Poudelivre

I have regretted things in my life, but never have I regretted picking up that copy of The lies of Locke Lamora. I remember the first time I heard about it and I remember the first time I held it in my hands and I very, very clearly remember reading the words “This is the first book in the Gentleman Bastard sequence” and my first thought was “Oh no, I’ve stumbled over another book series.” I’ve eaten those words five times over since I read that first book.

The third book in the series of the Gentleman Bastards is The Republic of Thieves. After just about getting out of Tal Verrar with their lives still intact (well, Jean’s anyway), Locke and Jean takes to sea once again. In the beginning of the third book they’ve settled down in Lashain while Locke waits for the poison to finally kill him and Jean is off scouring the city for a physiker who can save his terminal friend. It turns out, no one can. Locke has all but given up hope and even Jean is losing his when they receive a surprise visit from a stranger who says she can save Locke. And she only has one condition for doing so. That they go with her to Karthain and work for the Bondsmagi in what’s called the five-year game. It's nothing they can turn down, so off they go to the one place they've always wanted to avoid. Surprises await Locke in Karthain, surprises that bring back both pleasant and unpleasant memories from his past.

Scott Lynch is a master in writing delicately, every word, every sentence, every moment in his books is well thought through and, if you look close enough, everything is hidden messages and secrets for future stories. From the very first book, there’s been a strange female character which you’ve known by name and in brief, fluttering moments, but no more. This was the book where the story about Locke and his love for the mysterious Sabetha was revealed, and in quite some fashion too. I was eager to get to know her, to learn who she was and what had happened between her and Locke to cast such a dark light over him. She turned out to be much more than I ever thought and a really wonderful character, one I’m glad Lynch let the reader in on.

The Gentleman Bastards books are written in a very specific way. First you have the now-story and then you have the Interlude, which lights up the past, things from when Locke was a child still living in Shades’ Hill, his life with Chains and his development from picking pockets to being a full feathered false facer. I love the Interludes; they illuminate dark corners and give so much to the story. You get to know things from past and present in one big wave of exhilarating schemes and crazy games. The Interludes in The Republic of Thieves was no disappointment.

Like I’ve said before, I’ve never regretted reading the Lies of Locke Lamora, it, and the following two Gentleman Basterds books remains my favourite reads of all time. There are no books like them, no stories even close to them. They are amazing in every aspect and I could praise Scott Lynch for an hour or two and that still wouldn’t be enough. What I will say, though, is that these books, these stories, these characters, have a very welcome way of sucking me right in and not letting go of me. A sentence is all that it takes, and then I’m lost from the outside world and all that exists is Locke and Jean and their next game, the next opponent, the next obstacle. I cannot wait for the fourth book, I will long for every hour of every day until I finally have it in my hands. And I know it will be worth it.