Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

The winner of the December Book of the Month, our final Book of the Month for 2016, is The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch!

Discussion of the book will begin on December 1st. There will be a new topic for each quarter of the book, with all sections near the beginning of the month, allowing members to read at their own pace and enter the different threads as they progress.

Moderators will begin the conversation but if you post an answer to these questions then please post your own question at the end. Then the person after you answers your question and posts their own. This will create a chain of questions/answers, much like the style of "Person Below Me".

For more information about the book of the month, see the Introduction post.

Part 1: 0-25%
Part 2: 26-50%
Part 3: 51-75%
Part 4: 75-100%

Part 1 Questions:
1. Which format did you choose (ebook, paper, audio)?

2. Are you using the book for a challenge category? If yes, which one?

3. What do you think of Scott Lynch's narrative style? What do you think of the way Scott Lynch weaves the story between present day events and back in time?

4. Other than Locke, who is your favorite characters as of now?

5. Answer the question posed by the person above you!

1. Which format did you choose (ebook, paper, audio)? ebook

2. Are you using the book for a challenge category? If yes, which one? No , the Around the Year in 52 Books is my only challenge and I am done for the year. I haven't read a lot of fantasy but it always seems like something I should try more of so was happy to have the time to take part in this book of the month.

3. What do you think of Scott Lynch's narrative style? What do you think of the way Scott Lynch weaves the story between present day events and back in time?

I like his style and find it easy to follow the past and present. I am finding the past is more engaging and that the present story line is moving kind of slow for me. I am hoping that changes and this is a build up to more exciting things to come.

4. Other than Locke, who is your favorite characters as of now?
Father Chains, Calo and Galdo.

5. Answer the question posed by the person above you!
No extra question for me.

I am enjoying how Scott Lynch describes his characters and the surroundings and situations they are in. I feel like many of the moments in this first part of the book were easy to visualize and memorable.

My question to the person below me is: Are there any scenes within these first chapters that you found particularly memorable and why?

1. Which format did you choose (ebook, paper, audio)?

I read this as a paper book. I found it a few years ago and picked it up after reading the description. I've been a fan of the series since.

2. Are you using the book for a challenge category? If yes, which one?

No specifically The Lies of Locke Lamora. However, I did read the third book in this series, The Republic of Thieves for my 2016 ATY challenge. I used it for the Anti-hero topic in this challenge.

3. What do you think of Scott Lynch's narrative style? What do you think of the way Scott Lynch weaves the story between present day events and back in time?

Initially, I found it slow. I liked the backstory from the past, but found those chapters long, and the present story slow moving. It's like that with all the books though. I've read the first three, and they all have a split timeline, filling in character backstory cut with a present day storyline. The first half of each book is a little slower moving, but around the half way point they all take off and don't slow down till the end. While it takes me a while to read the books because the first half is slower, I actually really like this writing style. It allows Lynch to really flesh out his characters and enrich the worldbuilding. Having read the books, for anyone struggling with the first part, the second half of each book is definitely worth the work it takes to get through the slower parts.

4. Other than Locke, who is your favorite characters as of now?

I really enjoyed Calo and Galdo. But I really, really like Jean. His character is more fully developed in the next two books, but the dialogue and banter between him and Locke is great. I really enjoy the bond they have.

5. Are there any scenes within these first chapters that you found particularly memorable and why?

I found the present day parts in the first bit of the book slow moving and not particularly memorable - they were all set up.

However, two parts that did stick with me were (spoiler tags because I can't remember exactly where they are in the book, but nothing plot wise discussed in the spoilers)

1. (view spoiler)[The description of the orphans under the hill and their living conditions. (hide spoiler)]

2. (view spoiler)[The description of Father Chains hideout under the church when Locke is first brought to the secret portion of the temple. And the alchemical stove that heats up by putting water on it. (hide spoiler)]

My question for the next person:

This may not be something that bothers other people, but although I enjoyed the world building, I really wanted a map to be able to reference. I could visualize each individual location, but could not put them together relative to each other in the world. Does the lack of a map bother you as well or are you able to easily visualize the world without it?

1. Which format did you choose (ebook, paper, audio)? ebook

2. Are you using the book for a challenge category? If yes, which one? No, this is a free read :-)

3. What do you think of Scott Lynch's narrative style? What do you think of the way Scott Lynch weaves the story between present day events and back in time? I really enjoy Lynch's style. This was one of the rare books that surprised me by how it grabbed my attention. I actually said "Wow!" the first night I was reading it! If I wasn't so exhausted from moving I would probably have read the entire book by now. As it is, I am fighting to stay awake to read "just one more page". Hopefully I will be done with the book by the end of December!

4. Other than Locke, who is your favorite characters as of now?
Chains and Bug

5. Answer the question posed by the person above you! "This may not be something that bothers other people, but although I enjoyed the world building, I really wanted a map to be able to reference. I could visualize each individual location, but could not put them together relative to each other in the world. Does the lack of a map bother you as well or are you able to easily visualize the world without it?"

My ebook has a map of Camorr on the first page. Yours does not? I haven't referenced it yet because I hadn't thought much about needing one but I will probably glance at it more now that you have reminded me about it. :-)

1. Which format did you choose (ebook, paper, audio)? Paper. I owned this for a while.

2. Are you using the book for a challenge category? If yes, which one? No, this is a free read :-)

3. What do you think of Scott Lynch's narrative style? What do you think of the way Scott Lynch weaves the story between present day events and back in time?
I liked his descriptions - very rich. But I was put off by the dialogue - it did not match the style of the images. I found the modern day cursing distracting, like laziness, a substitute for more subtle character development.
I found the back and forth at first distracting but I came to like it.

4. Other than Locke, who is your favorite characters as of now?
I already finished it, at this point I woukd say I thought with all the rich detail, we somehow missed getting a good picture of anyone's soul.

5. Answer the question posed by the person above you! "This may not be something that bothers other people, but although I enjoyed the world building, I really wanted a map to be able to reference. I could visualize each individual location, but could not put them together relative to each other in the world. Does the lack of a map bother you as well or are you able to easily visualize the world without it?

My paper book also had a map of Camorr, but I also would have appreciated one of Therin. Later there is much discussion about other cities and I can't visualize them.

My question: at this point I was a bit worried where this was all going. What do you think the role of the elaborate Don Salvara scheme is in the book (apart from the obvious getting money)?

Sorry for the miscommunication - I definitely meant a map of Therin not just Camorr. This may be coming from having read the other books in the series so far, but they travel to more areas and it would be nice to see a map of the world in general.