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A review by xkrow
Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Definitely a downturn from the first book, largely due to the seemingly meandering middle. It was saved somewhat by the fact that I love Locke and Jean and the events were interesting. I think most of my problems could've been solved by transferring the first 200 or so pages of the book, when they're trying to complete their pull but get caught up and trained as their own "reminiscence" interludes. If this were the case, the pirate/land stuff would intermingle, leading to more questions and breaks. Also, frankly, it would give, even if artificially so, more time for a certain romance to blossom. Yeah. So, I don't have a problem with the material in and of itself, just in the way it takes up nearly 2/3 of the book when it certainly did not need to. But also: I'm not published author, so what do I know.
I suppose the above suggestion stems from me missing some of the more clever structuring and scene breaks that Lynch used in book 1. Here, I only really felt surprised by them in the last chapter. I will always love the way he opened some of the chapters in book 1 by throwing you into the moment and slowly catching you up to speed (chpt. 1 and 3 stand out particularly).
That last chapter is definitely a 10/10 though. Its what I was expecting a lot more of the book to be and I ROARED with laugher reading that last bit.
Also, I suppose it can sometimes be chalked up to Locke's more depressed demeanor, but I kind of missed him being clever during this book. There weren't a lot of times (outside of the first and last chapters) where I truly felt the highs of even the "suit heist" that he pulled of at the bank in Book 1.
Interested to see where it goes next, and hopefully Lynch can publish more soon!
I suppose the above suggestion stems from me missing some of the more clever structuring and scene breaks that Lynch used in book 1. Here, I only really felt surprised by them in the last chapter. I will always love the way he opened some of the chapters in book 1 by throwing you into the moment and slowly catching you up to speed (chpt. 1 and 3 stand out particularly).
That last chapter is definitely a 10/10 though. Its what I was expecting a lot more of the book to be and I ROARED with laugher reading that last bit.
Also, I suppose it can sometimes be chalked up to Locke's more depressed demeanor, but I kind of missed him being clever during this book. There weren't a lot of times (outside of the first and last chapters) where I truly felt the highs of even the "suit heist" that he pulled of at the bank in Book 1.
Interested to see where it goes next, and hopefully Lynch can publish more soon!