Camorr - News and Views from Scott Lynch's Locke Lamora books

I read it. It's good. I'm so ready for this book to be out.

:)

Wow, I nearly threw up with happiness when I read the excerpt!

Yeah, it totally wasn't what i expected, Scott returning to Shades' Hill and all, but it wasn't disappointing either. Anyone else notice that Scott's writing style has changed slightly? Not in a bad way, it's just developing!

I love baby locke, I think he's so cute. i agree that he fell in love with Sabetha a little too quickly, especially considering he's about six or seven. Kids that age don't fall in love.

Spider, that really confused me for a moment! I thought you were referring to when Locke was giving his little toast, you know? When the Sanzas had a go at him for not giving her a decent blessing? But now I see you were talking about when they're little and Locke has first joined GB! Yeah, that does explain it! I'm probably going to offend a whole load of people now, so apologies in advance, but I hope the name 'Beth' doesn't get carried over to the main bulk of the book. I think it's too drab and common; their aren't many 'Sabetha's out there so Scott should hopefully run with it.

I absolutely agree. Though to be fair, it doesn't state she's a year older as a fact. Maybe Locke will be surprised when he finds out she's actually 2-3years older than him?

Overall, I loved the prologue. I thought it felt abit rushed (though, to be fair, i was rushing through it in excitment hehe) and Locke fell in love too quickly, but other than that Lynch is obviously on top form and I'm excited to see how they grow into teenagers together!

prologue was a fun read although i had to do it two more times since i rushed through the first time and half of the second, lol. This reminds me so much of the first book when the present made so much more sense the more you knew about the past, I hope this one will be that fun to read. Any ideas on how the thiefmaker dies? I can't see him living to old age but anyone who takes him out would probably want to do so in a way that keeps his organization intact.

The prologue being done about the past, like the interludes in Lies, made me wonder about how Scott will handle the 'reunion' between Sabetha and Locke. As I said in the read along thread I recently read about the Sanza twins sad demise and I'm curious about Sabetha's reaction when Locke and/or Jean tell her about that. I know from what was said that Sabetha and the Sanza's didn't exactly get along, but I still think there was some affection there. I can't remember if she was around when Bug joined the GB or not, but I'd like to think someone other than Locke and Jean will remember the youngest Gentleman Bastard fondly.

Hi Sabetha,

You really get my brain working. I too believe that the reunion will be handled perfectly. Scott hasn’t let us down yet on that front. I had forgotten about the mask. I can’t imagine that if Locke is as connected to Sabetha as we’ve been led to believe that the mask will fool him for long, besides there’s her flaming red locks, which if the long ago cover art was anything to judge by, she still retains. I personally don’t think she would have been upset at being overlooked as garrista of the GB’s after Chains’ death. Given how much time she spent out of Camorr she may not have even been there. We don’t know when exactly Chains died, although we do know it was at least 4 years, because Bug never met him and he joined the GB’s 4 years prior to Lies. I’m also not sure that the other gangs would have accepted a female garrista. Although there are strong and powerful women (the Spider, Dona Sofia, the Berangias sisters) in Camorr we never hear about a female garrista. One of Barsavi’s reasons for trying to marry Locke off to Nazca is that he doesn’t believe Pachero and Anjais will take orders from their sister, and possibly the other garristas, but if they think the orders are coming from Locke it makes it more palatable. That suggests to me that there are no female garristas. Besides Locke seemed to have a far better relationship with Barsavi than any of the other GBs. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a twist in who Sabetha is working for. The Bondsmages may think she’s working for them, but I get the feeling that she works for herself and no one else. I can see the ending of RoT being Sabetha double crossing Locke and it will lead nicely into the Thorn of Emberlain. While we’re talking about upcoming things I’d love to see how Bug became a member of the gang. I don’t think she was a replacement for Sabetha, Sabetha was hardly ever there. I think Bug was Locke’s project. He wanted to save Bug in the same way that Chains ‘saved’ him.

Brains working is a good thing, even if we do have a wait. I find speculation a fun thing to do and it gives fresh perspective. Besides there’s not much else we can do until RoT hits the shelves.

Book 7? Bug’s initiation is revealed in Book 7? Aaaarrrgghhhhhh! I was hoping it might be one of the novellas/ short stories that we keep hearing about. I agree that Sabetha was around more than Lies suggests, but I think Chains kept her involvement in Camorr to a minimum, partly because she was the only rose amongst the thorns and also partially due to the tension between her and Locke.

I read the tag line for TToE the same way. ‘Two thieves caught between admiration and avarice’ is more than likely Locke and Sabetha. Unless Scott has read some fan fiction and decided to amp up the bromance between Locke and Jean J

I find the mysterious backgrounds of both Locke and Sabetha very interesting. We don’t know Locke’s real name and I think there’s something about his father. He told Jean that he knew his mother was dead, he saw that, and I believe he was telling the truth, but he can only half remember his father leaving. There’s something there. Possibly Locke is the last surviving Therin King, the heir to the Therim Throne. Maybe not quite so grand, but I don’t think he’s totally some gutter born kid from one of Camorr’s nastier areas. I believe the books will eventually lead up to the big reveal, if they’re 7 caper books, no matter how entertaining, it seems rather pointless. You as well just make it a series with no finite end similar to Jim Butcher’s (he’s just one name I threw in there, there are loads of others, and yes I know Locke is not paranormal fiction) Harry Dresden books. You mentioned that Sabetha hid her hair and dyed it because she was running from someone or something. I think there’s something in that, too. Maybe she’s nobly born. Dave Sim did it with Jaka in Cerebus. She left the most powerful family in Palnu and became a tavern dancer in the lower city to escape her family. Sabetha may have done something similar.

I've been trying to stay out of this (very interesting) conversation and of too much speculations, because the wait is going to kill me if I think too much about the book... But I can't resist!

I've got a quick question about geography that is related to Sabetha's past. In LoLL we learn that she's in Parlay in the North. In RoT she's in Karthain. Do we know where she was after the left the GBs? I don't think so. I seem to remember that Karthain is in the South while Parlay is in the North (can't find the map though...). I know that some people believe that Sabetha may be a bondsmage. It's an interesting theory but somehow I don't think it is possible. It must take a long time to become a Bondsmage so she should have been in Karthain not in Parlay when she was young. It seems that she became acquainted with the Bondsmagi after she left the GBs. Also, bondsmagi wear conspicuous tattoos; I think it would have been obvious if she did. I seem to remember that Father Chains does not like the bondsmagi, like he does not like the Secret Peace. Somehow I can't imagine Sabetha betraying everything she's learned when she was in the GBs.

I think her connection with the bondsmagi is more complicated. And I can't get out of my mind the RoT blurb saying that she NEEDS Locke dead. As I said before, this makes me say that the bondsmagi have some kind of leverage. Do they hold someone captive? Do they threaten someone dear to Sabetha? Someone from her family? Is Merrain involved in this (it seems that she's working for the bondsmagi)? Is her tattoo (grapevine around a sword) the coat of arms of a bondsmagi family or the mark of another group (maybe from Emberlain: grapevine = winemakers of the North)?

IMO, Sabetha didn't have anything to do with the bondsmage prior to RoT. The blurb says they hired Sabetha as a counter measure after the opposing party hired Locke (though this is contradicted later when the blurb states that one of the reasons Locke agreed to help the bondsmage in the first place is to see Sabetha again, unless they predicted he'd join regardless and the opposing party got wind of it and thought ahead). Also, six years is a long time to be away. It wouldn't surprise me if she's got a kid, even a close-knit gang of her own. But considering, as Spider said, that the blurb stated she NEEDS him dead, I think she's clearly being black mailed into the ordeal.

Also, I don't think Sabetha is a bondsmage, no matter how interesting the theory is. I think she's just a regular (albeit talented) thief who happens to be 'the queen of all the charmers who ever lived' - a pretty useful asset when conning people out of their money.

Indeed, a map of the continent would be extremely helpful...
http://www.scottlynch.us/images/brasssea07.jpg
From this map, we can see that Karthain is north of Tal Verrar. Camorr is not on this map, but I think that it is somewhere east of Tal Verrar. And Parlay is somewhere north.

Sabetha's theory about a child is interesting. It would be indeed great leverage. I thought about the fact that it could be Locke's and then I thought that maybe it would be a bit cheesy. Of course it depends how it is presented! The idea of a gang is also very interesting. Sabetha seems to have been ambitious. Maybe this is why Locke and her split up. When Father Chain died, they were maybe competing for the "job" of garrista. She could have left Camorr to form her own gang somewhere north.

Honestly, I can't wait. And Scott's most recent silence is not very encouraging...

Spider: 'I thought about the fact that it could be Locke's and then I thought that maybe it would be a bit cheesy!'

Haha, I totally agree! I even originally wrote it in the comment box while writing my previous post, but then backtracked and deleted because I too thought it was too cheesy!But as you say, it depends on how it's handled. However, after thinking deeper about it, I now believe Sabetha will be in the Thorn Of Emberlain, so I can't imagine their kid would be in future books too. Talk about overcomplicating matters.

I reckon Calo and Galdo meant their snips about Sabetha affectionately. And don't forget they were little boys when they said and normal kids their age don't think much of girls as it is (bar Locke, apparantly). They were pretty quick to defend her in Lies, later on, after Locke's 'blessing'. Just my opinion, anyways.