The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006) by Scott Lynch
Genres : Fantasy, Fiction, 2022-read, awesome-read, thieves, masquerades, disguises.
Rating 5/5
Masterful. Simply awesome. In this 2006 novel which forms the first part of the franchise 'Gentlemen Bastards' by American author Scott Lynch, we meet Locke Lamora - the master of disguises and play acting - and his band of thieves. I just loved the archaic style of prose - I overlooked a few occasional jabs of crudity and crassness which were lobbed off as humor/wit. The imaginary world on which the city of Camorr is situated is extremely well constructed/developed - some material and character inventions of the author are Elderglass, Wraithstone, Bondsmagi the sorcerers, black alchemists and physikers who are like doctors, dog-leeches like street physicians. The characters are solidly defined - even the smaller ones that appear only in one or two scenes have a lot of depth and their actions are very much in lieu of what the reader expects.
Locke was an orphan whose mother died and father perhaps ran away. In the city of Camorr, orphans either become slaves to the trade of prostitution, die from starvation or are picked by thief thiefmakers and false priests to be trained for stealing. So Locke gets picked by one such thief maker who gets exasperated by his antics but nevertheless appreciates his master brain behind them even at such an young age. He sells off Locke to a false priest of temple of Perelandro who in turn trains him all the stuff of how to pretend to be a noble born, how to play at various disguises. He sends him off an minor missions and gives him an occasional test to try out his scheming capabilities. Under the priest, Locke meets the other members of his team and forms his infamous gang. They take different roles, names, disguises in order to deceive the rich and steal their money. So there are over a hundred gangs in the city and they all pay fealty to one Capa Barsavi. The Capa is kept in the dark as to the actual profession of Locke and his gang - they simply pretend to be low level, normal thieves.
So Locke is all grown up with his other team mates. They are currently involved in pulling off a scam on a rich couple Don Lorenzo Salvara and Dona Sofia Salvara. After a taste of initial success with the couple, Locke and team make plans for their next haul. In the interim, their Capa Barsavi faces a threat from a very powerful and mysterious myth like person - the gray king. Locke's life might be under threat due to this gray king. And the Salvaras approach a city secret police to help them with their situation unbeknownst to Locke and his team. As events unfold, Locke gets deeply involved in the plot for the fight of the capa by gray king and comes near death several times. He loses his dear team members, all his hidden treasure trove gets pinched, his wardrobe and clothes collection damaged/torn apart. Even as things look desolate and bleak, Locke doesn't lose heart. He avenges the death of his friends - blood with blood and paying a massive offering to the gods for his victory.
Some of the scams that Locke pulls off are pure genius. He uses his brain ten times more than his thin,wiry and weak frame. All the main characters are very likeable - even the bad ones - with Locke being an absolute sensation. There ain't a single character that he can't outsmart, a single situation that he can't outdo, a single challenge he can't win over. Locke is fictional and entirely awe inspiring !!
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