There are many great fantasy series out there (too many to list) that I am yet to read and desperately want to. One of those series would be the Gentlemen Bastard series by Scott Lynch.

I hadn’t read anything by Scott until earlier this year, when I read his short story, A Year and a Day In Old Theradane, in Uncanny Magazine. Did I like it? Well, I started off my review by saying, “HOW HAVE I NEVER READ SCOTT LYNCH BEFORE!?!?!?!?!?” Yep, it is easily the best short story I’ve read this year.

One of my fellow bloggers read that review and was in total shock that this was first time I’d read Scott before; Scott Lynch was  one of her all-time favorite authors!

This blogger was Kaja from OfDragonsAndHearts. She also told me that she really wanted to translate his work someday. That “someday” was apparently very close, because she is now going to be translating The Lies of Locke Lamora into Slovenian! (Yay, Kaja!) 🙂

To prepare for that, Kaja is going to be rereading Lies of Locke Lamora, and invited me to join her in a read-along of the entire Gentlemen Bastard series.

As I said earlier, there are too many series out there I want to read, so, choosing which series to start next can be an incredibly difficult decision. However, getting invited to do a read-along with the series, and seeing as how A Year and a Day In Old Theradane is the best short story for me this year, it was no brainer that this was the perfect time to start the series!

The Bastard Read-Along Review Schedule:

• The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentlemen Bastard #1)

• Red Sea Under Skies (Gentlemen Bastard #2) 

• The Republic of Thieves (Gentlemen Bastard #3) 

This reading schedule is also perfect timing too, because The Thorn of Emberlain is scheduled for release next July.

Fellow Bastards Reading-Along:

• Kaja @ OfDragonsandHearts

• Nicole @ FeedYourFantasyAddiction

We are not being selfish though, and would love for you to join us and read along! 🙂 If you are interested please comment down below, we will add your name to the list of readers. Or, if you decide to join in later, link up your review in the comments on either my or Kaja’s review, and we will add you name to the list and so we can all share! Also, you don’t have write a review to participate. Fell free to just read the the books, and then comeback and read everyone’s review and join in on the discussions 🙂

Here is Kaja’s master post for the read-along. (Which I fell is a lot more concise than mine – so go read hers!)

I hope some of you will join in, but if not, will come back to read our reviews!

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About the book:

In this stunning debut, author Scott Lynch delivers the wonderfully thrilling tale of an audacious criminal and his band of confidence tricksters. Set in a fantastic city pulsing with the lives of decadent nobles and daring thieves, here is a story of adventure, loyalty, and survival that is one part “Robin Hood”, one part Ocean’s Eleven, and entirely enthralling…

An orphan’s life is harsh — and often short — in the island city of Camorr, built on the ruins of a mysterious alien race. But born with a quick wit and a gift for thieving, Locke Lamora has dodged both death and slavery, only to fall into the hands of an eyeless priest known as Chains — a man who is neither blind nor a priest.

A con artist of extraordinary talent, Chains passes his skills on to his carefully selected “family” of orphans — a group known as the Gentlemen Bastards. Under his tutelage, Locke grows to lead the Bastards, delightedly pulling off one outrageous confidence game after another. Soon he is infamous as the Thorn of Camorr, and no wealthy noble is safe from his sting.

Passing themselves off as petty thieves, the brilliant Locke and his tightly knit band of light-fingered brothers have fooled even the criminal underworld’s most feared ruler, Capa Barsavi. But there is someone in the shadows more powerful — and more ambitious — than Locke has yet imagined.

Known as the Gray King, he is slowly killing Capa Barsavi’s most trusted men — and using Locke as a pawn in his plot to take control of Camorr’s underworld. With a bloody coup under way threatening to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the Gray King at his own brutal game — or die trying…

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About the book:

After a brutal battle with the underworld that nearly destroyed him, Locke and his trusted sidekick, Jean, fled the island city of their birth and landed on the exotic shores of Tal Verrar to nurse their wounds. But even at this westernmost edge of civilization, they can’t rest for long — and are soon back to what they do best: stealing from the undeserving rich and pocketing the proceeds for themselves.

This time, however, they have targeted the grandest prize of all: the Sinspire, the most exclusive and heavily guarded gambling house in the world. Its nine floors attract the wealthiest clientele — and to rise to the top, one must impress with good credit, amusing behavior… and excruciatingly impeccable play. For there is one cardinal rule, enforced by Requin, the house’s cold-blooded master: it is death to cheat at any game at the Sinspire.

Brazenly undeterred, Locke and Jean have orchestrated an elaborate plan to lie, trick, and swindle their way up the nine floors… straight to Requin’s teeming vault. Under the cloak of false identities, they meticulously make their climb — until they are closer to the spoils than ever.

But someone in Tal Verrar has uncovered the duo’s secret. Someone from their past who has every intention of making the impudent criminals pay for their sins. Now it will take every ounce of cunning to save their mercenary souls. And even that may not be enough…

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About the book:

With what should have been the greatest heist of their career gone spectacularly sour, Locke and his trusted partner, Jean, have barely escaped with their lives. Or at least Jean has. But Locke is slowly succumbing to a deadly poison that no alchemist or physiker can cure. Yet just as the end is near, a mysterious Bondsmage offers Locke an opportunity that will either save him or finish him off once and for all.

Magi political elections are imminent, and the factions are in need of a pawn. If Locke agrees to play the role, sorcery will be used to purge the venom from his body – though the process will be so excruciating he may well wish for death. Locke is opposed, but two factors cause his will to crumble: Jean’s imploring – and the Bondsmage’s mention of a woman from Locke’s past: Sabetha. She is the love of his life, his equal in skill and wit, and now, his greatest rival.

Locke was smitten with Sabetha from his first glimpse of her as a young fellow orphan and thief-in-training. But after a tumultuous courtship, Sabetha broke away. Now they will reunite in yet another clash of wills. For faced with his one and only match in both love and trickery, Locke must choose whether to fight Sabetha – or to woo her. It is a decision on which both their lives may depend.