The Lies of Locke Lamora
They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he's part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumor. And they are wrong on every count. Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich - they're the only ones worth stealing from - but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves: the Gentleman Bastards. Together their domain is the city of Camorr. Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers, it's a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the city. But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power. A challenge from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. The Grey King is coming. A man would be well advised not to be caught between Capa Barsavi and The Grey King. Even such a master of the sword as the Thorn of Camorr. As for Locke Lamora...
Stats for nerds
17recommend
27mentions
23people
2014–2023years
70% recommend26% neutral4% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Some books that I have really liked:
- Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss(waiting on the third book....)
- Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (also waiting on the rest of the series...)
- The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu - the first book was ok but I really liked the second - The Dark Forest
- Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
- House In the Cerulean Sea
- How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
Others that I like: The Rosie Project, The Books of Babel, A long way to a small Angry Planet, Wool/Shift/Dust, Lockstep, All the Light We Cannot See, Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore, Earth Abides, Project Hail Mary, The Martian
Also, check out https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/
- Fiction:
"The Lies of Locke Lamora"
I found this book because I just finished playing Dishonored 2 and I wanted to read a book with a dystopian steampunk alternative-Victorian vibe.
The events take place in a gritty, corrupt city of waterways and canals controlled by different factions. The factions represent either the legitimate nobility or the extensive underground criminal empire. A charismatic leader of a small young group of thieves and pickpockets comes up with an epic, layered con that will break sacred agreements and make him enemies with everyone - and pulls it off.
- Given that these are the five most popular series in modern fantasy, you've certainly got good taste! I'm always on the prowl for new books to read. Do you have any favorite SF/F books that are less well known?
Here's a few dozen or so of my favorites. I'd love to hear what HN thinks is good fantasy!
My recs (in no particular order):
- Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett -- heist novel with talking objects!
- Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente -- David Bowie meets Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!
- The Sacred Throne series by Myke Cole (book 1: The Armored Saint) - Steampunk armor!
- The Shards of Heaven by Michael Livingston - Great historical fantasy set in the time of Augustus Caesar
- The Red Threads of Fortune / The Black Tides of Heaven by Jy Yang - Two paired novellas!
- The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone -- Law = Magic! Extremely well written
- Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy) by Robin Hobb -- One of my favorite series of all time.. I cried!
- Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly -- A spy thriller set in a Vaudeville-era secondary world. Burlesque! Spies! Politics!
- I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells -- Title says it all, really...
- The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin -- Fascinating series...
- All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anderson -- A mix of sci-fi/fantasy set in San Francisco, incredible
- The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anderson -- A tidally locked planet! Monsters! Escapes!
- The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg -- Origami as magic!
- Damselle in Distress by Kiley Kellermeyer -- Fairy tale satire!
- The Thousand Names (The Shadow Campaigns series) by Django Wexler -- Napoleonic era military fantasy!
- The Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage series) by Brian McClellan -- Dudes snort GUNPOWDER and get magic!
- Wool by Hugh Howey -- Post-apocalyptic world where everyone lives in a silo! NUTS.
- Disenchanted by Robert Kroese -- Hilarious fantasy world, several books in this world
- The Lies of Locke Lamora (The Gentlemen Bastards series) by Scott Lynch -- Best heist novel of all time? You decide!
- The Queen's Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler -- Secondary world that feels like King Arthur and the Round Table adventures
- The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers -- A space ship with crazy aliens!
- City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett -- The gods are DEAD! ...or are they??!
- Saint's Blood (The Greatcoats series) by Sebastien de Castell -- Snarky adventurers? Yes. Rodents of unusual size? No.
- Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne -- Fantasy satire, with a FEARSOME Dark Lord Toby who yells about crackers!
- Spellslinger (Spellslingers series) by Sebastien de Castell -- Snarky magicians? Yes. Talking squirrel cats? ALSO YES.
- Justice Calling (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress) by Annie Bellet -- A lil romance + A lil D&D = fun times!
- It depends on what kind of genre you are talking about.
For fantasy, I would say "Lies of Locke Lamora" is one of the best Audiobooks ever narrated. There is a character called 'Father Chains', and this character is voiced in an iconic way; I am sure you will like it.
For non-fiction, I would say "The Smartest Guys in the Room" is a canonical account of what happened with Enron. This is an interesting book because there are a lot of common traits shared between Enron and many of the unicorns we see today.
I have others that you might like, but these two come to mind in their respective genres.
- Books that set out to be comedy don't really work for me. HHGTTG is probably the best I've read but even that was just... tolerable. Biggest laughs I've had came from "normal" fiction, sprinkled in here and there. Dickens is good at that. Best laugh I've had from a book may have been from a set up chapter followed by a punchline first sentence of the next in Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora, a book that's otherwise occasionally funny but not at all a comedy. I had to put it down for a while to stop laughing.
By contrast, comedy's almost the only thing that works for me in silent film. And not just the slapstick (though that's great) but also visual-narrative comedy. That and mind-blowingly-large-scale spectacle, like the epics usually manage for some part of their runtime. Serious, personal drama? Nope. Books or talkies for that.
- If you want some pleasant fiction, I suggest the Lies of Locke Lamora
