the heist/caper/con genre is one of my favorite genres. I think a fondness for that genre is a necessary prerequisite for The Lies of Locke Lamora.

By the way, I just want to state here for the record how disappointed I am that Lynch didn't title the sequels The Life of Locke Lamora, The Love of Locke Lamora, &c. It seems like a missed opportunity.

[dr_whom]

Also: wow, I know I read the Book of Words trilogy, like, when it came out, and I remember absolutely nothing about it. And I can't quite tell which side of the line of self-parody the title "Book of Words" is on.

[cynara_linnaea]

You're probably right about the heist/caper/con fondness. I sometimes enjoy it, but it's never something I would actively seek out. I can see how it would be evaluated differently in that genre than in the fantasy lens.

I enjoyed reading the "Book of Words" trilogy in the early 00s, but even back then I knew it wasn't brilliantly original material. I recall the prose being serviceable, but nothing special.

The recommender of TLoLL told me that Patrick Rothfuss had said that TLoLL was better than his own stuff, and since I associate Rothfuss with really amazing prose, that was what I went in expecting. Kvothe definitely has his moments as a con artist, but it's not what keeps me reading the Kingkiller Chronicles. I also don't always like Kvothe or enjoy him as a protagonist - but Rothfuss' prose keeps me writing. Lynch is just not in the same weight class when it comes to prose.

[dr_whom]

I don't seek out heist/caper/con novels either-I seek out con-artist movies and fantasy novels, so finding a fantasy novel that's also a con-artist story was a pleasant surprise.

("What are you reading?" "Book of Words". "…Yep, I guess that's what you're reading all right.")