Very Highly Recommended Reading - Red Seas Under Red Skies, by Scott Lynch

Filed by: Darren Turpin on April 12, 2007 at 20:16
Filed under: Books

'Red Seas Under Red Skies' by Scott Lynch - Click for ordering info from Amazon.co.ukI've been sitting here for about twenty minutes trying to work out how to tell you how much I thoroughly enjoyed - no, absolutely loved - Red Seas Under Red Skies, Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards follow-up, without committing an act of wanton spoilerage. And you know what? I'm sorry, but I don't think I can do it, so...

This Recommended Reading piece contains spoilers. If you haven't read the book yet and want to avoid them, look away NOW!

There. I hope you have been suitably warned.

I'll start by saying that Red Seas... is one of the very best second novels I've ever read. If anything it's an improvement on the first in the series; which wasn't necessarily guaranteed to be the case, what with the worry that the dreaded 'second novel syndrome' might have struck. By which, I'm alluding to that horrible condition whereby the pressure of deadline and expectation conspires to rob an author of their burgeoning powers at the most critical stage of their fledgling career; resulting in their turning out a far inferior piece of work to the one that they spent six years slaving over to get into print as their debut.

But rest assured that this is most definitely not the case with Red Seas.... Oh, no. Far, far from it.

If you loved The Lies of Locke Lamora and have been crying out for a second instalment that takes the essence of the first novel and builds on the same sword, sorcery and swashbuckling atmosphere - of high adventure in the lowest of low fantasy settings - to create a sequel of equal adrenaline-fuelled excitement and descriptive delight, then your wishes have been answered. Red Seas Under Red Skies is, once again, a caper saga of immense imaginative flair, with a plot that twists and turns at breakneck pace as our heroes hurtle from one sticky situation and death-defying act of derring-do to another.

Locke and Jean have a truly grand plan this time around - a plan that will surely march them headlong into their devoutly hoped-for life of unending ease and luxury - as they prepare to stage the heist of their careers to-date: stealing all they can get their mitts on from one of the most secure and reputedly thief-proof gambling establishments in the known world. Until, that is, their plans are rudely interrupted by a despot in desperate straits; one who requires our boys to head out to sea - unfamiliar ground indeed for our two city -born and -bred protagonists - and foment a buccaneer rebellion, in order to speed his own return to prominence. Oh yeah, and to secure their loyalty, he's tricked them both into swallowing a slow but surely deadly poison, and only his tame alchemist has the antidote... Plot-twists, y'say? Oh, aye, skipper. Plot-twists a-plenty, right up th' t'gallant.

On the other hand: if you thought that The Lies of Locke Lamora was a fantastic debut, but have been hoping that Lynch would take the opportunity of a second novel to build on that initial sound basis and deliver a genuine development of both his main characters and his milieu - in addition delivering another cracking yarn - then once again, you're in luck. Character-wise the onus is once again very firmly on Locke and Jean and their heartfelt efforts to remain extant in the face of ever-increasing odds. But there's a great deal more depth imparted to both characters this time around, and a lot of the character development concerns the changes in their relationship. Initially those changes are brought about by Locke's reaction to the events of the first installment, but later, as Jean discovers that's there's much more to life than being a bodyguard and sidekick to the Thorn of Camorr - regular and highly energetic fucking, for instance - the emphasis of their relationship is altered, and Lynch charts it in such a way that it enhances the development of the plot, rather than getting in the way of the ripping yarn in progress.

I think the subtlety of the development really has to be experienced to be fully appreciated. I will say, though, that I thoroughly enjoyed the way Lynch skilfully foreshadowed one of the key scenes on the book with that flash-forward in the prologue. It was skilfully done indeed, because that vignette became key to the way in which I, as reader, was encouraged to really focus in on the two men and their changing relationship. I ended up reading the text more closely than if I'd been along purely for the action sequences. I found myself measuring the changes that occurred against the apparent situation revealed at the start of the book, and from there speculating and attempting to draw my own conclusions (often erroneously) on the basis of the clues imparted. It's a great way of immersing the reader even further into the narrative and encouraging their full participation in the book. Great technique.

An essential element in this process - indeed in the whole narrative - was one element that managed to rise above and beyond even the fantastic plotting and superb characterisation. The dialogue in Red Seas... was, once again, absolutely magnificent. I said in a recent recommendation of Joe Abercrombie's Before They Are Hanged that effective and well-delivered dialogue is rapidly becoming one of the major keys to my enjoyment of a lot of the fiction I read and right now, I think it would be a very close call indeed between Lynch and Abercrombie as to who is the most proficient. Both authors demonstrate a quite wonderful ear for the patterns and rhythms of speech and conversation, and neither is afraid to show off a little: no dumbing-down or retreating into safe cliché for either of these authors; likewise there's a bare minimum of anachronistic modernisms to distract from the flow. Just dialogue that's rich, full, varied, consistent and above all, hugely characterful. Quite simply a joy to read.

Okay, I do have just the one (relatively minor) criticism of Red Seas..., which is that it felt a little too obviously cinematic in places: think Ocean's 11 meets The Curse of the Black Pearl, albeit without the undead pirate element. But then, perhaps this was, once again, a deliberate device intended to enhance the audience's immersion in the book: an apparently familiar plot-structure intended to lull the reader into thinking that they know the score; thereby helping the coming plot twists to achieve maximum impact?

In any case, it bloody well worked. Maximum impact indeed, from a writer who's still only on his second novel. I'm absolutely delighted that Lynch was able to rise to a repeat of his own previously high-set bar and deliver a truly terrific read, one that constantly had me grinning from ear to ear as I progressed - except for those scenes of very definite and quite poignant tragedy that conjured up tears rather than laughter - and one that I was truly sorry to finish.

And that, for me, is one of the clearest marks of a damn good book: when you get to the end and just wish there had still been a couple more chapters to go.

Red Seas Under Red Skies is a definite early contender for my Book of the Year, and I'm now on major tenterhooks for part three (especially after that ending...) and thoroughly intrigued to see what direction Lynch takes the Gentlemen Bastards in next. Bring on the third instalment!

Author info: www.scottlynch.us
Ordering info: Amazon.co.uk
Publication info: June 21st 2007, Gollancz Books (UK)

Filed on: April 12, 2007
Filed under: Books
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Comments

One Response to 'Very Highly Recommended Reading - Red Seas Under Red Skies, by Scott Lynch'

  1. Homo Sum » Blog Archive » Saturday night with the books on May 6th, 2007 5:52 am

    [...] The Lies Of Locke Lamora was pretty good, especially for a first novel. You always wonder, though, "is he going to improve, or fade?". Well, I haven't read the second book, Red Seas Under Red Skies, yet, but the kids over at The Genre Files have, and they are pretty relentlessly positive about it. If you loved The Lies of Locke Lamora and have been crying out for a second instalment that takes the essence of the first novel and builds on the same sword, sorcery and swashbuckling atmosphere - of high adventure in the lowest of low fantasy settings - to create a sequel of equal adrenaline-fuelled excitement and descriptive delight, then your wishes have been answered. Red Seas Under Red Skies is, once again, a caper saga of immense imaginative flair, with a plot that twists and turns at breakneck pace as our heroes hurtle from one sticky situation and death-defying act of derring-do to another. [...]

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