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Books › Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentlemen Bastards #2)

Cover of Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentlemen Bastards #2)

Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentlemen Bastards #2)

Scott Lynch

640 pages

A high-stakes, salt-sprayed caper where the only things sharper than the cutlasses are the insults.

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What it feels like

Reading this book feels like stepping into a high-stakes casino where the house is rigged, but you are rooting for the guys who brought their own loaded dice. The narrative shifts seamlessly from the velvet-draped tension of an elite gambling heist to the sun-baked, salt-sprayed chaos of a nautical adventure. It is a deeply immersive, briskly paced ride anchored by the fierce, unbreakable brotherhood between its two leads. The prose is a delightful contradiction—richly textured and atmospheric when describing the exotic locales, yet razor-sharp and gloriously profane the moment the characters open their mouths. It will thoroughly delight readers who crave elaborate cons, swashbuckling peril, and clever rogues who survive by the skin of their teeth and the speed of their wit.

Mood
  • salty
  • tense
  • adventurous
  • treacherous
  • vibrant
Tone
  • wry
  • irreverent
  • dramatic
  • cynical
  • swashbuckling
Pace
brisk
Themes
brotherhood and loyalty · the cost of ambition · surviving by one's wits · navigating corrupt systems · the weight of past trauma
The writing
Sharp, gloriously profane, and vividly descriptive, blending elegant world-building with gutter-snipe dialogue.
The arc
From desperate recovery and audacious ambition to chaotic survival and bittersweet, hard-won triumph.
Who it's for
Readers who love elaborate heists, deep platonic bonds, nautical adventures, and protagonists who talk their way out of deadly trouble.
Content notes
  • graphic violence
  • profanity
  • torture
  • alcohol use
  • sea peril

About the book

In his highly acclaimed debut, The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch took us on an adrenaline-fueled adventure with a band of daring thieves led by con artist extraordinaire Locke Lamora. Now Lynch brings back his outrageous hero for a caper so death-defying, nothing short of a miracle will pull it off.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....From the Hardcover edition.

Description from Open Library.

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