Scott Lynch was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1978 and currently lives in Wisconsin and frequently visits Massachusetts, the home of his partner, SF/F writer Elizabeth Bear. He moonlights as a game designer and volunteer firefighter. This is his second novel.
Like its roguish protagonists, Lynch's colorful sequel to 2006's The Lies of Locke Lamora is charming, unpredictable and fast on its feet and stands surprisingly well on its own given its convoluted plot. Initially poised to rob the Sinspire, the notoriously thief-proof casino where the penalty for cheating is death, Locke and his partner, Jean, are unwillingly sidetracked into joining and then leading a pirate crew, swindling their way across the sea as they had previously done on land. The cinematic influences on Lynch's fantasy setting are evident, the borrowing is mostly ingenious and the prose frequently enthralls, but tone and pacing suffer from odd inconsistencies. A handful of dark moments clash uncomfortably with the overall devil-may-care atmosphere. Most frustrating of all is the handling of key secondary character Ezri Delmastro, who shines too briefly as an energetic romantic interest for Jean. The ending promises at least one more installment, but fans may be unhappy if the saga strays too far from its amiable roots. (Aug.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
PRAISE FOR SCOTT LYNCH
"A bright new voice in the fantasy genre."--George R. R.
Martin Red Seas Under Red Skies "Lynch hasn't merely imagined a
far-off world, he's created it, put it all down on paper--the
smells, the sounds, the people, the feel of the place. The novel is
a virtuoso performance, and sf/fantasy fans will gobble it
up."--Booklist (starred review) "Red Seas Under
Red Skies firmly proves that Scott Lynch isn't a one-hit
wonder. . . . It'll only be a matter of time before Scott Lynch is
mentioned in the same breath as George R. R. Martin and Steven
Erikson."--Fantasy Book Critic "Grand, grandiose,
grandiloquent . . . No critic is likely to fault Lynch in his
overflowing qualities of inventiveness, audacious draftsmanship,
and sympathetic characterization."--Locus "The kind of witty
romp that reminds you exactly how much fun heroic fantasy is
supposed to be."--SFX The Lies of Locke Lamora
"Right now, in the full flush of a second reading, I think The Lies
of Locke Lamora is probably in my top ten favorite books ever.
Maybe my top five. If you haven't read it, you should. If you have
read it, you should probably read it again."--Patrick Rothfuss,
New York Times bestselling author of The Name of the
Wind
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