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: #13155 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

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

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 ...

About the Author
Scott Lynch was born in 1978 in St Paul, Minnesota, where he still lives. In addition to being a freelance writer for various role-playing game companies, he has done all the usual jobs writers put in their bios: dishwasher, waiter, web designer, marketing writer, office manager and short-order cook.

Customer Reviews

Simply outstanding
The Lies of Locke Lamora and the sequel weave a quite remarkable story. Reading other reviews will give you the story background and wonderful it is too. More remarkable is that they mark the start of this authors career.I just want to convince you to read them.Scott Lynch has created a tale that is totally engrossing, full of interesting credible characters and lots of wicked humour which help ease the less humorous episodes that are there too. These books should not be speed read, they really should be savoured because they'll be over soon enough as you'll have great trouble putting them down! They are amoung the handful of special books that I would unreservedly recommend to any of my friends whatever their genre preference. O.K the first few chapters read a bit like an Oliver Twist rewrite[ not a critisism], which in itself was hugely enjoyable but then things change and the story becomes something much bigger... I can see me returning to read these superb books again soon which is something I very seldom do. They are wonderfully written, I just can't believe this "new author" writes this well. I eagerly await the third book and have it pre-ordered along with the book of two novellas which go into more depth on a couple of the adventures,or tie loose ends, not that I felt anything was missing in the first place. I just can't get enough of this kind of writing.I read a lot of books due to travelling and working abroad and have seldom enjoyed a book as much as this and the sequel
I would congratulate Mr.Lynch for producing these remarkable books, they are truly outstanding and works to be very proud of.

Really 4 1/2 stars
This is a great book and by the end I was totally immersed in the story. The reason then I gave it four and a half is that it was extremely slow in the beginning and I needed all my patience to continue. But if you are able to push past this small point the book rewards you well worth its with complex characters, an extremely interesting world and a great plot.

Am now eagerly awaiting the sequel.

Life and times of the Artful Dodger
First of all, what a great read! It is a fresh, original and welcome addition to the ever-rising bar of fantasy fiction.
It did take me a while to get into this book, and at one point i was seriously wondering what all of the fuss was about (around the 100 page mark), but then suddenly i found myself carring about the characters, getting that 'just one more page' feeling, and that's when you know a book has done its job, (the outrageous 'shark duelling' might have had something to do with it!).
This is a strangely effective brew of ingredients: Oliver Twist with Oliver Twist taken out - in fact more like the life and times of the Artful Dodger, with a series of scams thrown in to rival the Sting, Ocean's Eleven and Hustle, and then a curiously 'Godfather/Soprano's' like gangland underworld that uses knives, crossbows and hatchets instead of machine guns!
All of this is thrown together within a city which is reminiscent of medieval Italy, except that large portions of the city are made of glass!
As with any book, for me it comes down to the characters, and the author has put together a fine ensemble cast - loveable rogues as the 'leading men,' plus a fine array of supporting characters and 'bad guys' - the Falconer and the Spider are stand-out.
Also it is expertly written, with the tension ratcheted up throughout the book;timely 'interludes' help to do this, while also providing both depth of character and dragging you deeper into carring about the central characters.
The end wraps things up very well, in fact a little too well - there are no major unanswered questions or cliff-hangers left as carrots for book 2.
The world-building is not as detailed as it could be, but i got the impression that this was intentional, leaving out the almost obligatory maps that seem to be part of the course with most fanatasy novels (personally i like maps - bit of a geek, i know, but aren't most of us that eat up our fantasy fiction?).
Oh, also, i must mention that this book is seriously funny! Dialogue is sharp and witty, although a little 'sweary' - not one i'd read to my 11 year old son!
Overall a fantastic read, written well, with engaging, rounded characters. I was most definitely entertained - i've given four stars instead of five because of my initial 'what's all the fuss about' sensation, but maybe i'm being too picky - it is only that there is so much good fantasy comming out of late that it is possible to make such picky remarks - a few years ago and this would have been stand out five star stuff. I'd like to give it 4.5, but amazon don't do halves.