Red Seas Under Red Skies

The second book in the Gentlemen Bastards series sees Locke and Jean caught mid-game by old enemies and delivered into the power of the military governor of a merchant state, and the action - once more consisting of a series of increasingly large gambles and deceptions - is transferred from the Elderglass towers of Camorr to the witchwood hull of a pirate ship and the terrace merchant city of Tal Verrar, where the Gnetlemen Bastards still plan to pull off their magnum opus, and at the same time remind the great and the good that however big you are, no-one fucks over a Camorri and walks away from it.

More even than in The Lies of Locke Lamora, the strength of Red Seas Under Red Skies lies in its characters. Jean has far more voice in this volume, and whereas Lies was about 90% Locke, the split here is roughly even. This is in part because the big, dramatic character moments fall to Jean, although that is not to say that Locke gets no growth.

Red Seas Under Red Skies is a fine follow-up to The Lies of Locke Lamora. By received wisdom, sequels need to get bigger, get smarter or get more personal, and this one definitely gets bigger, opening up the canvas as well as having the Bastards take on two of the most powerful men in their region for profit and vengeance.