The Lies of Locke Lamora

Title: The Lies of Locke Lamora
Author: Scott Lynch
Genre: Fantasy

Plot: 9/10
Style: 10/10
Cover: 6/10
Final: 10/10

When a friend keeps nagging you to read a book, after some time you just have to give up. You pick it up from your 'to-read' list and hope it's going to be a good one, just so you can say later on that yeah, it was fine. But the words that left my mouth during the next conversation were closer to "THAT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!"

Usually the first pages of a book are either boring or confusing. Or both. Especially when you're thrown into a new world with no earlier introduction. But in this case the confusion is seriously pleasurable! The setting seems to be familiar, the brain quickly makes connections: Venice, mafia, Italy... The Godfather. In a fantasy version! With ancient-civilisations-stuff included! Now you can barely contain your excitement. The feeling is even deepened by the light tone of the first pages, where the reader gets to know the young and mischievous version of the hero. Then, when the story switches to the already grown-up characters and becomes more serious and the plot gets more sophisticated, the reader already knows (at the fundamental level) what's going on. And even though the action becomes darker and more depressing with every page read, the flashbacks into the characters' childhood always bring back a wide smile.

This book is extremely well thought through and causes a swing of emotions - from sadness to laughter, from light-heartedness to concern. What's more, the pinch of mystery of the ever-present ancient ruins and technology incredibly fascinates and adds exactly the desired sense of strangeness and originality to the world creation.

And the language. When you imagine a fantasy book set in a pseudo-reneissance magical world, you can probably guess at the style of writing you're going to get: the archaisms and kind of artificial a la Shekaspearean phrases and dialogues. Not in here! Vivid, realistic and lively dialogues, the unusual use of coloquial speech keep the story at the highest possible level.

Definitely one of the best books currently on the market, and one of the best books I've ever read.