Red Seas Under Red Skies read-along, part 2!

Posted by: Redhead on: May 5, 2012

• In: read along | Scott Lynch
• 34 Comments

artwork by Anna-Maria Jung

avast anchor ye flea bitten filth!

umm, or something!

welcome to week two of our read along for Scott Lynch’s Red Seas Under Red Skies, the 2nd book in his Gentleman Bastard sequence. If you haven’t read this book, beware, thar be spoilers. We’re not too far in, if you’ve like to join, just leave a note in the comments, or feel free to tweet me, I’d be happy to deal you in next hand. on twitter? use hashtag #lynchmob.

this week’s reading section covered The Lady of the Glass Pylon through the end of Chapter six, and now we’re really up to our eyeballs in it! The Gents got pulled off one job and bodily tossed onto another. We learned a bit more about some of our minor characters, and just possibly got a few hints as to a bigger picture.  Locke and Jean learned there’s lots more to do on a boat besides get seasick. Also, one of my most favorite lines in a book, EVER, which I believe nicely sums up the plot of the book:

“How the screaming fucking hell do you expect the two of us to raise a bloody pirate armada in a place we’ve never been and convince it to come merrily die at the hands of the navy that bent it over the table and fucked it in the ass the last time?”

For the life of me, I don’t know why that isn’t on the blurb on the back of the book. 😉 Every time i get to that scene I giggle uncontrollably, read that line out loud to my other half, and since these books aren’t his thing he’s like “uh huh.”   I LOVE all the dialog between Locke and Jean and Caldris. Caldris ain’t such a bad guy once they get to know him, he’s seen some tough times too.

Make sure to make the rounds of all the links below to see what everyone else is saying and to thank our co-hosts, Dark Cargo, Lynn’s Book Blog , My Awful Reviewsand OhthatAshley at SFSignal.  This week’s discussion starters were supplied by yours truly.

here’s the questions, with my answers below!

Now that we know a little more about Selendri and Requin, what do you think of them? I worry Locke is suddenly realizing this con might be a bit tougher than he expected.

Isn’t the Artificers’ Crescent just amazing?  If you could purchase anything there, what would it be?

What did you think of  Salon Corbeau and the goings on that occur there? A bit crueler than a Camorri crime boss, no?

The Archon might be a megalomaniacal military dictator, but he thinks he’s doing right by Tal Verrar: his ultimate goal seems to be to protect them.  What do you think he’s so afraid of?

And who the heck is trying to kill Locke and Jean every few days?  they just almost got poisoned (again!)!

Do you really think it’s possibly for a city rat like Locke to fake his way onto a Pirate ship?

all the other wonderful discussions:
Paperless Reading
Lynn’s Book blog
Genkinahito’s Blog
Scruffy Fiction
Booky Pony
Dark Cargo
My Awful Reviews
Just Book Reading
Coffee Cookies, and Chili Peppers
Akki’s Arcanum
Nashville Bookworm
Books Without Any Pictures
Tethyan Books
Travels Through Iest
Beware of the Froggies
Real Books 4 Ever

New!

All I Am – A Redhead
The Sleepless Reader
Kaitharshayr’s Musings

Now that we know a little more about Selendri and Requin, what do you think of them? I worry Locke is suddenly realizing this con might be a bit tougher than he expected.

More ultra tragic characters? Jeez, when is Lynch going to write a character to which nothing bad every happens, and that person lives a long boring life doing nothing of consequence and sustains no bodily injuries. oh wait, that would boring.   Poor Selendri, I do feel awful about what happened to her. Her and Requin have a sort of obsessive compulsive relationship, it seems. I get the impression that Requin doesn’t really give a shit what Locke is up to. I mean, he does care, he doesn’t want his vault broken into, but his first priority is Selendri. and strange as their relationship is, that’s pretty fucking romantic.

and it’s so funny that Locke is completely flabbergasted by Selendri. He’s trying to get to know her a little bit, so he can use his wiles on her,  but she’s having absolutely none of that. And I think his nervousness, his “shit i don’t know what to say to you!” is what’s making her soften towards him, just a teensy weensy bit. and that brass hand? vicious!

Isn’t the Artificers’ Crescent just amazing?  If you could purchase anything there, what would it be?

a perfect clockwork toaster oven. Seriously. my toaster always burns the back of the bread, but the front near the door isn’t toasted enough. And damnit, I want a clockwork toaster that makes the most perfectly toasted bread anyone ever ate. You know Jean would appreciate it.

What did you think of  Salon Corbeau and the goings on that occur there? A bit crueler than a Camorri crime boss, no?

Yikes that place is disturbing.  If there is anything on this wide blue earth to make Locke realize the rich are the only ones who deserve to be robbed, that the Secret Peace protected the same kinds of people who would gentle kittens and stone people for fun, Salon Corbeau is that place.  And that flashback with Father Chains telling a much younger Locke about how the rich remember? Perfect timing, that. just thinking about that place makes me want to wash my mouth out.

The Archon might be a megalomaniacal military dictator, but he thinks he’s doing right by Tal Verrar: his ultimate goal seems to be to protect them.  What do you think he’s so afraid of?

I wish I knew. there are some hints dropped, but I don’t think even he knows what’s going to happen.  There was a scene early on in the book, involving the Quill Pen Rebellion. Printing presses have been invented, and the scriveners are freaking out.  That means technology is coming, possibly technology that can beat the magic of the Bondsmagi. I’m not talking super high tech stuff or anything, but can you imagine what a steam engine would mean for these people?  for the short term, the Archon just needs the funding of the Priori so he can build a mega Navy.

And who the heck is trying to kill Locke and Jean every few days?  they just almost got poisoned (again!)!

again, I wish I knew!  I’d ask who else they’ve pissed off, but the question should really be who haven’t they pissed off!  Good thing Merain keeps following them around.

Do you really think it’s possibly for a city rat like Locke to fake his way onto a Pirate ship?

sometimes I wonder if they shouldn’t have made Jean the fake captain. Locke can look the part, but Jean is smart, he actually studies the books and the charts, he can talk the talk and walk the walk, whereas Locke can just spew out random nautical slang into a semblance of a sentence.  I like my boys intelligent, I wish Locke had just a smidgen more appreciate for the written word. If he’s going to be my book boyfriend, this could be a deal breaker.

Tags: fantasy, read along