The Lies of Locke Lamora Read-Along, Part 3

Beginning the Don Salvara Game by TolmanCotton

Lynchmob unite!

Hey everyone, it's that time again. No, not bath time (though things are a bit ripe in the Awful Review house). It's Lies of Locke Lamora Read-Along, week 3! And that means that the other incredible bloggers that started this hot mess of awesome gave me the keys to the ferrari and looked the other way. Vegas, baby!

Quick Reminder: Week 3 covers chapter five thru the end of Interlude “The Half Crown War,” so if you haven't read that far, get your nose in that book before you start peeking at my tasty questions.

Quick Reminder the Second: I'll be trying to add everyone's reviews to this post in a nice happy list. However, my wife just got called into work, which means I've got the kids (not all that different, since I have the kids every day, but unexpected nonetheless). So, it might take me a bit to catch up. If you want to add your link in the comments, that should help things a LOT.

Now that we've got that out of the way, here are this week's questions. Enjoy!

1. This section is where we finally get to sneak a peek at the magic in The Gentleman Bastard sequence. From what we read, what are your initial impressions of the magic Lynch is using? Is there any way that Locke and Company would be able to get around the Bondsmage's powers?

2. Not a question, but an area for rampant speculation: If you want to take a stab at who you think the Grey King might be, feel free to do it here.

2.5 (since 2 wasn't really a question) Anyone see the Nazca thing coming? Anyone? Do you think there are more crazy turns like this in store for the book? Would you like to speculate about them here? (yes, yes you would)

3. When Locke says "Nice bird, arsehole," I lose it. EVERY TIME. And not just because I have the UK version of the book and the word arsehole is funnier than asshole. Have there been any other places in the books so far where you found yourself laughing out loud, or giggling like a crazy person on the subway?

4. By the end of this reading section, have your opinions changed about how clever the Bastards are? Do you still feel like they're "cleverer than all the rest?" Or have they been decidedly outplayed by the Grey King and his Bondsmage?

5. I imagine that you've probably read ahead, since this was a huge cliffhanger of an ending for the "present" storyline, but I'll ask this anyway: Where do you see the story going from here, now that the Grey King is thought to be dead?

6. What do you think of the characters Scott Lynch has given us so far? Are they believable? Real? Fleshed out? If not, what are they lacking?

7. Now that you've seen how clever Chains is about his "apprenticeships," why do you think he's doing all of this? Does he have an endgame in sight? Is there a goal he wants them to achieve, or is it something more emotional like revenge?




MY ANSWERS

1. In my first read-through, I would have answered that Locke would probably find a way. I mean, otherwise there's not really much of a novel, is there?

2. Since I know, I'll tell you who the Grey King isn't. He isn't Bug. There ya go. Major spoilers there.

2.5. Once the whole Nazca thing went down, I started to realize (to a small degree) that no one was off-limits. The situation suddenly felt a lot more dangerous for Locke and Co.

3. Far too many to count! The other one that brings a maniacal grin to my face, hasn't happened yet, though, so I'll wait until next week. Oh! I almost forgot the part where they climb down the tower. Yeah, that part gets me every time as well.

4. The first read-through, I was shocked. They got played, and they got played bad. I had really started to think that they'd find a way out of everything, but they Nazca....yeah.

5. No comment, except to say that the first time I was far too busy devouring pages to think about things like "the future."

6. I love Lynch's characters. If I had to fault them in any way, I'd say that for me the Sanza twins just seem a little too similar, and not quite filled out enough for me to be 100% invested in them. The same goes for Bug. It seems like Jean and Locke got a little better treatment as characters up to this point in the novel, that's for sure.

7. Pure speculation, but I think Chains simply wanted to create a new brand of thieves, to have a legacy as someone that created the greatest group of con-men in the history of a world that hadn't had many con-men to that point.


Well, have a great weekend, everyone! Also, check back at 10:30 or so (EST) for the first of three posts called Thoughts on Scott, where an author gives his opinion of what makes Scott Lynch's writing so great.