Red Seas Under Red Skies read along [first part]

In case you haven't followed the first part of this read along on The Lies of Locke Lamora, let me tell you, you missed something.
But it's not too late!
Here we are again, reading and answering questions about the second part of this awesome series, Red Seas Under Red Skies.
Care to join?
All the details are on the Little Red Reviewer blog, so take a book and join the fun!

'Fuck me with a poleaxe!'

(Locke's best insult ever.)




Four days late... what a shitty way to start such an awesome read along. I hope you'll forgive me for this terrible attitude (for my defense, we had a bloody long weekend in Europe and I was too lazy tired to take care of blogging matters). And see, I'm already swearing! Really Locke, is that your bad influence staining my beautiful language again?!
Oh well, I guess it's mostly me. Whatever, let's start with the first part of a 5 week goodness with my favorite thieves EVER.
If you haven't read the book yet, I suggest you start now (here's a nice teaser in case you're not convinced).

'I take some of it back,' he said. 'You might still be a lying, cheating, low-down, greedy, grasping, conniving, pocket-picking son of a bitch.'
'Thanks,' said Locke.

1. The Sinspire. It looks like our heroes (can they really be called that?) find themselves in search of a way into an unbeatable vault. Do you think they have what it takes to make it happen?
Of course they are our heroes! Well, mine at least. And yes, they most surely have what it takes to make it happen, but that's not going to be easy. Well, Mr Lynch wouldn't bring us 600 pages of goodies for them to get a pick, open the vault, get rich and retire in some boring house on the countryside. There's gonna be action! Drama! Unexpected twits of horrible events that will scar them for life! Err... well, you know, the usual. Is it so wrong to like seeing them suffer?


2. Anyone want to guess how they're going to make it happen?
You know I suck at guessing. Plus, I already read the book, and at the end I was all "what the fuck?!" and completly amazed by the turn of events. Whatever I could guess would sound crappy after that.
I've been wondering quite a lot about the "pirates" theme of the book, since the beginning is completely off track, and it's really nice to see the story develop from another direction than the one expected.


3. It's a little different this time around, with us just being focused on Locke and Jean. Is anyone else missing the rest of the Bastards as much as I am?
I miss them, but somehow not so much. I think Jean and Locke have always been the stars of the story, and though the death of the others pained me (A LOT), I don't really miss their presence now. I am glad that we get to see and understand more about those two, about this special bond that links them, and how they kind of need each other to go on. It's more personal to have only 2 main characters, I guess, even though Locke still remains the head of the small gang after all.
Oh, let me throw a nice little quote there, because I just love how they bitch together all the time:

'I like the cores,' said Jean sulkily. 'All the little crunchy bits.'
'Goats eat the gods-damned crunchy bits.'
'You're not my mother.'
'Well, true. Your mother would be ugly.'

4. I love the section where Jean starts to build a new guild of thieves. It really shows just how well trained and tough he is. Do you think the Bastards will end up training others along the way again like Bug?
I personnally think that this whole "let's train a new gang" was his way to cope with grief and sadness from seeing Locke drunk and devastated. Jean needs to do something all the time, and it was his occupation for a while, until he decided to shake his friend back to reality. I don't really see them forming a new gang... first of all, Locke seems to have a very limited supply of acceptance regarding living with other people, and he probably can't fill the space of his lost brothers with anyone else. Plus, too painful in case he loses the new ones again. Having each other seems to be a handful for them already!


5. For those of you looking for Sabetha, we still haven't spotted her yet. Anyone else chomping at the bit to see the love of Locke's life?
I can't remember when I gave up, but after the first couple chapters I think you realize it's not going to happen there. Damn this suspense!! But I've read the book 3 excerpt and she's in it. FINALLY. My patience is being horribly stretched, as you might guess (and endure yourself).


6. It's early on, but the Bastards are already caught up in plots that they didn't expect. How do you think their new "employer" is going to make use of them (The Archon, that is)?
Oh he's gonna fuck them up, alright. First the kidnapping, then the Bondsmagi disgusting business, and then the poison? Darlings, you're in it up your neck. The archon will be the biggest thorn in their foot for the rest of this book!


Alright, I'll be back in a few days for part two, and on time, I swear! Check other reviews from the Little Red Reviewer and join if you want, it's plenty fun!

Posted in: read along,Scott Lynch