Saturday 17 March 2012

The Lies of Locke Lamora read along
[part two]

Dear fellow readers! This week is the second week of the Lies of Locke Lamora read along hosted by the Little Red Reviewer and her comrades, and it's the first time I am joining one! Every week we'll read around 120-140 pages of the book and every Saturday, each participant will reply to a bunch of secret questions and discuss around it.
Like the book? Good!
Want to have fun? Same here!
Groupie of Scott Lynch but afraid to tell? It's ok, we won't say anything...
Join the read along or come check the discussion every week!


Last week was a blast! I didn't know what to expect but it was fun, and I loved going through everyone's post to see how they replied. I am so glad that almost everyone loved the book so far... if you want to see last week's questions, they're here. Otherwise, let's start with this week's discussion!

1. Do you think Locke can pull off his scheme of playing a Midnighter who is working with Don Salvara to capture the Thorn of Camorr? I mean, he is now playing two roles in this game - and thank goodness for that costume room the Gentlemen Bastards have!
Ah, well, I think I was kind of suspicious of his talent at the time—it's somewhat so big that you wonder how no one spots his devious scheme, but Locke is so good that you know, if someone can make it happen, that would be him. That said, I am very much convinced that he won't succeed, because that will create new twists, new drama and new work for Locke to think about, so all the best for us in the end!

2. Are you digging the detail the author has put into the alcoholic drinks in this story?
I think it's part of the thieves atmosphere, the dark mood of the city and all that. Lynch is already really good with details, great ones as well as (kinda) boring ones, so him being so fond of describing alcohol (which is quite omnipresent in those people's lives) makes it all the more real.

3. Who is this mysterious lady Gentlemen Bastard Sabetha and what does she mean to Locke?
She's his sweetheart, of course! He's just so cute at being grumpy and heartbroken because she's in a faraway country and he misses her. That guy, master of treachery and what-else, is unable to think of (or do despicable things to) other women. I think that makes him all the more charming.

4. Are you as creeped out over the use of Wraithstone to create Gentled animals as I am?
Totally creeped out. I wish someone would bloody do something, stop this nonsense!! Locke, go and save the world, please!

5. I got a kick out of child Locke's first meeting with Capa Barsavi and his daughter Nazca, which was shortly followed up in the story by Barsavi granting adult Locke permission to court his daughter! Where do you think that will lead? Can you see these two together?
Nazca is such a lovely child! I laughed so much when she declared: "He's a very ugly little boy, Father." How little do you know about how charming he'll become! But since Locke is how he is, and with Sabetha being the Thorn in his heart (wink), I think they'll stay good "friends". They don't have the temperament for anything beyond that.

6. Capa Barsavi is freaked out over rumors of The Gray King and, in fact, us readers are privy to a gruesome torture scene. The Gray King is knocking garristas off left and right. What do you think that means?
A total disaster. Beyond the scheme Locke is working on, this Grey King business seems to be the red line of the story, the matter that will keep amplifying until it becomes terrible, and people have to do something drastic about it. I fear a little for our dear Gentlemen Bastards...

7. In the Interlude: The Boy Who Cried for a Corpse, we learn that Father Chains owes an alchemist a favor, and that favor is a fresh corpse. He sets the boys to figuring out how to provide one, and they can't 'create' the corpse themselves. How did you like Locke's solution to this conundrum?
This, this was the BEST ever trick for me. So young and already so cunning, knowing how to use his money, his charms, and always getting more that what he bargained for. He a genius little prick, what else can I say.
"Bugger me bloody with a boathook," as Father Chains says so well, this boy soon will be unstoppable!


Check out other discussion on the Little Red Reviewer blog, and let's meet again next week, for more fun still to come!

9 commentaires:

I think you have good cause to fear for the Gentlemen Bastards.. You can definitely feel the tension increasing and there's just this horrible feeling that something is going to go horribly wrong!
Lynn :D

I know I have, and it sucks, because I'm really so fond of them... the tension is still light but present enough to start dreading for what will happen next. Arg!

Not succeed in the plot against Don Salvara?! Oh ye of little faith! Of course he should succeed, but not before it gets really, really difficult. ;)

Locke does seem really grumpy that Sabetha is so far away. I wonder if that is by her choice, or some last, long-standing mission of Chains'?

I think Nazca and Locke would make a great crime team, but i think they'd make a crappy romantic couple. I feel bad for Nazca, I bet all the other garristas are too afraid of her father to ask her out on a date!

I find Locke's vulnerability when it comes to Sabetha so. . . so adorable. I feel like the chandler that he scammed money and candles from. . . oh, poor child, what can i do to help you feel better? that toast at dinner scene had me in tears.

HAHAHA "Bugger me bloody with a boathook" was one of the (seems like) thousands of unforgettable quotes so far. I was literally repeating it out loud in the car wondering if there is ever a time when I could use it. So glad you fit it in!

@Stephanie: I know, shame on me! But he'll manage something in the end, I'm sure of that ;)

@Nrlymrtl: I think Chains sent her away, maybe because she was even more troublesome than Locke... but then, maybe she decided to stay there, who knows?

@Rehead: Yep, the crime team kind, not couple one. Some guys must love the bossy type, I hope!
No tears for me but he sure is sweet, handling the pain of his lost love, and I'm also glad that means no mushy romance for us there!

@Jeremy: I think I should start a notebook of famous "insults" coming for the Gentlemen Bastards series. I'm always drawn to them, what can I say... this devious mind of mine!

Just wondering what you think will happen to the GBs now that Grey King is slowly taking over. Do you think they can manage to escape unnoticed?

I think it's not going to be pretty, if Capa Barsavi is so freaked out then even the genius team will probably be in deep trouble if the Grey Kind goes after them.

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