Scott Lynch is a talented wordsmith. His writing is exceptionally vivid, which he uses to significant effect in his debut novel, The Lies of Locke Lamora. That being said, his characters lack depth, and the plot takes a while to get going, and when it does, it is relatively straightforward.
The Lies of Lock Lamora takes a good 250 pages to find its stride. Until then, we are treated to a series of clever capers organized by Locke, the titular protagonist and orphan raised from childhood to become a master thief. While the novel’s brilliant turn of events are fun to read, I found Lynch’s omniscient, surface-level storytelling a bit lacking. We never get a sense of the characters’ motivations or what anyone is thinking or feeling at any given moment, which made it hard for me to become fully invested in the story. All we ever learn about Locke is that he’s a genius conman who tricks wealthy aristocrats out of their money, using disguises and fake accents, and that he cares deeply for his fellow gang of thieves. The plot is fairly engaging when it finally emerges, with your typical bad guy doing bad things. Yet, it never rises to anything exceptional, at least not enough to cover for the lack of character development. The writing quality remains superb throughout, effectively transporting the reader to Lynch’s Venice-inspired setting of Camorr and the criminal underworld that features so prominently in it.
Lately, I have been having a hard time reading and reviewing fantasy. As an author working in the same genre, I may be too biased to judge things impartially and a lot more critical than your average reader. But from what I can tell, most fantasy published nowadays—from Mistborn to The Poppy War to The Name of the Wind—seems to follow a basic formula, and they are all heavily influenced by Tolkien, the grandaddy of the genre, particularly with regards to world building, which too often comes at the expense of character and plot (something I have been griping about forever). For this reason, I have developed a system to rate these types of books more effectively.
Character and plot, the most important elements in any novel, are rated between 1 and 4, with the book’s final score based on the average of the two. Since worldbuilding is NOT necessary for good storytelling, I will only include it as a bonus point. This way, a book can still rank 4 out of 4 without relying on worldbuilding in any way. I will also include a bonus point for any philosophical or metaphorical concepts the author presents, which, although not necessary, can influence the overall score.
The Lies of Locke Lamora Overall Rating:
- Character: 1/4
- Plot: 3/4
- Worldbuilding +1
- Philosophy +0
- Total: 2.5
The Art of Storytelling 
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