The Lies of Locke Lamora

The Lies of Locke Lamora is a romp of a heist story. Set in an engaging world rife with precursor technology, it could easily be described as Lupin III meets fantasy. It follows the exploits of one Locke Lamora and his merry band of Gentlemen Bastards as they work toward an epic heist in a city where the law and the lawless have a sort of erstwhile agreement to get along. We shall simply say that they should like to turn this agreement on its head.

Scott Lynch was catapulted to popularity with this, the first in a series of seven novels to follow Locke though some fifteen years of adventure. Widely popular and highly recommended among fantasy fans, we had to see what all the fuss was about. Besides, some of our favourite things are heist stories, gritty fantasy, and precursor technology. Lies has all three wrapped into one.

This is a solid book. Typically, when someone describes a novel as "fun," it's code for "poorly written." Such couldn't be farther from the truth with The Lies of Locke Lamora. The strength of the story is the events themselves, and the writing is more than adequate to the challenge of presenting them. It's a harrowing, gritty, suspenseful, often sardonic ride with a satisfying ending, set in a rich world reminiscent of the kind of setting one would use for a Burning Wheel game.