In The Lies of Locke Lamora, readers are introduced to Locke, an orphan in a fantastical city with magical glass relics the size of entire city blocks. The glass is all that was left behind by the people who founded the city. Its inhabitants now do not understand how it was constructed, but that doesn’t keep them from utilizing the spires of magic glass or appreciating its otherworldly beauty.

Within this strange city that is similar to our world’s Venice, yet so different, Locke Lamora is taken in by various characters in the realm’s criminal underworld. The boy shows promise for a life of theft and confidence games… if he can reign in his propensity for accidentally getting people killed.

“At the height of a long wet summer of the seventy-seventh year of Sendovani, the Thiefmaker of Camorr paid a sudden and unannounced visit to the Eyeless Priest at the Temple of Perelandro, desperately hoping to sell him the Lamora boy.”

There are layers to this tale. There’s intrigue and backstabbing among the criminal underworld or those who call themselves, “the right people”. There’s a gang of criminal masterminds, the Gentleman Bastards, who prey on the city’s upper class citizens, but who pass themselves off as simple sneak thieves to the rest of the gangs.

And while Locke’s gang, the Gentleman Bastards, are running one of the biggest cons of their life, the chapters of that storyline are interspersed with the personal histories of the gang’s members. Part of that history includes the Gentleman Bastards’ training as priests of the various orders in the city, of which there are many.

So, to recap: there’s complex religion, city hierarchy, criminal hierarchy, levels of con games, and then the real story begins when Locke’s plan, as usual, begins to go sideways.

“I ache in places I didn’t previously realize I owned,” said Locke, gingerly applying adhesive paste to his chin with his fingers. “But it can’t be helped.”

I first read The Lies of Locke Lamora eight years ago in March 2012. I recently re-read it in May 2020. To my surprise, I enjoyed it somewhat less the second time around.

I still like the characters, the story and the setting, all of which were beautifully written. My complaint was the pacing. Just as the author gets rolling on the main story line, he draws us back into the past. I didn’t seem to mind it the first time I read the book, but I definitely noticed it in the second reading.

But don’t let a small thing like pacing dissuade you from reading The Lies of Locke Lamora. It is an awfully entertaining fantasy read. And if I remember correctly, the next two books in the series are fun as well.

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