Paperback, 640 pages
English language
Published Nov. 7, 2007 by Gollancz.
After a brutal battle with the underworld that nearly destroyed him, Locke Lamora and his trusted sidekick, Jean, fled the island city of their birth and landed on the exotic shores of Tal Verrar to nurse their wounds. But even at this westernmost edge of civilization, they can't rest for long---and they are soon back doing what they do best: stealing from the undeserving rich and pocketing the proceeds for themselves.
This time, however, they have targeted the grandest prize of all: the Sinspire, the most exclusive and heavily guarded gambling house in the world. Its nine floors attract the wealthiest clientele - and to rise to the top, one must impress with good credit, amusing behavior...and excruciatingly impeccable play. For there is one cardinal rule, enforced by Requin, the house's cold-blooded master: it is death to cheat at any game at the Sinspire.Brazenly undeterred, Locke and Jean have orchestrated …
After a brutal battle with the underworld that nearly destroyed him, Locke Lamora and his trusted sidekick, Jean, fled the island city of their birth and landed on the exotic shores of Tal Verrar to nurse their wounds. But even at this westernmost edge of civilization, they can't rest for long---and they are soon back doing what they do best: stealing from the undeserving rich and pocketing the proceeds for themselves.
This time, however, they have targeted the grandest prize of all: the Sinspire, the most exclusive and heavily guarded gambling house in the world. Its nine floors attract the wealthiest clientele - and to rise to the top, one must impress with good credit, amusing behavior...and excruciatingly impeccable play. For there is one cardinal rule, enforced by Requin, the house's cold-blooded master: it is death to cheat at any game at the Sinspire.Brazenly undeterred, Locke and Jean have orchestrated an elaborate plan to lie, trick, and swindle their way up the nine floors...straight to Requin's teeming vault. Under the cloak of false identities, they meticulously make their climb - until they are closer to the spoils than ever.
But someone in Tal Verrar has uncovered the duo's secret. Someone from their past who has every intention of making the impudent criminals pay for their sins. Now it will take every ounce of cunning to save their mercenary souls. And even that may not be enough.
Selvittyään pinteestä Locke ja Jean huomasivat joutuneensa pinteeseen... Mainio veijaritarina mestarivarkaista, jotka pelaavat pitkää peliä ja kuin ihmeen kaupalla selviävät kaikesta. Juoni on niin monimutkainen, ettei liian väsyneenä kannata lukea.
Another Locke Lamora adventure, another city, another heist. Terrorizing a new city is always a thrill, and Locke and Jean - with their new identities, naturally - are about to pull a big one. They are almost ready to spring the trap, when everything goes wrong, all wrong.
In other words, the adventures are new but the structure stays the same as in the previous book. The main character is as lovable as ever, Lynch's writing is as engrossing as ever and I thoroughly enjoyed every page of the book and couldn't wait to get back to reading it after every mandatory break.
Having said that, the novel could've been tighter. Even though I enjoyed the whole thing, the story probably would've been better if you had removed 200 pages from the middle and added them into the end. Now we have elaborate schemes, multiple sidesteps and finally a terrible …
Another Locke Lamora adventure, another city, another heist. Terrorizing a new city is always a thrill, and Locke and Jean - with their new identities, naturally - are about to pull a big one. They are almost ready to spring the trap, when everything goes wrong, all wrong.
In other words, the adventures are new but the structure stays the same as in the previous book. The main character is as lovable as ever, Lynch's writing is as engrossing as ever and I thoroughly enjoyed every page of the book and couldn't wait to get back to reading it after every mandatory break.
Having said that, the novel could've been tighter. Even though I enjoyed the whole thing, the story probably would've been better if you had removed 200 pages from the middle and added them into the end. Now we have elaborate schemes, multiple sidesteps and finally a terrible rush to get everything nice and tidy by the end of the book. At least one of the sidesteps could've been a novella or even a novel of its own, now it seemed a bit half-baked.
All this still means that I'll be continuing with [b:The Republic of Thieves|2890090|The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3)|Scott Lynch|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406961069s/2890090.jpg|2916344] soon so that I'm ready for [b:The Thorn of Emberlain|8074907|The Thorn of Emberlain (Gentleman Bastard #4)|Scott Lynch|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1425482518s/8074907.jpg|12787416] when it's released next summer...
