Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
The long con is a funny puzzle. It requires layers and time to establish itself and for it to have its full impact it, the true purpose can only be revealed at the very end, and this in itself is often just a prelude to the ‘real’ ending; the con within the con! A reader has to have an enormous amount of faith in a writer to get into a book and stick with it knowing they wont get any real sort of pay off until the end. I think Lynch earned that right with the amazing Lies of Locke Lamora but pushed it to its limits with Red Seas under Red Skies.
I’ll get the bad stuff out of the way first. What one reader might see as glorious detail and illustrious world building, I found to be overly ponderous descriptions of mundane objects and locations. I felt like each moment of action was prefaced with an exceedingly thorough description of everything framing it and whilst at times it was absolutely necessary, the repetitive nature was taxing and slowed the pace when you wanted things to get on a roll. I’d heard this was the pirate book and it seemed to take a hell of a long time for any sort of pirating to begin and once it did, events occurred that made much of the previous preparations, and my reading time, unnecessary. I love twists and turns but I’d rather feel like I was climbing a mountain than digging the worlds deepest hole and I spent too much time skirting this edge for my liking especially in Part One.
Thankfully, when we do get on the open seas, things start to pick up pace and much like the characters; there is a sense of having some space to breathe. I loved the banter between Locke and the pirates and it made his back and forths with the powers that be even more amusing. There is no denying Lynch is a great writer and has a wonderful turn of phrase.
“How do you like your cabin?”
“Could smell worse,” said Locke, ‘but I think I’d have to spend a few days pissing on everything for it to get there.”
Locke is at his finest when Jean is by his side and when their backs are up against the wall. When he has nothing to lose he will speak to the loftiest souls in a manner they’ve long forgotten existed and his audacity is one of his finest and most attractive strengths. Seeing him try take Stragos down a peg or two is an absolute pleasure and when he outlines his techniques for cheating his way through the casino you’ll feel lucky to be along for the ride.
I enjoyed myself most watching his characters at work and, despite the fun of their thieving tendencies, the honest moments of breaking character between Jean and Locke were the most poignant and the most nourishing. Jean’s relationship with Ezri was something I thoroughly enjoyed and probably needed to once again show me why these two guys were worth keeping around beyond the amusement factor.
The ending though was a tad frustrating and there are some SPOILERS ahead. I’m not talking about the poison; I’m talking about the fact that it felt like a set up for the next book instead of a proper ending. The first book had a great and complete ending but this felt like Scott knew he was onto a good thing so thought he had to write it leaving a set up for the next one. The climax of the con fizzled out and as a reader I felt I’d been given the old bait and switch in exchange for a supposed hook into the third book. We were led to believe he would be breaking into a great vault, something impossible to achieve and a worthy idea for a thief. I had no idea how he would do it but I felt sure he would and was looking forward to seeing what Lynch came up with, instead he steals some paintings and I was left feeling unsatisfied.
I have the third book so I will give it a try but I must say, if I did not own a copy I’m not sure I’d be rushing out to buy it.
