This book is a brilliant concept from two brilliant authors. Like others have said before me, it reads like a Monty Python rendition of the 1976 cult This book is a brilliant concept from two brilliant authors. Like others have said before me, it reads like a Monty Python rendition of the 1976 cult classic 'The Omen". This made me extremely excited to read the book. I've grown up a fan of Monty Python, The Omen, Terry Pratchett and I've only heard good things about Gaiman (yes he is on my TBR shortlist).
So why am I only rating it three stars? Good question! The simplest answer would be that I took the number of times I almost DNF'd and divided it by two and then substracted that number from the stars. But that would be silly. Still I did almost DNF it about 4 times. One reason was that I thought I'd read some light comedy next to a heavier book, but this book requires attention with all it's puns and layers of comedy. Which is actually quite great as soon as you embrace it.
The most important reason for almost DNF-ing was a slow mid-section. This is where I discovered that brilliant humour without any seeming plot progression is not for me. Yet I had faith in these authors and it was rewarded. But I think the uneventful pacing somewhere midway was literally somewhat 'mid'. As much as I loved the four horseman, Adam and Agnes Nutter, I found the witchfinders for the most part tedious tangents.
Still, generally it was brilliant, I had a lot of laughs. Truly recommend if you like this premise, but .make sure you can give it full attention....more
I think this was a great debut novel for Daniel Greene, so from that perspective a 4-star. From my perspective as a fantasy reader and in comparison tI think this was a great debut novel for Daniel Greene, so from that perspective a 4-star. From my perspective as a fantasy reader and in comparison to my other reviews a 3-star novella.
I liked the fact that we get a full story which gets sufficiently resolved. We get from a murder mystery to a conspiracy, with deduction, action and plot twists. The ending was slightly ambiguous, which was not for me. Looking at the description of the next book it is unsure whether this story really has any significance to it, except for a bit of context and yet it keeps a bit of a loose end. Who knows, I'll find out in the next book, but not having a clue leaves me somewhat unsatisfied.
I think the world is quite interesting, although some world-building is missing. Still, the societal structure which is pivotal to the series, I believe, is very well introduced. I think character work and world-building read natural. The thing I really did not like in the writing was the foreshadowing with phrases like 'this would be the last...' something. But that only happened twice.
All in all a solid debut, that will require some readers to be a bit forgiving for that, and personally looking forward to read the rest of the series....more
When you read a hyped up book and it meets every expectation. I did this one on audiobook and I could not imagine just reading it to be better.
The LieWhen you read a hyped up book and it meets every expectation. I did this one on audiobook and I could not imagine just reading it to be better.
The Lies of Locke Lamora is often described as a heist with a nice bromance, which is true, but it is so much more than that. It is also a story of revenge, and a history of Camorr. The city of Camorr is bustling with trade, filled with riched and powerful nobles and merchants but also infested with crime in every way shape and form. And it is well organized. Capa Barsavi is a fascinating ruler of the underworld, similar to a godfather. But all of that is about to turn on its head.
In this book we intimately get to know Locke and his gentleman bastard comrades. Intermittently we get to see him grow up as a kid in Camorr and as the adult leader of this thieving group. And both perspectives are extremely well-paced. There is a lot of action, we constantly find out new fascinating things about the world, while the plot ever moves forward. And the plot is intricate. Different players in this book design schemes with layer upon layer of deceit and diversion.
I cannot give anything else but the highest praise. Read it!...more
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