Nearly a year ago, in October of 2014, I read the Lies of Locke Lamora and immediately fell in love. The characters of the Gentlemen Bastards took hold of my heart and put me on an emotional roller coaster of a journey. I cheered as they schemed and swindled their way through the city of Camorr, raged at The Grey King and Falconer as they took away characters I loved and cheered on Jean and Locke in their final attempts to overcome the villains and avenge their friends. By the time the book was over, I had a new favorite book to put in my top ten list. But more importantly, I felt satisfied with the journey I just went on. We had a real sense of loss and achievement and the ending, while certainly leaving room for further adventures with the Bastards, wrapped nearly every loose thread up. I was left wondering, "where do we go from here?" 
 This is what Red Seas Under Red Skies faced from the beginning. As a follow up to Lies of Locke Lamora, it needed to keep enough of the same tone and structure that made us love its predecessor so much, but also craft its own identity as a sequel. For the most part, the book succeeds. Jean and Locke continue to grow as characters in a logical and dynamic way, we introduce new locations and change up the plot so it's not simply a rehash of Lies, and we introduce new characters whom I love to interact with our two main protagonists. But at the same time, there's a lot Red Seas Under Red Skies does that structurally is very similar to Lies but doesn't do as successfully. (read more)