In Espara, the game has run its course: can the Bastards stage a play and get away with murder? In Karthain, it’s time for truth and consequences: who is Locke Lamora – and what is Patience’s true game?
scott lynch
Locke and Sabetha get a lot of practice at being star-crossed lovers this week. In Espara, Baron Boulidazi unwittingly comes between his ‘noble cousins’ at every opportunity. In Karthain, Patience would rather the would-be lovers kept their mind solely on the Five-Year Game. Will the pair ever find a time and a place to put aside their tempers and pursue their passion?
Aboard a ship with an excellent chef and some well-made manacles, Locke and Jean must figure out a way to get back to Karthain. Some years earlier, the Gentleman Bastards get their first taste of false-facing as nobility when they discover their contact Moncraine has been imprisoned. Can Locke and Sabetha find a way to beguile the angry nobleman who holds the key to his freedom?
In past and present, Locke must confront his feelings for Sabetha. In simpler times in Camorr, Chains sets an unexpected test for his protegées; whereas the complexity of working for the Bondsmagi may be dwarfed by the traps Sabetha has had time to set for her fellow Bastards in Karthain…
Locke is reunited with a friend (no, not that one) before putting his life and death in the hands of the Bondsmagi, practitioners of fearsome sorceries and unexpectedly personal politics. As the ship without crew sails into the wind, Archedama Patience spells out exactly what – and who – the Gentleman Bastards will be facing in Karthain…
Welcome back to the Gentleman Bastards Read-along! We are in Lashain, where Locke Lamora is losing his battle with Stragos’s poison and taking solace in childhood memories of the canonical her. But is Jean desperate enough for a miracle cure for his friend to accept help from their bitterest enemies?
Welcome to Karthain, home of the Bondsmagi. It’s election season, so expect pageantry and pollsters, promises… and double-crosses. Which candidate will you support? How will you cast your vote?
Locke Lamora is dying, poisoned without hope of a cure – until a Bondsmage shows up with an offer he can’t refuse. Swear to engineer a victory for the correct candidate in the upcoming elections in Karthain, and Locke will be restored to full health magically. Locke is reluctant to trust his enemies to save his life – until he discovers that his opponent will be none other than his beloved Sabetha Belacoros…
Locke and Jean have been accepted aboard the Poison Orchid, and have convinced Zamira Drakasha to put her crew at risk to avert a bigger threat from the Archon. But can they do enough damage to persuade Stragos to part with the antidote – without the Poison Orchid and her crew falling into his hands?
The Gentleman Bastards and the crew of the Red Messenger have become Poison Orchids, survived the perils of the Parlour Passage and made quite the impression on Port Prodigal. But can Locke persuade Drakasha and the pirate captains that it’s in their interests to fly the flag openly against Tal Verrar and risk the wrath of the Archon’s fleets?
Locke and Jean have been thrown in the deep end – literally. Afloat on the Sea of Brass with a malnourished crew recently rescued from the Archon’s prisons, they soon have cause to remember why they told Stragos this was a crazy idea. Storm-tossed, thrown overboard, and captured by pirates, can they persuade the fearsome Zamira Drakasha to keep them alive?
Locke and Jean have concocted an intricate plan to get the better of Requin, ruthless owner of the Sinspire and head of the Verrari underworld. But Locke is yet to win his trust – or that of his scarred and suspicious lover, Selendri – when the Archon sets the Gentleman Bastards the false-facing challenge of a lifetime: can the thieves become pirates and start a war?
The plot thickens: we get hints of the Gentleman Bastards’ deep-laid plans for the Sinspire, but this week Locke and Jean are dodging repeated attempts on their lives and dancing to the tune of the Archon. Father Chains’ exceptionally broad education may help them dodge the assassins’ blades, but it did precious little to prepare them for life at sea…
It’s two years since the Gentleman Bastards fled Camorr to heal their wounds and start again. Locke and Jean have settled into new identities and a new con, their eyes on the riches of the Sinspire, most luxurious – and dangerous – chance-house in Tal Verrar. But old enemies are moving against them…
All aboard! Our first week’s sailing brings us to Tal Verrar, an island city dominated by towering Eldren remains and ruthless men in unofficial positions of unmitigated power. It’s been two years, but Bondsmagi have long memories – and Jean and Locke are about to be reminded what that awkward spot between the rock and the hard place looks like…
The Grey King has seized the Capa’s domain and destroyed the Gentleman Bastards. Homeless, practically penniless, and alone, Locke and Jean are determined to reignite the Don Salvara game to fund their revenge. Can they escape the Spider’s notice and steal the Grey King’s triumph?
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