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Scott Lynch's debut novel The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gollancz, $32.95) has garnered a lot of publicity - reviews, both good and bad, movie options and the stories of its discovery and the significant contract that followed have all led to claims of a new style of fantasy. With all this attention swirling around this novel I was intrigued.
I love a good anti-hero, and that's what Locke Lamora is hailed as in the title - a liar. He is a confidence man. And more: a thief and a priest. And more. There nothing this man can't do. His adventures are wild and sly. It is a treat to read.
But there is little that is new in this novel and much that has been done better. The Stainless Steel Rat and the Grey Mouser in speculative fiction. Raffles and Parker in crime fiction. These older characters are all far more emotionally and narratively compelling. But Locke Lamora is the fantasy anti-hero of the early twentieth century. Scott Lynch has shown in his debut novel that he has the makings of a fine fantasy author. Fantasy needs a character like Locke Lamora to shake it up.