Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Red Seas Under Red Skies

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Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

14 reviews

roksyreads's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

On the exotic shores of Tal Verrar, Locke Lamora and Jean Tannen have set their sights on the Sinspire, the most exclusive – not to mention guarded – gambling house in the world. But someone in Tal Verrar knows their secrets and intends to make the criminal duo pay for their past sins; all of their combined wits and cunning may not be enough to save them.

Similar to the first book, Lynch uses a dual narrative structure of past and present events to weave Locke and Jean’s journey to the latter stages of their ‘game’. You would expect a novel focused on conmen to go the way of Ocean’s Eleven/Twelve/Thirteen; setbacks would be quickly surmounted by clever tricks and cunning, and ultimately the conmen would succeed against the powerful clandestine ruler of the Sinspire. Pleasantly – or perhaps unpleasantly, at least for our protagonists – this is not the case. Locke and Jean are constantly faced with the challenges of maintaining multiple faces and plots, their lives hanging in the balance.

I am very fond of stories featuring found family and genuine friendship. Lynch brings so much emotion and depth to his characters and the relationships they build that it’s difficult not to become attached to this pair of morally grey conmen and the allies they make along the way. In this novel, I was particularly fond of Zamira, and most enjoyed the latter half of the novel in which she and her first mate, Ezri, featured prominently.

A dark, twisting, and detailed fantasy – with the added bonus of pirates and adventures on the high sea – Red Seas Under Red Skies was hard to put down and even harder to leave behind.

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murdoch's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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marvelmania's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Pros

Locke's grief is well written. Often times in books, a character doesn't grieve properly. Usually they are just like "*insert character here* would've loved this" a few times and then it's forgotten. Locke actually grieves the events of the first book. We see his self-destruction and self-pity in a very real way.

This book actually contains main female characters and I loved them. Drakasha was a unique take on a pirate leader and making her a mother was an interesting choice. I hope we see her again in other books or even get a novella spin off with more of her back story. She was a great character and a well written strong leader. Ezri was also a great character.

Speaking of Ezri, I loved her relationship with Jean. Although it was fast paced and mostly based in sex, I still found their connection believable and I loved their banter.

Which is why Ezri's death was so sad. Although I predicted it happening, I did not think it would go the way it did. Her death was gruesome and heartbreaking. I hope the author explores Jean's grief in as much of a real way as he did with Locke's in the next instalment.

I loved the tension Locke and Jean had. Although it was short lived, I love when main characters that would die for each other are in conflict. Often it's not done correctly, but Scott Lynch did it perfectly. Their arguments were well needed. I am glad that Jean wasn't compliant to Locke this whole book and actually called him out for his behaviour.

I was like "CALL HIM OUT KING" It was one of my favourite moments in this book.

That conflict also provides the support for Locke's decision that ultimately leads to the success of their scheme. It wasn't wasted.

The bleak ending, I need to start the next book ASAP. This book ends very much the same way the first one did. Everything is bleak. Death is imminent. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Cons

My only con of this book is that it didn't have the shock factor that I loved about the first book. This book doesn't really get super intense till the last 100 or so pages. That doesn't mean the previous 400 or so pages aren't entertaining, they are. It just lacked the shocking nature the first book had. I can see how this would lead readers to not enjoying this book as much. Personally, I still enjoyed it. The book spends most of its pages establishing characters and groups as it leads to the climax. Scott Lynch's writing is so entertaining that it is able to make up for a slightly lacklustre plot.

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dragonaion's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An excellent progression, the previous "grunge fantasy" has turned into a "romantic fantasy, steam punk, and pirate" with all of the brilliance and love from the first book. It is,however, a pleasant surprise to read how the love lives develop and reveal themselves between the two main characters; subtle in some ways, endearing in others, and all loving and heartfelt.
I was deeply engrossed in this story, to the point of reading at least 100 pages a day, and am delighted to know I have the next book already on my shelves to read.
"Thieves prosper and the rich remember"

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foxmulders's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i want to hug you. and i want to tear your gods-damned head off.

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nicoleme1212's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

seanml's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Scott Lych's sequel continues to excel in just about everything that the Lies of Locke Lamora did. While the main story may not be as unpredictable, the fantastical settings and characterization are superb. In many fantasy series, the main protagonist can sometimes end up being one of the less interesting characters. With the Gentleman Bastards, this is thankfully never the case. 8.5/10.

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elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

clemencepct's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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corvicore's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I was worried at first that this book would follow the same formula as the first

(dashing rogues working towards a mad heist only to be forced into a scheme bigger than them by a powerful third party)

but I was pleasantly surprised. Also pleasantly surprised to see more representation in this installation. To think that a book published in 2007 has better queer rep than most books published today. sigh. I have to say though, I'm not a big fan of Lynch's reoccurring habit of

offing prominent female characters. First the Capa's daughter, now Ezri. I dread for Sabetha's sake in the next book lol.

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