The Lies of Locke Lamora

Gentleman Bastard, Book 1

By: Scott Lynch

Narrated by: Michael Page

“Remarkable...Scott Lynch’s first novel, The Lies of Locke Lamora, exports the suspense and wit of a cleverly constructed crime caper into an exotic realm of fantasy, and the result is engagingly entertaining.” (The Times, London)

An orphan’s life is harsh - and often short - in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game - or die trying.

Praise for The Lies of Locke Lamora

“Fresh, original, and engrossing...gorgeously realized.” (George R. R. Martin)

“Right now, in the full flush of a second reading, I think The Lies of Locke Lamora is probably in my top ten favorite books ever. Maybe my top five. If you haven’t read it, you should. If you have read it, you should probably read it again.” (Patrick Rothfuss, New York Times best-selling author of The Name of the Wind)

“High-octane fantasy...a great swashbuckling yarn of a novel.” (Richard Morgan)

©Scott Lynch 2006 (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A unique fantasy milieu peopled by absorbing, colorful characters...Locke’s wit and audacity endear him to victims and bystanders alike.” (The Seattle Times)

“A true genre bender, at home on almost any kind of fiction shelf...Lynch immediately establishes himself as a gifted and fearless storyteller, unafraid of comparisons to Silverberg and Jordan, not to mention David Liss and even Dickens.” (Booklist, starred review)

one of my new favorite series

this book was simply amazing the emotion of not just the characters but the atmosphere all around was spectacularly put together I will be listening to all of these books 10/10

slow burn before it gets interesting

the first part is a slow burn and I almost returned the book. but it picks up speed amd it doesn't stop. it's action packed.
it is the type of book that jumps back and forth in time.

On/off

Narration was great! Main character was frustrating. Loch was Sherlock Holmes genius one minute and knuckle-dragger dumb the next. Made for a hard listen.

MUST LISTEN.

PHENOMENAL story, AMAZING characters, LEGENDARY voice actor. This is a must listen for any fantasy fans.

Fantastic Adventure

Absolutely amazing. Wonderful swists and plot. A thrill all the way through with a wonderful voice to narrate.

Great Book and great narration!!

There's something about Lynchs writing and Pages reading that made this book a joy to listen to

A standard to which fantasy writers should aspire

I suggest that that the soaring heights found in some places throughout the book, coupled with the arguably jarring structure of the chapters (replete with interludes), make it so that the conclusion of the book seem to be subpar. It is by no means a poor "landing," but theres little in the way of a coup de grace that you sorely desire by the end of this wonderfully interwoven and emotionally provocative tale.

Great book!

Great story! Great dialogue! I can’t wait to read the next one. Very exciting book!

Fantastic story!

Very clever. It's a story of learning, screwing up, and seeing up more, and keeping true to your friends and ideals. I enjoyed the ride, and to end.

Bit of a slow start, but well worth it

For me it was a bit hard to really get into at first, I thought the author was a bit long winded with setting descriptions, and that distracted from trying to learn about the world and characters. But when there wasn't a description of every detail within 50 yards of the characters the interactions between the characters were top notch.

Once I got a little more into the book and started understanding the world and the people it stopped bothering me and just turned into an excellent story.