Product Description

They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he's part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumor. And they are wrong on every count. Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich - they're the only ones worth stealing from - but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves: the Gentleman Bastards. Together their domain is the city of Camorr. Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers, it's a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the city. But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power. A challenge from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. The Grey King is coming. A man would be well advised not to be caught between Capa Barsavi and The Grey King. Even such a master of the sword as the Thorn of Camorr. As for Locke Lamora . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #162900 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

ABTA magazine
"Excellent fantasy about young grifters known as the Gentleman Bastards, out only for themselves."

Review
"Exports the wit and suspense of a cleverly constructed crime novel into an exotic realm of fantasy and the result is engagingly entertaining. A remarkably stylish debut." (Lisa Tuttle THE TIMES )

"Like an episode of the BBC's 'Hustle' on speed, The Lies of Locke Lamora layers a series of daring scams, one on top of the other, in a complex and highly entertaining mix of magic, manipulation and mayhem. Great stuff." (Sandy Auden SFX )

'Like Locke Lamora himself, Scott Lynch's novel oozes charm, ability, guile, flair, courage, cheek, humour, brevity and bravery in equal measure. It's an awesome debut, powerful and dangerous, romantic and relentless and it absolutely lives up to the hype. The Lies of Locke Lamora is a novel you'll have to work very hard not to be utterly blown away by.' (John Berllyne SF Revu )

" A richly developed fantasy novel, with a nice line in earthy dialogue and many instances of grotesque violence. Lies of Locke Lamora is just like it's anti-hero - bold, witty and likely to catch you off guard." (DREAMWATCH )

"Excellent fantasy about young grifters known as the Gentleman Bastards, out only for themselves." (ABTA magazine )

"Grabs you by the nethers and tears through a ride of intrigue, deceit and daring deeds. In short, a ripping yarn from a major new fantasy-writing talent." (THE LINCOLNSHIRE ECHO )

"Lynch is a virtuoso plotter, who plays fair with us and keeps us bemused at every turn. For once deserving every bit of the praise heaped on it." (Roz Kaveney TIME OUT )

"A surprisingly skillful swashbuckling debut signals the next big thing in fantasy writing. The Lies of Locke Lamora stands up to the hype." (EDGE magazine )

Synopsis
They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he's part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumor. And they are wrong on every count. Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich - they're the only ones worth stealing from - but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves: the Gentleman Bastards. Together their domain is the city of Camorr. Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers, it's a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the city. But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power. A challenge from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. The Grey King is coming. A man would be well advised not to be caught between Capa Barsavi and The Grey King.

Even such a master of the sword as the Thorn of Camorr. As for Locke Lamora ...

Customer Reviews

Hmmm...just didn't grip me. 3-4 stars
After reading all the 5 star reviews on here, I felt it was only fair to give my point of view as it differs somewhat! Usually I buy a book off Amazon and agree with the norm, ie if the majority says 5 stars, I usually find myself agreeing. Not this time!

First of all, let me start by saying that yes, this is a good book. Exciting things happen. There are bad guys, there are good guys....both get hurt (frequently and in various ways), and it isn't easy for the 'right' thing to come about: people have to plan and slog and work at it to get what they want and right some wrongs. In that sense, it is a good book; well written, and you can tell the author has taken time to build his world before he started writing it.

HOWEVER, (and it is a big however)....there is something wrong with this book that I just can't put my finger on! Again, let me explain something...I am an avid reader. I LOVE books; once I've found a good one, nothing can tear me away! I love to find a new world and get lost in it, falling in love with new characters, crying as old one die, you name it. In fact, if the book/series/world the author has created grabs me enough, I will hunt don any extra information surrounding the book/books, eg extracts on websites, short stories, interviews etc. I love reading and I love to love new books!

Anyway: I bought this book for a holiday read, because I thought the front cover was good and it sounded familier enough not to be too challenging, but different enough to be exciting. Instead, I found myself...bored. I put the book down, many times. I even read other books whilest on one of my 'breaks' from The Lies of Locke Lamora. This almost never happens to me! I found that I almost had to force myself to pick it back up to find out what happened at the end, even though to be honest I just didn't care about most of the characters and what happened to them...

Another big signal that all is not quite right with this book is the fact that for 3 minutes or so when I first came across it on Amazon, I couldn't not remember why the name seemed familier....because I'd forgotten that I'd already read this book!...my holiday was in Easter. Of this year. Enough said!

Yes, this is still a good read, and maybe if im bored and really desperate, I'll get the sequals out from the library (one reviewer mentioned that there is meant to be 7 books in this series). The plot does twist and turn and take you on a ride, hence the 4 stars I've given it. I'm sorry though, it just doesn't do it for me....

Excellent
I find that I take a long time to get through Scott Lynch's books. I suspect this is because there is so much happening in them. There's no excess description here, not a word wasted. Every single character is a work of art, and the plot is complex but carefully structured. There's a very realistic feel to this beautifully described world, so much so that I am surprised to emerge from the novel and find myself living in a world without elderglass towers shark-filled canals.

This novel is character-driven and very emotional, and I dare you not to get sucked in from page one.

superb book
Locke Lamora leads a gang of legendeary confidence tricksters (the Gentleman Bastards), in Camorr, a souped-up Renaissance Venice where the lagoons are populated with killer fish and botany is all about creating elaborate poisons or cornering the wine market.
The Lies of Locke Lamora is a dark and glittering gem of a book, written with a delightfully ironic, foul-mouthed tone. It's entirely gripping and I can't wait to read the sequel.