Red Seas Under Red Skies Read Along Part 5

It is the final part of the Red Seas Under Red Skies Read Along and as we prepare to bid farewell to Locke and Jean I think I know what lures sailors to their doom in the Parlour Passage – not rebel bondsmagi but sexy mermaids.

Anyway I have had another great time conversing with book bloggers and I would like to thank the #lynchmob leader Little Red Reviewer for organising the whole thing. This week’s questions come from Lynn who told me that mermaids are dangerous last week which saved my life on a recent coastal walk. Anyway these readalong have been a lot of fun thanks to the exciting books and the book bloggers who offer up a variety of weird and wonderful opinions.

1.       Oh my god, such a lot going on I thought the showdown between the Poison Orchid and the Sovereign was brilliantly written and they were holding their own until Utgar and his nasty device turned up.  Well a lot of you had kind of predicted it, and I suppose we’d been let off too easy so far in terms of deaths of well-liked characters  – but come on,  did you expect something like that?  And how on earth will Jean ever recover?

Talk about nerve wracking battle – kids in danger, ship could sink while there is a sea-monster swimming around, half the crew dead, and evil birds flapping about pecking eyes out. I did not see the situation with Utgar coming up – his alchemical  device was really evil and ingenious. I honestly thought that the situation might have evolved differently. I thought Jean might save the kids and the whole crew would surrender to Rodanov and get sent to prison. When Ezri sacrificed herself it was horrific. Like others I felt that Ezri and Drakasha were marked for death because they occupied a similar position to Nazca – strong characters who have a major influence on the GB’s. Will Jean recover? Not entirely. It will haunt him. Perhaps make him more reckless and nihilistic.

Red Seas Under Red Skies Read Along Part 4

Week 4 of our Red Seas Under Red Skies read along saw the guys finally reach the Ghost Wind islands and encounter some strange – dare I say WEIRD? – things! I get the feeling that this will be the last tie that the Jean and Locke will play at being pirates so I had better start packing in One Piece images in.

Move Over Poison Orchids! The Straw Hat Pirates Rock!

This week’s questions come from nrlymrtl who writes at Dark Cargo. Check in with our #lynchmob leader, The Little Red Reviewer, for more blogs that are participating.

1) I was much relieved when Jean and Locke made up, which started with Locke’s gesture of a cup full of honesty with Cpt. Drakasha. Do you think that was hard for Locke? Or was he using this bit of honesty like any other weapon in his arsenal to get what he wants in the end?

Locke has grown as a character. The heat of battle made him react badly to the fact that Jean might love someone more than him but when he cooled off he saw that Jean really loves Ezri, they’re made for each other, pirates are thieves too, (yadda yadda) but, most importantly, he saw the usefulness of having the Orchids on his side and the best way to do that is to play the empathy/trust/honesty card with Zamira. It was a bit of a con that was inspired by Jean and his suggestion that they work with the pirates. Out of all the choices available it was the easiest choice for him to make that would drag him from his awful position into one that gives him a range of better choices.

2) The Parlor Passage: We still don’t know Locke’s true name, but whatever was in that mist does. What do you think it is?

I think that there’s a mage in that mist! We got a hint that there was a “Figure” in the Parlour Passage.

“Something was there, for the briefest instant – a dark shape visible through the curtains of mist. Man-sized. Tall, thin and motionless. Waiting there atop the reef.”

There is a mage that has some insanely powerful magic at his fingertips and is able to pry into the minds of those who sail past. We know that the Bondsmagi tried to ensure they have a monopoly on magic by forcing people to join them or die but what if one or more got away? If I were a mage then I would flee to the farthest reaches of civilisation’s influence (Ghostwind Islands) and set up shop in a place the Bondsmagi would deign to unimportant or too risky to search. Locke and Jean will probably recruit this guy who will be out of shape, old, grouchy and probably swears a lot. If Locke wanted to recruit a powerful old man then he should recruit the truly epic pirate Whitebeard.

Red Seas Under Red Skies Readalong Week 3

Week three of the Red Seas Under Red Skies Readalong hosted by the Little Red Reviewer is upon us and the readers have seen Locke and Jean finally take to the water with their pirate ship. This week’s questions come from Ashley of SF Signal who is available on twitter at @ohthatashley.

Was anyone else tired after reading this section?

No! I’m a veteran of the Monkey Island campaigns! I made the mistake of watching one of those awful Pirates of the Caribbean films which never seem to have a beginning or end. Or good story. Or acting.

1. Locke and Jean’s ability to find themselves at the center of a serious mess seems unparalleled. At this point, do you think that Stragos will get the return he expects on his investment in them?

Locke and Jean’s abilities to get stuck in a huge mess is where the entertainment comes in. The fact that the people involved in these schemes have audacious plans make the adventures so exciting. I’m beginning to wonder whether Stragos wants them to be successful pirates or if there’s something else afoot. Is there something up with the ship that Drakasha now owns? A concealed bomb?

 

2. Merrain’s activities after our boys leave Windward Rock are interesting. What do you think her plans are?

Didn’t I say there was something suspicious about her last week? My opinion is split as to whether she’s an agent of the Bondsmagi or she’s loyal to Selendri (sisters in arms as members of the Archon’s eyes) which would make Requin and Selendri much more devious and better connected than Locke and the Archon have given them credit for and much more formidable.

3. Does anyone know why having cats aboard the ship is so important?
As Allie and I both discovered last week, cats on ships was quite common in the past since they were used to kill vermin.

Red Seas Under Red Skies Readalong Week 2

This is the second week of the Red Seas Under Red Skies readalong and this week’s questions come from our host and leader The Little Red Reviewer. Here are my answers.

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.

I like the relationship between Selendri and Requin. It seems to be one with strong loyalty and love and they seem devoted to each other. There backstory was really well laid out and I can see why Selendri would stick closely to Requin. I cannot see how Locke can come between them at the moment but the fact that she used to be one of th Archon’s minions might come into play – let’s hope that Locke’s silver tongue keeps him ahead of her mechanical arm.

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

A clockwork automaton monkey butler. Or maybe a clockwork automaton maid like Nano in the videos below who is weapons-grade cute with a gun arm who can cheer me up when I’m feeling down and blow stuff up on request.

 

You said I could purchase anything.

Red Seas Under Red Skies Readalong Part 1

I recently took part in a readalong for Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora and enjoyed it so much I wanted to read the sequel Red Seas Under Red Skies which has a great title and pirates. To get more info on the readalong, head on over to Little Red Reviewer’s blog – she’s the lynchmob leader! This week’s questions come from My Awful Reviews and here they are.

(For an added sense of piratical action listen to this music whilst reading!)

1. The Sinspire. It looks like our heroes (can they really be called that?) find themselves in search of a way into an unbeatable vault. Do you think they have what it takes to make it happen?

Of course.  The thing that drives these guys is big heists. It’s like an addiction, their religion, so they’ll be dedicated to carrying out this audacious robbery. As we’ve seen in The Lies of Locke Lamora, even when the odds start to count against them they are confident and skilful enough to up their game. From what I’ve read so far it looks like the criminal underworld of Tal Varrar isn’t as organised or competitive as Camorr so Locke and Jean have a bit more freedom. Until some outside forces intervene.

2.  Anyone want to guess how they’re going to make it happen?

They are great at planning their jobs so they’ll have nearly all of the angles worked out and a detailed knowledge of the major players. If they don’t have the lock-picking skills then they’ll charm a solution out of someone – maybe even Requin himself. Locke is a master conman and it wouldn’t be impossible for him to do that. They are running a long con similar to the one in the first book so it will be interesting to see the variations.