Let’s talk some Scott Lynch (again)

Posted by: Redhead on: December 6, 2011

• In: dark fantasy | Patrick Rothfuss | Scott Lynch
• 9 Comments

I got the opportunity to talk a bit about Scott Lynch with my friend John on a local radio show, Arts and More.  and wow, can I tell you, 45 seconds to talk about your favorite author is not a lot of time!

If you found your way to this site from the radio show, welcome.  Please have a look around.  I do mostly Science Fiction and Fantasy, and am currently getting ramped up for my Vintage Science Fiction month, this coming January (note to self: buy more baking soda).

Scott Lynch has been called one of the finest fantasy writers of our time.   His fiction falls smack dab in the middle of what’s become known as Dark Fantasy.  That usually means the good guy is a bad guy, and the bad guy is even worse. It means sarcastic and witty dialog, the anti-heroes make a hobby out of getting beaten up, and thievery, language, violence, and back stabbing (literally) are every day activities. In Dark Fantasy, there are no white hats and dark hats, simply gray hats and grayer hats.  Not so escapist as it sounds at first blush, is it?

in short: Dark Fantasy is good fun, and Scott Lynch is a master at creating it.  When I feel like I’m in a reading rut, he is my go to guy. This isn’t my first time waxing rhapsodic about him.

Scott Lynch’s ongoing fantasy series, the Gentleman Bastard series, starts out in a fantastical Renaissance Venice style city, and is about . . . well, it’s about a lot of things. Friends, crime, revenge, more crime, screwing the bad guys over, some more revenge, and an itty bitty teeny weeny bit of romance.  The first book in the series, The Lies of Locke Lamora, introduces us to the title character, Locke. We learn of his misspent youth, his training with Father Chains, and how he grew up to become known as the Thorn of Camorr, a con artist able to sell salt water to mermaids and spirit necklaces off sleeping duchesses. Lamora makes Danny Ocean look like an amateur.  But there is dark revenge afoot, and of course Locke finds himself in the middle of it all.   The second book, Red Seas Under Red Skies is a little more subtle, a little more mature. and there are lots and lots of pirates.  Along with thousands of other rabid fans, I am hoping the third book in the series, The Republic of Thieves, will arrive soon.

If those reviews caught your interest, you can also find Lynch’s short story In the Stacks, about a group of students who are on a quest to return a book to the right shelf in a magical, wondrous library, in the anthology Swords and Dark Magic.  His serialized novel, Queen of the Iron Sands, is available on his website.

Also, here is a wonderful and recent audio interview with Mr. Lynch done through Orion Publishing. He has a beautiful voice, doesn’t he?

In closing, if you’re not reading Scott Lynch, you  are missing out on something very special.

Oh, and I also talked a bit about Patrick Rothfuss. But you probably already know who he is.  Have you see his The Princess and Mr Whiffle? If not, go find a copy, it’s adorable, and it’s not at all what you think.

Tags: books, dark, fantasy