'Red Seas under Red Skies' by Scott Lynch

Goodreads, Amazon
Pages: 558

'Red Seas under Red Skies' is the second book of the Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series. [I have written about the first book 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' but it's in my writing journal and I'm too bored at the moment to transfer it here.]

The series is about thieves who want to win over the world through their many deceptions. The setting of the series reminds of the world and period of 'One Thousand and One Nights'. The world is all about ports, traders, rich people with palatial homes, and there's a little bit of magic amidst all the chaos. After the adventures of the first book, the group of thieves has been badly wounded and has been reduced to just two people - Locke and Jean.

The book begins two years after the events of its prequel. The prologue makes the reader jump right into action with Locke and Jean under an attack and Jean is about to betray Locke by crossing over to the attackers' side. Once the actual book begins, the narration alters between the present and the period of rift between the this book and its prequel.

'Red Seas under Red Skies' introduces us to new characters and a new place (the port of Tel Verrar) though villains from the prequel make scanty but important appearances. In the initial part of the book, Locke is unwilling to get back to his old deceptive ways and Jean tries measures, which are extreme but also adorable, to bring him back. Eventually, the duo gets into its groove and finds a new target for duping through many layers of masterful scheming - Requin, the shrewd and powerful owner of a gambling den. However, there's another dominant character in Tel Verrar, Maxilan Stragos, who knows a lot about the duo's past and threatens to harm them fatally unless they act according to his wishes.

In order to gain political points, Stragos makes Locke and Jean travel by sea, in their mission to become pirates and stir trouble in the region around Tel Verrar. After a hurried training through the lovable ex-seaman Caldris, Locke and Jean are pushed off in the sea. They come across the pirates Zamira Drakasha (who pirates around with her toddler kids in the tow) and her lady-lieutenant Ezri Delmastro. Loaded with lots of characters, witty lines, naval terms and interesting tricks, the plot proceeds towards a thrilling climax.

I had great fun reading this book. There are hardly any dull moment throughout the 600-odd pages. Locke is so funny especially when he gets angry that I'd love to be around the angry Scott Lynch. The many lies of Locke left me guessing about his true intentions throughout the book. The world creation is not very dense except while describing buildings. My imagination failed to keep up with the scenes intended to be created by the author. However, he must be credited for achieving the rare feat of having more than one major female character in a fantasy book.

My only complaint about the book was about the overdose of twists that Lynch supplies throughout. A few of them seem just too forced and, in order to accommodate them, he seems to take the characters out of their painfully built personalities. The tedium of traversing through the complications spiked towards the end of the book. This was entirely consistent with what I had experienced while reading 'The Lies of Locke Lamora'.

I'm totally in for reading the remaining (five?) books in the series but a Gentleman Bastards reading spree seems tiring. See you later, Locke.