Scott Lynch provides update on his writing process

Scott Lynch, the author of the long-percolating Gentleman Bastard series which began with The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006) has provided a substantial update on his current writing situation.

As is well-known, Lynch launched his career impressively with The Lies of Locke Lamora and its immediate sequel, Red Seas Under Red Skies (2007). However, his proposed seven-book series seemed to stall after that point. The third book, The Republic of Thieves, was not published until 2013. The fourth book, The Thorn of Emberlain, has been hovering around the edge of completion for well over two years, since Lynch revealed he had completed a draft of the novel in early 2019. However, updates since then have been fleeting.

Lynch has faced a public battle with mental health issues, publicly speaking about delays caused by anxiety, bereavement and other problems in his life. A few years ago he noted that he was reasonably productive as far as writers go, but had crippling problems letting go of a work and sending the final version to the publishers.

In his update, Lynch confirms that this problem has left him in a situation similar to "Prince's vault," the analogy that the musical artist Prince completed entire albums and numerous, fairly expensive music videos and then shelved them in his vault for years and years on end, refusing to release them to the world (five years after his passing, the fate of much of that material remains unclear). Lynch confirms that in his "vault" are seven short stories, a novella, a novelette, a number of essays and even a whole novel (whether this is The Thorn of Emberlain is unclear, but one assumes so since he confirmed completion of that draft), which he wants to get out to the world.

To combat his anxiety issues, Lynch confirms he is now on anti-anxiety medication for the first time in his life and he hopes this will allow him to start releasing this material to the world. Obviously we wish him the very best and hope this helps him with his health issues, before any consideration of his writing career.

Scott Lynch's GENTLEMAN BASTARD series optioned for film

Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard series has been optioned for film by Phoenix Pictures, it has been announced.

Lynch's Gentleman Bastard series got off to a roaring start with The Lies of Locke Lamora in 2006. Since then, two more books have been published: Red Seas Under Red Skies (2007) and The Republic of Thieves (2013). Four more books in the series are projected, with The Thorn of Emberlain having been delayed several times but hoped for release in late 2019 or early 2020.

Phoenix Pictures have produced a number of notable movies over the years, including The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), Apt Pupil (1998), The Thin Red Line (1998), Shutter Island (2010) and Black Swan (2010).

This is only an option and there is no major studio involvement, but this is a solid first step to getting the books on screen. It'll be interesting to see how this develops.

Scott Lynch on THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN

The Helsinki Times caught up with fantasy author Scott Lynch whilst he was at WorldCon in Finland last month. They chatted about his fantasy series, The Gentleman Bastard, and Scott's inspirations and future plans.

Scott confirmed that the fourth book in the series, The Thorn of Emberlain, should be finished before the end of the year and then published next year. He is very happy with how the book has turned out, and notes that it marks a major shift in the series. Originally Thorn of Emberlain was supposed to be where the series starts, but he couldn't make the characters work without more backstory, so The Lies of Locke Lamora, Red Seas Under Red Skies and The Republic of Thieves were essentially written as prequels.

The Thorn of Emberlain introduces two new factors to the series: Emberlain itself as a sort-of permanent new base for our characters, instead of each subsequent book featuring a new city, and Anton Strata as a new major character, a teenage claimant to the throne of the Kingdom of the Seven Marrows whose ascent is tested by Locke and Jean's latest scam.

Lynch also expands further on his love of Japanese RPGs and his appreciation for the mighty Matt Stover.

LOCKE LAMORA TV series in the works: update

A couple of years ago, there was a rumour that Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora (and presumably the rest of the Gentleman Bastard series) was going to be adapted for television. The novel had previously been optioned for a movie before it had even been released, but after several years in development hell the rights lapsed.

At an event in Santa Fe this week, writer Ryan Condal is reported to have said he is working on a pilot script for a TV series based on the novel. Condal is the writer of the pilot for The Sixth Gun, a potential TV series based on the comic books by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt. NBC passed on the series, but the pilot has been aired in several locations and seems to have gone down well. Condal also wrote the script for the new Hercules movie starring Dwayne Johnson, due out in July.

When asked about the rumour, Scott Lynch replied:

"I can neither confirm nor deny the denial or confirmation of anything potentially requiring denial or confirmation."

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Video interview with Scott Lynch

Scott Lynch chews the fat with Suvudu over The Lies of Locke Lamora, Red Seas Under Red Skies and The Republic of Thieves, as well as dropping some big hints as to where the series goes next.

A LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA TV series?

The new Gollancz catalogue reveals some interesting information about Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard series.

For the obvious question, the catalogue reveals (on page 47) that the latest hand-in date for The Republic of Thieves (the third book in the series) is at the end of January. If Lynch can hit this date, the book will be published in July. Of course, after almost six years of getting hopes up, I wouldn't be too surprised if this date is not achieved.

More intriguingly, the press info also reveals that The Lies of Locke Lamora has been 'optioned for television'. I can find no information at all about that elsewhere online, which is odd as that kind of news is normally formally announced to the trade magazines before anywhere else.

More news as I get it.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Here's a review from 'the vault', my Word file containing reviews of books that I wrote for my own personal amusement in the days dating back before the blog (although some of these did appear on Amazon.co.uk as well). I note that I'll only be doing this for books I reviewed within a reasonable period of time before the blog started and where my current opinion has not massively changed from my former one. In those cases, a re-read and a re-review would be more appropriate.

That The Lies of Locke Lamora is a debut novel is difficult to believe. That it not only meets but exceeds the hype that has been built up around it is damn-nigh impossible to believe, yet it is so. In the city-state of Camorr the Secret Peace exists between the criminals and the rulers, a decades-long pact between the Capa and the Duke that keeps the merchants and nobles' wares and riches safe. The only problem is that two people are screwing with the Pact, one a smooth conman and his band of helpers, the other a shadowy killer striking from the shadows without warning. The city is about to be plunged into a war in the shadows as these factions collide.

The story is told skillfully and economically. Lynch knows how to show, not tell. The story moves with a rattling, page-turning pace where exposition is kept to a minimum. As the 'current' storyline moves forward, Lynch gives us frequent flashbacks to the formative years of the titular Locke Lamora, showing his rise from an overconfident scoundrel to a skilled conman and demonstrating how the bonds of true friendship are forged between Lamora and his band of knaves, the Gentlemen Bastards. Amongst this he also brings to life his prized creation, the city of Camorr itself, a traditional fantasyscape of guards, merchants and peasents eking a life in hovels under the watchful eye of the aristocracy, but with an element of the strange introduced as all are dwelling in a city forged thousands of years ago by an inscrutable alien race whose disappearance remains troubling. With its many islands and districts, temples and guilds shadowed by towering glass monoliths, Camorr is as much a character as Locke Lamora himself, a city that immediately joins Ankh-Morpork, Lankhamar and Amber as a perfect setting for stories of the fantastical.

Lynch is also a master alchemist of taking his influences and whipping them into something fresh and exciting. He has George RR Martin's skill are creating great characters and then unexpectedly killing them, mixed with early Raymond Feist's sheer gleeful storytelling and occasional eye for detail (the merchant houses sequences seem heavily inspired by the trading house chapters in Feist's Rise of a Merchant Prince). The story shifts tones with ease, moving from its early chapters of setting up cons and marks (feeling oddly reminiscent of the British TV series Hustle) to a much darker place, yet always with a certain enjoyable wit about it. Lynch knows how to make the reader laugh, even if the humour turns from light amusement to midnight-black as the story progresses.

Criticisms? Some characters feel somewhat under-developed, particularly one who is introduced briefly in one scene and then brutally despatched a few pages later, but without any real time for the audience to build up any sympathy, meaning that Locke's grief isn't entirely relatable. And that's about it. The book is surprisingly free of rough edges for a debut work.

This is the opening volume of a seven-novel sequence, yet it is virtually entirely self-contained, with only the closing few pages giving us a sense of where the sequel, Red Seas Under Red Skies, will take the story next.

The Lies of Locke Lamora (****½) is available from Gollancz in the UK and from Bantam in the United States.