Book Review: The Republic of Thieves

I was a bit apprehensive about picking up the next entry in the Gentlemen Bastard series.  I didn’t dislike Red Seas Under Red Skies, but it didn’t deliver the same kind of impact that the first book; Lies of Locke Lamora did.  I think what made me a bit more forgiving of the 2nd entry’s shortfalls was to learn about the struggles Scott Lynch suffered when writing for the series.  Dealing with his own bouts of anxiety and depression in his personal life, Scott has been on record about how his struggle has influenced his writing ability.  I think the weight of following on from such a colossal hit like the first entry clearly knocked Lynch’s own self-confidence, which couldn’t have been helped when as a writer you fixate on your flaws and listen more closely to your critics than your endorsers.  I’m happy to report then that the third entry in the Gentlemen Bastard series, The Republic of Thieves is a stunning return to form for Lynch and has reinvigorated my interest in continuing to follow the series.

Following on from the events of Red Seas Under Red Skies, Jean Tannen and Locke Lamora are struggling to find a cure for the poison that is slowly killing Locke.  Their dire situation ends up putting them into an uneasy alliance with their old enemies; the Bondsmagi. In exchange for a cure to Locke’s sickness, the Bondsmagi enlist the duo into a political plot to influence the vote of their affiliated party the Deep Roots in the district city of Karthain as part of a 5-year game.  With little other choice, the duo agrees to the terms presented and soon learn their major opposition in the plot will come in the form of their life-long friend and fellow Gentlemen Bastard called Sabetha.  Enlisted as part of the opposing political party, the Black Iris party, Sabetha serves as a rival agent who deploys her own schemes to influence her own party’s interest and foil Locke’s own plans.   Despite their clearly opposing sides, Lock and Sabetha shared a long, romantic past that comes to the forefront of their confrontations during the course of the narrative.  As the main plot plays out, there’s also an interlude plotline which reflects the early years of Locke and Sabetha’s relationship as they grow and train within their band of thieves in the city of Camorr.

The narrative construction of The Republic of Thieves is remarkably set up. Throughout the course of the book Scott Lynch smartly sets up two parallel storylines across different periods of times.  While separate in the core approach they each share vital aspects of progression which helps build the themes and tension of the developing stories.  The political plot of the 5 Year Game is interesting and well set up because it utilizes the best aspects of Locke and Jean’s skill set in a brand-new setting.  Seeing the duo bounce off one another as they seek to deploy their own political schemes while fighting against all of Sabetha’s counter schemes makes for a really intriguing back and forth battle to follow along with.  The heart of the story is the romantic plot between Locke and Sabetha and I really appreciated the set up from Scott Lynch across both parallel plot lines.  It helps that there’s a lot of devotion put into building compelling characters in this series and Sabetha is no exception to this typical quality.  Her witty and sharp inflections make her a really fun character to follow along and see the charming romance she develops with Locke over the course of the narrative.  World building has always been Scott Lynch’s strong suit and that strength continues to be on full force here. The narrative takes place across several district cities in this book and there’s a great level of detail given to building these locations and the factions and people who reside within them.  Having all these components given so much detail allows you to really visualize the world you are inhabiting. 

The only con to this book’s plethora of pros is the pacing.  As is often the case with many well-defined stories, the pacing of Republic of Thieves is notably slow.  I know this isn’t necessarily a big distractor, but when the book consists of around 600 pages, that decision to slow the pace of the story is one that feels notable.  It’s a notable consolation then that I enjoyed this story thoroughly enough to not let this slow pace impact my overall enjoyment of the narrative. 

The Republic of Thieves is a clear testament that Scott Lynch is a far better writer than he gives himself credit for.  I emphasize with his personal struggles and only hope he realizes his own worth when he sees how many of us truly love reading this series.  I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the narrative and it’s writing style utilizes a stylistic and descriptive format to deliver an experience well worth diving into if you consider yourself a fantasy genre fan.