The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3) in Gentleman Bastards

Jul 10, 2011 Katharine (Ventureadlaxre) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, recommended, read-2013

Still holding off on my review because my keysmash can't properly sum it all up. Even though I've had since March to become coherent about it. I'm just so, so happy others are starting to read it (thanks to NetGalley). Isn't it fantastic! Wasn't it worth the wait! Whee!

Old info below:

Just received the catalogue from the publishers I review for, and the book was available for December 2011 selection!

Since then of course, it has been moved to a February 2012 release.

ETA 13th Jan 2012: Gollancz Blo ...more

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Jan 16, 2011 Josh rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

It’s hard to decide how to write a review for a book that I’ve waited five years for. Does anything that is anticipated for so long live up to expectations? Perhaps not. But while Republic of Thieves may not have been quite what what I’d prepared for it to be in my mind, it is a very enjoyable book and it shows that Scott Lynch has not lost his flair and the Gentleman Bastards are as bastard...ish as ever they were before. Now, let’s get to the bastardly details shall we? (This review will be as It’s hard to decide how to write a review for a book that I’ve waited five years for. Does anything that is anticipated for so long live up to expectations? Perhaps not. But while Republic of Thieves may not have been quite what what I’d prepared for it to be in my mind, it is a very enjoyable book and it shows that Scott Lynch has not lost his flair and the Gentleman Bastards are as bastard...ish as ever they were before. Now, let’s get to the bastardly details shall we? (This review will be as spoiler free as I can possibly make it.)

As you probably expected, this book picks up immediately after Red Seas. Which is a good thing, since that book ended in a horrible cliff hanger. So never fear, Lynch gets right to it and soon you’ll get to know what becomes of Locke. However, not before a prologue which takes place back in Shade’s Hill with Locke’s first Garrista, The Thief Maker. The prologue finally introduces us to the main reason all of us Gentleman Bastard fans have been eagerly anticipating this book: Sabetha. That’s right, in case you didn’t read anything about this book and didn’t glance at the jacket cover, Sabetha is in this book. In fact, she pretty much IS this book.

In true Lynch fashion, standard linearity is out the window. The book alternates chapter by chapter, back and forth between the present and the past. It is, however, more linear that Red Seas Under Red Skies was. That book was all over the place, but Republic of Thieves reads, for the most part, in two straight lines. In fact, it’s like reading two books at once. One story arc brings us back to the very enjoyable time of Locke's (and the other bastard's) childhood under the tutelage of Chains. This section fills in a lot of gaps during this time that we didn't get to read during book one, namely events involving Sabetha. We also get to read about Calo and Galdo again, which is great and bittersweet at the same time. We see how Locke and Sabetha first met, how they established their places in the gang.

The other story arc, naturally, involves Locke and Jean in the present. I will assume you’ve read the jacket cover and know at least that this plot thread involves the Bondsmagi. I think we all knew that this was the direction the story was heading in, so this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Locke being stuck with an incurable poison seems to me like a setup for them to head to Karthain. As usual, the two Bastards attract the attention of powers they don’t want, and as usual, what can they do about it? Drawn into a deal they can’t refuse, they soon find themselves becoming tools in a dangerous political game. What’s more, is they find out that their long absent fellow Bastard Sabetha is tied up in this political game as well. So we have Locke and Jean involved in several impossible situations at once. Business as usual right? Well, not quite...

The major difference between book 3 and the first two is that this one really is more of a thinking piece than it is an action piece. That’s not to say that there isn’t any action, but it’s more of a light touch compared to the blood baths that were the first two. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Lynch hasn’t gone soft on us. It's not like Crossroads of Twilight (Book 10 of the Wheel of Time) where after each chapter you're thinking, "well I could keep reading, or I could just kill myself... I guess I'll keep reading." It’s still incredibly engrossing and I gobbled it up pretty fast for a man with as little free time as I have, (let’s just say a lot of video game time was sacrificed so I could find out what happens in this book.) Still, engrossed as I was, I found myself thinking numerous times throughout the novel, “okay, here is where it’s going to start getting messy!”, only to have things go a totally different direction than I thought. Also, not a bad thing. Lynch is not a one-trick-pony and he keeps me surprised quite often. But as fair warning for anyone about to read this book, know that the fun lies in the intrigue, the mysteries and the characterization. And the love. As we have a lot of catching up to find out what the hell made Locke so head-over-heals for this woman, a lot of the book really is a love story. In the past, we learn how their love formed, and in the present, we find out if their love can be reconciled. Emotion is the action here.

Speaking of such: Sabetha. Let’s talk a little more about her. Does she live up to the image I had of her in my mind? Well, I knew she was a thief, I knew she was a redhead and I knew that she was the unfettering object of Locke’s desire, and she definitely is all of those things. There was a small hint of disappointment once the veil was lifted and I learned more and more about her, but only because she became less of a mystery. She’s as flesh and bone as Locke and Jean and everyone else, has a back story, has faults, has strengths and yada-yada. One thing I’ll say about her though: she is just as clever conniving, if not more so, than Locke himself. In a sense they are at odds in this book and she’s the only character we’ve seen yet that can outmatch Locke for wits and trickery. So I say yes, she lives up to the hype.

Another great thing that kept me turning pages in this book is the world itself. Lynch has a great way of only lifting the curtain a little at a time when it comes to revealing the mysteries of his world, and in this book that is no different. However, what he does reveal is very intriguing. From some insights on the Bondsmagi and their theories on Eldren magic, to some major happenings in other parts of the world that are going to set the stage for some goings-on later in the series. Oh how I wish I could say more! *evil grin*

How do I rate any of these books with a system of five meager stars? Well it’s hard, but I will do what I must. Overall, this is a great book. It has everything the first two had except the one thing that left me feeling a tad unsatisfied by the end: the action. I wanted some blood, I wanted some death. Alas, the blood-thirsty child inside me will have to wait for the next installment. Overall, this is a setup book, a necessary cog in the wheel of Bastards. But a damned fine setup book at that. By the time the end rolls around and hits us with a couple surprises, we know we’re going to be in for a hell of a ride with the next four books. To Mr Lynch, all I can say is this... Bring on Thorn of Emberlain and please write faster than George R.R. Martin!

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Aug 20, 2012 Robin Wiley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: love-it-more-than-puppies, fantasy, heist-novel

This was a mixed bag for me. Maybe I hyped it up in my head too much or something.

It’s two different stories, one in the present and the other is back in the childhood and teenage years of the Gentlemen Bastards. For the flashback story, it is absolutely wonderful to spend and extended period of time with Father Chains and the Sansa twins again. We even have some cameos from the thief maker, Barsavi and company so it’s very Camore old home week. Yay!

The present day story we finally get to meet ...more

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Oct 17, 2013 Susan rated it really liked it

Shelves: fun, fantasy, 4review, audiobook, eternal, intense, witch, epic-fantasy

Scott Lynch gave us plenty more on Locke’s background with the flashback scenes and Jean got some extra ‘training’ in Espara that was fun to hear about. I have to say the biggest plus to this book was to finally meet Sabetha and I was very pleased with who she turned out to be. She completed the big picture of the Bastards. Between the two timelines (play in Espara & election in Karthain), there was plenty of pranks, egotistical attitudes, and even some deadly danger. The readers also get more i ...more

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Jan 03, 2011 Sarah rated it liked it

I'm not sure I'd have liked this book if I wasn't already deeply invested in these characters. Frankly, I found the two separate narratives increasingly annoying. Additionally, this book is far less inventive than the first two. I concern that Lynch is not evolving as a writer. Lies was an amazing book, but after reading it, I expected this author to only get better as he kept writing. I don't see him maturing as an author, and that is a little disappointing.

That being said, I thought his handl ...more

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