The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch: Book Review


The Republic of Thieves
The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

My rating: 0 of 5 stars



This book was kindly donated by Random House Publishing Group -- Del Rey Spectra for review.

Locke and Jean are in over their heads and causing mischief again in the third book in the Gentlemen Bastards series. This time they are asked to rig an election for the amusement of the bondsmagi (yes, those bondsmagi). Of course, Locke and Jean would have this election in the bag, if the upper management for the opposing political party wasn't the one and only Sabetha (yes, that Sabetha). In this exciting, dangerous, and curse-filled jaunt through Karthain, Locke and Jean need to keep one step ahead of a growing number of people who want them dead.

Sabetha! Sabetha is in this book! The Lady Bastard herself! I was quite excited to learn all about her and how she left the Gentlemen Bastards in the dust. Where shall I begin? Well, I loved her in the beginning (both in the present day story and the interlude); however, as the stories came to an end, I feel that her character got a bit muddled. For example, in the beginning, Sabetha had very clear reasons why she did not want to be linked romantically to Locke. I thought the reasons were great; and I applauded them. Later, however, the reasons changed and then there were no reasons, then there were reasons again, but I was confused as to what they were. In a nutshell, it seems like a decision was made to change Sabetha's character and someone didn't reread the whole book during the editing process.

OK, now that Sabetha is off my chest, let's discuss the book, plot, etc. First, has anyone noticed that these books keep getting longer? I feel that Lynch wanted to write two separate books and his publisher said that he could only write one, so he squeezed these two books into a super long book. Not that I mind, both stories were interesting; it is just that I would have preferred the interlude (flashback) to be shorter, you know, an interlude to the main story. I guess I am mainly grumpy, because I was more interested in the main story (or should I say present day story?) than the interlude.

In regards to Locke and Jean antics, they are up to no good again, and they do a good deal of conspiring and outwitting. There is less violence in this book than in previous ones, but there is still a decent amount of swearing, so I was happy. I also felt that the plot to this book was less complicated than Red Skies over Red Seas, so I was a happy camper. I felt that the previous Lamora book got a wee bit over the top at times (granted, I was listening to the audiobook, so maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention). At the same time, this book felt like a buildup for the next Gentlemen Bastards book, which I felt was a bit frustrating.

Alright, so what am I trying to say in my rambling post-read? This book was a lot of fun. I am a sucker for a conman story; and Locke and Jean are my go to guys! They are fun, they swear, and they get into tons of scrapes. I am also really happy to see Sabetha, because I like seeing Locked get flustered by (1) a woman and (2) a smart and resourceful opponent. I hope that we see her in future books (with her character a bit less muddled). At the same time, I hope that the next book is not two books smashed together but one (slightly shorter) book.




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