Signor Finzione

I already own each of those books twice . . . but that boxset is BEAUTIFUL.

Some would say too many; I would say not enough!

I don't think I'll be able to. I'm still looking for a job at the moment, so money is tight, and train fares/petrol for that kind of journey are expensive. I'm actually more gutted about missing Rothfuss than Lynch, but I'm sad I'll be missing both. Hopefully there'll be a similar opportunity in the future, either nearer to home or at a time when I'm not a pauper. If you go you'll have to let me know how it went!

Thank you - I'm looking forward to reading it!

The only thing I really hoard is my books - I've never thrown/given a book away in my entire life.

Thank you. I think Jean is my favourite side character; for me, their friendship is one of the best aspects of the books. (I especially love the on-going "I just have to keep you here . . . until Jean gets back!") Looking forward to Republic of Thieves, which is supposed to be full of more flashbacks that fill in the gaps (more Calo and Galdo!), although apparently it focuses on the Locke/Sabetha relationship more than anything else. That's very cheap! Especially considering the paperbacks are still the same price now as they were when I bought them 6 years ago. Although, both books are well worth whatever you pay for them IMO.

Bet you didn't . . . I'll stop pestering you or else you'll probably hate the books on sight.

Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch The Thorn of Camorr is said to be an unbeatable swordsman, a master thief, a friend to the poor, a ghost that walks through walls. Slightly built and barely competent with a sword, Locke Lamora is, much to his annoyance, the fabled Thorn. And while Locke does indeed steal from the rich (who else would be worth stealing from?), the poor never see a penny. All of Locke’s gains are strictly for himself and his tight-knit band of thieves: The Gentlemen B*stards. The capricious, colourful underworld of the ancient city of Camorr is the only home they’ve ever known. But now a clandestine war is threatening to tear it apart. Caught up in a murderous game, Locke and his friends are suddenly struggling just to stay alive . . . The Lies of Locke Lamora – the first instalment in the Gentlemen B*stard Sequence – belongs to that brilliant breed of fantasy that relies more on clever plotting, suspense and characterisation than on spectacular magic and obsessive world-building. It’s full to bursting with thieves and murderers, gangs and torturers, cons and disguises, swearing and revenge. And sharks. Plenty of sharks. The story follows a small band of thieves known as the Gentlemen B*stards as they initiate an elaborate confidence scheme on a wealthy couple. Despite months of planning, the scheme is soon jeopardised by a new crime boss known only as the Grey King. His arrival in the city – along with that of the powerful Bondsmage working for him – brings terror, blackmail and murder, and heralds the beginning of disaster for the Gentlemen B*stards. One of my favourite aspects of The Lies of Locke Lamora is the characters, who are morally grey yet somehow sympathetic. Locke, our main protagonist, is a thief, and yet at no point do we think of him as a ‘bad’ person: it’s a lifestyle he’s forced into at a very young age. The fact that he turns thieving into a fine art as he gets older is the novel’s main source of entertainment, and the author completely draws us into Locke’s elaborately clever and outrageous schemes. The rest of the Gentlemen B*stards are very likeable too – Bug is endearingly young, brave and desperate to prove himself, while the mischievous twins Calo and Galdo provide some amusing banter and friendly insults – but Jean Tannen is the only member of the group aside from Locke who is really fleshed out as an individual, mainly through the use of flashbacks. The author makes use of flashbacks and interludes very effectively, using them to reveal important parts of the mythology of Camorr, as well as to illustrate how the relationship between the central characters developed over the years. These interludes are interposed very frequently throughout the entire novel, and are used effectively to build tension and reveal certain things about the plot at strategic moments. They do occasionally meander in ways that diminish rather than heighten the suspense, but are mainly very relevant and interesting. The characters are complex and fascinating (Jean is as well-read and good at maths as he is deadly with his hatchets, while Locke himself alternates between the roles of Thorn, common thief and saviour of the city), the action is bloody and gripping, and the plot has more twists and turns than the tunnels under Shades Hill. What more can you ask for in a debut novel? My rating: 4.5/5 [Edited to put the ***s in - the site automatically changed 'Gentlemen B*stards' to 'Persons of Dubious Parentage' ]

Read it! Read it! Read it! Seriously. Read it. Please?

I know what you mean - I've had a fair few birthdays when I've ended up with stuff I didn't want despite asking specifically for certain things (not to sound ungrateful, but it really is annoying!). I don't mind knowing in advance what presents I'm getting either: I usually just send my mum/husband a link to my wishlist so that nothing can go wrong. Or, I just ask people for money/vouchers so I can go out and buy my own. Last month people mainly gave me money, and I had a great birthday going book shopping in town and online!

I enjoy books more when I read them together as a series - I don't think I've ever suffered from author burnout. The only time I ever regret reading them all at once is when I get to the end and think "but I want MORE! Why has it finished??" Yeah, it's sort of become more like Eastenders, hasn't it? The only time I ever experienced that was when I did Literature at uni (except I never wanted to go back to most of the authors I read ). I'd look at the reading list, groan, pick one up, read 20 pages, try the next one, read 20 pages, try the next one etc. It used to drive me mad because all the time I was thinking about the books I actually WANTED to read but didn't have the time to because I was being forced to read some arbitrary list of 'classic' b****cks. I guess you'd have the same thing when reading lots by the same author - it becomes a chore when you start thinking 'well, now I have to read the next in the series, and the next, and the next . . . ' I'll be very interested to hear what you think about the more recent Song of Ice and Fire books. Grimdawn? Grimlight? Grimcandle? Grimsummer? Grim . . . lamp?

Wow, you've been busy! Reading your review of the BFG brought back memories of when I used to re-read my Roald Dahl books again . . . and again . . . and again. My favourites were always George's Marvellous Medicine, The Twits and Fantastic Mr Fox. I can see how some of the made-up words in the BFG could be confusing! I can also see how Hagrid's accent would be confusing in Harry Potter: if you're not familiar with the dialect Rowling is representing it would be a bit of a struggle to figure out how it's supposed to sound (although I suppose it's easier now that the films have been made!) I read this Harry Potter book in primary school when I was 10 years old. I basically grew up with the series, and I love it to bits, but the Philosopher's Stone holds a special place in my heart. I must have read it about 20 times, and I totally agree with your 10/10 rating.

Thanks Steve, I'm glad you liked the review! How did I do with the spoilers? I'm so glad I re-read it and was able to appreciate how clever it is. It's used to good effect in Emperor, too! (That's not a spoiler because you've already guessed he'd follow the same format as the first two books!) There have apparently been lots of complaints about this scene - one of which prompted this blog post from him. Lots of readers have also whined about how Jorg seems to have undergone a personality change in this book: would you agree? He's also made it clear that there will be no more Broken Empire books after this trilogy - no sequels, no prequels, no spin-offs. I found this a bit upsetting.

Cutest damn kraken I've ever seen! You did make it pretty clear in your review that it's more about people's reaction to a crisis than the actual crisis/monsters themselves. No misrepresentation going on in this thread, don't you worry. I've just finished a Scott Lynch novel, so naturally people getting eaten to death by sea creatures is at the forefront of my brain - that's all. Well done for sticking with your list - congratulations in advance! This made me chuckle - what a sweet story.

I look forward to seeing what you think of Last Argument. (Am I the only person around here who likes to read all the books by an author at once? ) Interesting blogs there - I see Mark Lawrence still has his fascination with polls and charts and diagrams. You might be right - there's a group of newish authors that have been pushed to the forefront of modern dark fantasy (it's funny that they do all live in the same area), and the label 'grimdark' just happens to have become popular at about the same time. I suppose I associate Lawrence and Abercrombie with grimdark more because they're more dark and gritty on a continual level, whereas with Martin and Erikson it's more that there are dark moments amidst the rest of the story. And yet, there's plenty of humour all of these authors' books, especially Erikson and Abercrombie (not so much Martin's more recent stuff, but we won't get into that here . . .). I'm kind of going round in circles trying to explain myself, but I know what I mean in my head. Sorry if this is side-tracking your thread, Tim. I don't really know what I'm talking about, I just like a good discussion when other people actually read books I like. ETA: I love the idea of a scale going from Grimdusk to Grimdark, Steve. Genius! I think we should rate all our fantasy on this scale from now on.

Hi Bizzarebird and welcome. What kind of books do you usually like to read?

Hi Rachel . Welcome!

I'm glad you're still liking Abercrombie - didn't you just love the conclusion to their epic LOTR-style quest? It's hard to say why some people (myself included) think of Abercrombie as 'grimdark' but not Erikson et. al . . . maybe because Abercrombie is taking it to new levels? Maybe because his books are just so full of goddamn bathos and pessimism that there isn't much room for anything else? I agree it's been in existence for a long time (although personally I wouldn't have labelled Martin as belonging to it, despite him having his moments). Maybe you have a point, Tim - 'high' vs. 'low' fantasy - and Abercrombie belongs to 'low' fantasy (even though he has lots of high fantasy elements). I tend to associate 'grimdark' with an emphasis on the everyday, with lots of gritty (and often disgusting/uncomfortable) details about this. Like bodily fluids and flaky skin and sexual acts and death and pain and characters that are seriously and morally flawed/handicapped. Bit hard to explain, but I think there's just something about the atmosphere of Abercrombie that screams 'grim and dark? Oh, yeah, I'm GRIMDARK!' Anyway, glad you enjoyed the book. When are ya reading the next one?

This sounds interesting . . . I read Call of the Cthulhu not that long ago and love scary underwater-type stuff. Also, I love how cute the kraken looks on the front cover.

Nice list! I see you enjoyed the Dark Tower series - I'm thinking of trying it out myself next year. What would you say was good about it?

Good point. Maybe he could have done it so that

Awesome review of KoT, Steve. I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did! I agree with you to some extent on the first point - he's 18 by this point, but most of the flashbacks take place when he's 14 or younger, and it's a bit of a stretch to believe that someone so young would have such long-term planning skills. I also know what you mean about the 'Problem? Let me just pull out a solution! Problem solved' thing, although I suppose there actually was a reason for him not 'remembering' until the last minute. Personally I loved trying to guess what the twist tactics would be! I do like how they weren't entirely out of nowhere: they were set up during each of his journeys during the flashbacks (maybe I only noticed some of them when I re-read it). What did you think about the diary entries? You should definitely go and get the final one - it's ace! Then you should lend them all to Tim so he can read them too. @Athena: It came out about two months ago and is still only available in hardback - which shows how much I enjoyed the series (I hardly ever buy hardbacks!)

Maybe have a look at the Abhorsen Chronicles (Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen) by Garth Nix (although they may be a bit too young), or perhaps the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare (starting with City of Bones, which has recently been released as a film). Also, I believe James Dashner's Maze Runner series is a bit like Hunger Games, though I haven't read it myself.

Now THAT'S a book just waiting to be written. Personally I love fantasy, and the only YA books I really remember reading as a 'young adult' were 'The Abhorsen Chronicles' (Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen) by Garth Nix (which were awesome, by the way). I think I generally avoid it because I sort of skipped that stage when I was growing up, and pretty much went straight from Roald Dahl to Stephen King and Tolkien. Since I got used to reading 'adult' fiction pretty early on - especially fantasy, which can be really deep and complex - I suppose YA just seems a bit simplistic and lacking the depth I'm used to. I have read the Hunger Games trilogy and all the Twilight books fairly recently - I WANTED to like them but didn't really enjoy either of them. Perhaps because of the love triangles. Why all the love triangles, people?! The only YA books I've always enjoyed and probably always will are the Harry Potter books. I agree with Julie and Devi about how YA books seem to be much darker and more serious than they used to be; they're more about the 'adult' than the 'young', and while this does reflect the fact that kids grow up very fast these days I still think there should be more books out there that are just for fun. Let's face it: if Roald Dahl were writing nowadays, Fantastic Mr Fox would have become a martyr to the animal rights movement, George would be in rehab/prison due to the illegal production of his Marvellous Medicine, Willy Wonka would be on the sex offenders register, and The Twits would probably have just gone and got a divorce.

Thank you! I'm glad you like my reviews. I do try not to include spoilers in them but sometimes one or two slip through. The series is well worth a read - the second one was my favourite (King of Thorns).