The Lies of Locke Lamora

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

As soon as I finished this book I was incredibly tempted to sit down and write a review of it in the manner of 'a review about a book by a marginalized author.' You know: Lynch's representation of straight white men isn't very flattering, and a writer's got to think about how he represents these things. Why didn't Lynch put the straight romance on the page? Is he ashamed of straightness? Lynch's use of his ethnic background to inform the picture of a city-state that I could really believe was set in some Rome- or Venice-like city hundreds of years ago is so innovative and beautiful! I could totally smell the piss being thrown out of windows onto the street.

But that's not really a review of the book so much as it's a review of my frustrations with how people (myself included, to be clear) write book reviews. And that's not really fair.

So, I will say that The Lies of Locke Lamora is a book with a classic fantasy feel, full of grimy men who like to swear and drink, and the twist on the genre is that it's set in a city, and our heroes do heists rather than go on quests. Which I like! I love a good heist. The plot is pretty satisfying, full of twists and turns as a good crime story ought to be, and the characters are mostly okay. Locke is a bit of a wunderkind, and there's a lovely and intelligent young woman who gets fridged in a particularly gruesome way that made me really sad. Not sad like I was immersed in the story, sad like I was reminded about the real world and how disposable women are when men are fighting.

There's a lot of that going around these days.

Anyway, I listened to this on audio while I sewed a pair of pants, specifically the Cedar Pants pattern by LeilaMakes. The pattern is really well done, super easy to follow, and the pants are a delight. I'm going to make another pair out of a more grown-up fabric, but this was actually the first time I've sewed something from a pattern instead of self-drafting, so I used some woven cotton I picked up at the thrift store for like $5. They're so comfortable, and the book was plenty long to get through making them from start to finish, so that's nice.