Red Seas Under Red Skies

By: Scott Lynch

Narrated by: Michael Page

Length: 25 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Escaping from the attentions of the Bondsmagi Locke Lamora, the estwhile Thorn of Camorr and Jean Tannen have fled their home city. Taking ship they arrive in the city state of Tal Varrar where they are soon planning their most spectacular heist yet; they will take the luxurious gaming house, The Sinspire, for all of its countless riches.

No-one has ever taken even a single coin from the Sinspire that wasn't won on the tables or in the other games of chance on offer there.

But, as ever, the path of true crime rarely runs smooth and Locke and Jean soon find themselves co-opted into an attempt to bring the pirate fleet of the notorious Zamira Drakasha to justice. Fine work for thieves who don't know one end of galley from another. And all the while the Bondsmagi are plotting their very necessary revenge against the one man who believes e has humiliated them and lived; Locke Lamora.

©2007 Scott Lynch (P)2011 Orion Publishing Group Limited

loved it

a little bit long-winded but a fun book nonetheless. twenty words requirement is so freaking dumb i just want to go back in time before i decided to write a review

Still going strong

Would you listen to Red Seas Under Red Skies again? Why?

Because I enjoyed it?
Has good plot, strong characters, good language.

What about Michael Page’s performance did you like?

He made every character come to life.

Any additional comments?

Gonna buy the 3rd one. 'nuff said.

Excellent listen

The audio was good and the entonación was perfect even for 1.5x. My main issue is with the story, not as strong as the previous one, Lies of Locke Lamora.

6.8/10 Kept me thoroughly involved throughout

Bloody good book & easier to follow than it's prequel however I think the first book was probably significantly better in terms of world/character building which might have been a solid 8.5/10

a mess of a plot

I really liked the first book which made me rather annoyed or even angry to read the sequel.
"Red seas Under Red skies" wants to set up a heist, have the protagonist be pirates for a bit. it also wants to show our characters dealing with what happened in the first book and it also wants a small romance.
I have no problems with any of the above, only how the author decided to put it all together.
the characters are the same with small twist. so if you would read this book for the characters alone I would recommend it. But the book is so poorly paced with a plot that is so poorly constructed that I can't remember last time I read one so bad, that I can't recommend this book unless you really like the characters.

spoilers.

we start with Locke believing Jean will betray him. this is a flash forward to a later scene. It's payoff highly disappointing as Jean does not betray Locke and the only reason Locke believed he would was because he didn't see a sign Jean. Jean, however, says that he definitely made a sign to Locke that he was lying. I have no problem with the scene itself other than the fact that I was expecting a bit more given that the scene was shown in the beginning of the book.

the next many pages are spent between their next heist "the sin spire game" and flashbacks to Locke dealing with the loss of his friends.
this part is mostly solid. my real grievances starts when the plot forces them out to the sea where they then spend the next many pages meeting new characters and trying to accomplish another goal because they have no other choice if they want to live.
for this part the Sin Spire Game is more or less forgotten and it does not come back until the end where it is rather quickly resolved.
it is also in this part where Jean meets the love of his life and loses her as well in a scene that to me felt rather forced.
the last part of the book attempts to quickly rap up this poorly constructed story. introducing important characters in power that Locke manages to persuade to help him in a single scene.
the book ends with Locke and Jean alone once again. Locke might die from poison in a month's time or so.
this ending makes me think the entire book was a set up for them going to get help from Karthain which is where the third book takes place.

The worst decision that the author ever made in my opinion was to kill off Kaldo and Galdo and Buck in the first book. while they were minor characters they added some interactions between them and Locke and Jean. now all the interactions are between Locke and Jean and other people they meet.
when the author introduces Esri the reader might soon start to think that she would join them. they even briefly talked about rebuilding the gentleman bastards. I miss the closeness of that entire group.
But having her join them would be too obvious apparently as the author kills her in the most unessasary twist of betrayal from a minor character ever.

in short. I actually ended up hating this book because of its plot.

Disappointing

The first novel was wonderful, but this sequel is a solid ‘meh’
It’s almost as if it’s written by a different person. Where the Lies of Locke Lamora had a very mature feel, this novel felt childish at parts. The plot was too convoluted and the characters made silly choices. I actually zoned out while listening several times. I honestly don’t know if I want to read the other novels, which makes me sad because I really thought I found a good series again. It’s not the worst thing I have read, it’s not awful, but it just isn’t great

Canadian version does not sync with whispersync

What disappointed you about Red Seas Under Red Skies?

Audible and Kindle versions do not sync via whispersync.

What about Michael Page’s performance did you like?

His portrayal of both Locke and Jean

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Delight

Any additional comments?

No

Not a good sequel

The Lies of Locke Lamora grabbed me and took me through a vibrant fantasy world with awesome and distinct characters and relationships with a satisfying thrilling ending. This starts out the same way, planning a heist, making schemes developing relationships in a inspiring new city! Then it's abruptly interrupted and throws us out to sea, where after the first chapter NOTHING HAPPENS. It's just a bunch of talking, nothing moving forward, boring relationships, characters and scenery. The only thing that saves the chapters at sea are the Pirate Captain and the first mate of the Poison Orchid who are truly amazing, clever and fun. I clung on thinking the end would right the course of the plot, no dice. Would have rather had a book about the Poison Orchids adventures than having to follow Locke and Jean through this book. Might read the last book, see if any of that magic from the first book shows up in the end.