Red Seas under Red Skies

Estimated time to read: 4 minutes

Author : Scott Lynch

Disclaimer 1 - SPOILER ALERT
Disclaimer 2 - I had no frame of reference for comparison in the previous book. This time I do. And I intend to make full use of the privilege. There will be multiple references to "The Lies of Locke Lamora", hereby abbreviated TLoLL.

I started this as soon as I was done with book #1 in the Gentleman Bastard series and that's saying something about how captivated the first book's world building left me that I didn't want to get out of it. This, the 2nd book in the series was very good as well. Did I like it as Much as I did Book 1? No. But it still stood well on its own. Feels familiar to how Well of Ascension was in comparison to The Final Empire (Mistborn #2 and #1 respectively.)
If TLoLL had us following Locke Lamora and Jean Tannen solely on land, this time their time was distributed between both land and sea. The book opens to a present-scene of confrontation and double-crossing (Scott Lynch wastes no time) and then we're taken to a time when their previous story ended and this one began - aboard a ship sailing for Tal Verrar from Camorr. As in TLoLL, here as well, we have multiple timelines being narrated - a timeline of preparation for their activities and setting the stage for the "play" they mean to enact around unsuspecting characters and another timeline 2 years hence where the trickery is afoot. The main antagonists, so to speak, are Requin & Selendri and Maxilan Stragos and Merrain.
Initially all Locke and Jean wanted to do was hoodwink Requin at the Sinspire and escape, but they find themselves unwillingly at the mercy of Stragos after the latter poisons them and enlists them as his contractors, giving them the task of stirring up trouble from the seas and bringing back piracy to Tal Verrar, so that he, Stragos could defeat them using his navy and seem victorious in the eyes of the city, so as to seem in control as opposed to his current shunted standing. This puts quite the dent in Locke and Jean's plans, so they have to improvise their plans to factor this new development and Locke decides to do what he does best - pretend to be a double agent, trying to gain the favors of Requin to beat Stragos, who the Master of the Sinspire does not like either. 
Following this brief bit of initial setup on land, the duo are sent to sea to pretend Captain and First Mate of a ship called The Red Messenger, assisted and directed behind the scenes by an actual seamaster, Caldris. Unfortunately Caldris dies while they are at sea and they are found out by the crew and mutinied. 
This is the first of admittedly very few hints of convenience I felt Scott Lynch exploited as he introduced Captain Drakasha and her ship, the very people who the Archon needed as pawns for his plan, into the mix, with no real struggle on Locke and Jean's part except a few hours of sailing on a boat.
Aside from that and a couple other mild issues, I felt the overall plot was well done and tied together. The finesse of TLoLL was missing as was a lot of the banter and Father Chains, Calo, Galdo and Bug were missed. There was also a gaping hole in the non-usage of an "ally" they picked up as they were training for their tower-jumping escapade at The Sinspire. But I'm sure that was a calculated move.

Locke had set himself up to be the primary antihero in TLoLL. Here we see Locke a lot in the background as compared to Jean. Then again, this can be argued to be a plot feature illustrating Locke's mood and possible post-trauma effects inflicted upon him because of his losses and his wounds. To that end, the romance between Jean and Ezri Delmastro and the focus on their relationship was a pleasant introduction and read; not at all overly mushy as these scenes tend to be. What I also liked was how Scott gave the series a strong female character in Drakasha. I loved the chapters where was in focus and her way of balancing a ship as well as her role as a mother. The touch of insistence that a cat and a woman were necessary for a smooth sailing and several minute details were also very welcome.

One thing I noticed particularly was how we see Stragos' mind at work in one of the chapters - his perspective was given importance. We've been used to seeing only the protagonists' perspectives thus far. This also set the tone for Merrain as a far more important player than she portrayed herself to be, which was evident when she escaped despite Jean and Locke's efforts and plans. 
Another thing that I loved was the consistency in the relationship between Jean and Locke; they remained thick as ...well..thieves throughout, even with that one minor argument they had that they bounced back from relatively quickly, ego suppressed and all that. Well done. And Locke's act in the final scene was lovely. Sealed the deal and all that.

I won't tell you how the book ends for two reasons - If you've read it, you already know. And if you haven't, I'd rather you discover this bit for yourself. I can't rob you of that pleasure even if you did sign up for the spoilers.

I'm definitely looking forward to reading The Republic of Thieves for 3 reasons - The Bondsmagi of Karthain, Sabetha's arc and to see if Locke escapes the clutches of death again.

PS - Learnt a lot about ships and nautical terms in this book. Good, that.

Subjective Rating: 4.0/5.0.