The Lies of Locke Lamora

Gentleman Bastard, Book 1

By: Scott Lynch

Narrated by: Michael Page

Length: 22 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

“Remarkable...Scott Lynch’s first novel, The Lies of Locke Lamora, exports the suspense and wit of a cleverly constructed crime caper into an exotic realm of fantasy, and the result is engagingly entertaining.” (The Times, London)

An orphan’s life is harsh - and often short - in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game - or die trying.

Praise for The Lies of Locke Lamora

“Fresh, original, and engrossing...gorgeously realized.” (George R. R. Martin)

“Right now, in the full flush of a second reading, I think The Lies of Locke Lamora is probably in my top ten favorite books ever. Maybe my top five. If you haven’t read it, you should. If you have read it, you should probably read it again.” (Patrick Rothfuss, New York Times best-selling author of The Name of the Wind)

“High-octane fantasy...a great swashbuckling yarn of a novel.” (Richard Morgan)

©Scott Lynch 2006 (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A unique fantasy milieu peopled by absorbing, colorful characters...Locke’s wit and audacity endear him to victims and bystanders alike.” (The Seattle Times)

“A true genre bender, at home on almost any kind of fiction shelf...Lynch immediately establishes himself as a gifted and fearless storyteller, unafraid of comparisons to Silverberg and Jordan, not to mention David Liss and even Dickens.” (Booklist, starred review)

one of my new favorite series

this book was simply amazing the emotion of not just the characters but the atmosphere all around was spectacularly put together I will be listening to all of these books 10/10

Rags to Riches and back to rags

The story is fun and almost like a ride start as a small thief and get on that hustle. Start conning the wealth under the disguise as a monk.

MUST LISTEN.

PHENOMENAL story, AMAZING characters, LEGENDARY voice actor. This is a must listen for any fantasy fans.

Fantastic Adventure

Absolutely amazing. Wonderful swists and plot. A thrill all the way through with a wonderful voice to narrate.

Great Book and great narration!!

There's something about Lynchs writing and Pages reading that made this book a joy to listen to

A standard to which fantasy writers should aspire

I suggest that that the soaring heights found in some places throughout the book, coupled with the arguably jarring structure of the chapters (replete with interludes), make it so that the conclusion of the book seem to be subpar. It is by no means a poor "landing," but theres little in the way of a coup de grace that you sorely desire by the end of this wonderfully interwoven and emotionally provocative tale.

Great book!

Great story! Great dialogue! I can’t wait to read the next one. Very exciting book!

Fantastic story!

Very clever. It's a story of learning, screwing up, and seeing up more, and keeping true to your friends and ideals. I enjoyed the ride, and to end.

Bit of a slow start, but well worth it

For me it was a bit hard to really get into at first, I thought the author was a bit long winded with setting descriptions, and that distracted from trying to learn about the world and characters. But when there wasn't a description of every detail within 50 yards of the characters the interactions between the characters were top notch.

Once I got a little more into the book and started understanding the world and the people it stopped bothering me and just turned into an excellent story.

very good!

I got here from the collection "Rogues" because I wanted more of Javra the Lioness. I didn't get her, but I did get a well paced adventure, with intrigue and action, descriptive and interesting with hardly any bullshit.
The interludes are actually directly relevant to the story, unlike the extremely long and drawn-out ones in Stormlight Archive. The characters are relatable and down to earth, unlike the horrifically wealthy Shallan Devar. The action makes sense and doesn't surprise you constantly with hat tricks and "magic spren powers".

This book was a salve on the hole that Stormlight Archives left in me. I feel much better for having read it. I especially liked the pacing and sense of growth and accomplishment as things developed.