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Author<\/strong> – Scott Lynch<\/a><\/p>\n Paperback<\/strong> Of all the novels being released this year, Red Seas Under Red Skies<\/strong> topped my list of most anticipated novels. This is doubly impressive when one considers that Red Seas Under Red Skies<\/strong> is only Scott Lynch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s second novel. His first novel, The Lies of Locke Lamora<\/strong> (review HERE<\/a>) was just that damn good. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not often that a debut novelist comes out with the best book of the year, but in 2006 that was the truth.<\/p>\n So it was great anticipation that this summer began and I cracked open my nice shiny trade paperback copy of Red Seas Under Red Skies<\/strong>. I read eagerly, expecting to burn through the novel and finish it in record time. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s summertime, I thought to myself, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got all the time in the world to read!<\/p>\n It took me almost a month to finish.<\/p>\n As I read the novel, and as a took a couple of days to gather my thoughts into a more coherent pattern, I had a difficult time deciding how to review the novel. Do I review it as a sequel to The Lies of Locke Lamora<\/strong> (in which case it was a disappointment)? Or do I review it simply against all other novels equally (in which case it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the best I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read this year)? In the end, I decided that the only fair route was<\/em> to examine it from both angles and take a fair look at the novel that way. The novel starts off promising enough, with an intricate plot to once again bring the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s riches into the hands of the Gentleman Bastards, but all of a sudden the two main heroes are whisked away on a diversion at sea that lasts almost half the novel. I felt that Lynch would have been better served by focusing solely on one aspect of the novel. Both of the plot lines are equally compelling, but because they have to share screen time with eachother, they both end up feeling underdeveloped and a little empty as compared to the intricate plot of the first novel.<\/p>\n I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say much for fear of spoiling the novel, but I will say that the main protagonist in this novel is not nearly as compelling, eerie and interesting as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Grey King\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from the first novel. What is compelling, however, is that Locke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s companion, Jean Tannen, really steps to the forefront of this novel and steals the show from his diminutive partner in crime. I was a huge fan of Jean in the first novel, so it was nice to see so much time devoted to him, his emotions and his relationship with Locke. Jean and Locke are the perfect team, filling in each others gaps seamlessly and with charismatic chemistry to spare.<\/p>\n Finally, I found Red Seas Under Red Skies<\/strong> to be unfortunately predictable as compared to the first novel. What drew me in so utterly to The Lies of Locke Lamora<\/strong> was that I never knew what was around the corner, and that aspect kept me turning pages late into the night. That feeling wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t nearly as strong with its sequel.<\/p>\n This is the point where I turn around, take a look at the novel not as a sequel to The Lies of Locke Lamora<\/strong> but as a novel against all other novels, and maybe lose a bit of my credibility. Why? Because Red Seas Under Red Skies<\/strong> is one of the best damn novels I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read this year.<\/p>\n As a novel, Red Seas Under Red Skies<\/strong> is a revelation. Lynch writes with so much style, aplomb and flat out fun<\/em> that I have a hard time believing that anyone could pick up his novels and not find some sort of enjoyment from them. Red Seas Under Red Skies<\/strong> is about as charming and charismatic as a novel can get and its bursting at the seams with characters your truly care about.<\/p>\n I mentioned in the earlier portion of my review that the novel delves fairly deeply into the character of Jean Tannen, and one of the results of this is that Lynch spends a lot of time developing the two main characters and fleshing them out to a point that I well and truly feel as though I know Locke and Jean as though they were highschool friends of mine. I think the best thing I can say about the characters in the novel is that it is clear that Lynch lost control of them early on and they burst into life on the page, forcing all of their charms, failures, quirks and deprecations into the story in the most suitable manner. The characters in this novel, main protagonists and secondary characters alike, are alive<\/em> in the purest sense of the word.<\/p>\n The World Lynch is developing isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the deepest in the world, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more interested in character-building\/plot-development, but I still find myself compelled to find out more about the world and the different cultures that inhabit it. I have a feeling that the history of the world is going to play a larger role in the novels as we progress through the series. As of now the world simply acts as a backdrop for the events of the novels and as scenery for the characters to explore.<\/p>\n Lynch moves the story along with chippy, fast writing that won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be a strain on any reader. This makes him the perfect candidate for readers unfamiliar with fantasy, he rarely gets bogged down in unnecessary detail and instead chooses to focus on the things that truly matter.<\/p>\n Red Seas Under Red Skies<\/strong> works as a stand alone novel, for the most part, which is something I always appreciate. Lynch does a good job of wrapping up the various storylines contained within the novel (though the ending does seem rushed), but leaves just enough strings dangling to make me eager to get the next novel in my hands. Lynch is a master at dropping little hints of what is to come, just enough to whet the readers appetite, before pulling back leaving things hanging in anticipation. There are several threads exposed in the first two novels that I just can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to see Lynch pick up and run with in the remaining five novels (Sabetha, anyone?)<\/p>\n Lynch may not have slammed one out of the park with his sophmore novel, but he surely batted a couple of runs in, in any case. Red Seas Under Red Skies<\/strong> is a strong novel that is sure to charm anyone who picks it up. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t live up to the first novel, but then again not many novels do<\/em> stand up to The Lies of Locke Lamora<\/strong>. Red Seas Under Red Skies<\/strong>, despite some of my complaints, once against proves that Lynch is well on his way to becoming one of the top ranking Fantasy authors in the field. If the further novels in the series retain the quality of the first two, then we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be sure to find a series that stands up with the best of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Red Seas Under Red Skies Author – Scott Lynch Paperback Pages: 488 pages Publisher: McArthur & Co \/ Orion Con Trad Release Date: Jun 15 2006 ISBN-10: 0575079258 ISBN-13: 978-0575078024 Of all the novels being released this year, Red Seas Under Red Skies topped my list of most anticipated novels. This is doubly impressive when… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\nPages:<\/strong> 488 pages
\nPublisher:<\/strong> McArthur & Co \/ Orion Con Trad
\nRelease Date:<\/strong> Jun 15 2006
\nISBN-10:<\/strong> 0575079258
\nISBN-13:<\/strong> 978-0575078024<\/p>\n
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\nAs a sequel I just can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but feel that Lynch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s second novel disappoints. Lynch had a lot to live up to after the success of his first novel, and while it felt natural to slip back into the world of Locke Lamora (just like seeing an old friend for the first time in a year) I found myself with a feeling that some of the magic of the first novel was missing. I think this is largely due to the fact that the first book was so fresh, invigorating and unlike anything I had read before. With The Lies of Locke Lamora<\/strong> Lynch had his debut status working overtime for him, he was able to produce a novel with no expectations and thus was in a better position to blow his reader away. It felt as though Lynch couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t decide whether what he was writing was a caper novel (like the first one) or a pirate novel.<\/p>\n