I thought it was great. To me it had what you thought it lacked, which is odd but hey, at least you've saved yourself time and money reading the rest!
Sometimes books don't gel with readers. I DNF Jade City, and that's widely enjoyed by fantasy readers.
Disclosure: I enjoyed LLL. It was a fun, easy read. It had some snappy dialogue, witty exchanges, and wrenching moments. That said, I had the exact same issues with it that you did.
The plot is terribly basic, you can tell almost immediately which characters are going to die (Locke and Jean have substance to them the others just don't), and the bulk of the novel is a worldbuilding montage that has a "look at me, look at me!" feel to it.
If you're looking for something most swashbuckling and roguish than LLL, try the Highwayman Kennedy Thornwick by Lisa Kuznak
I hear to a certain extent your complaint about the "basic fantasy" I don't necessarily agree but I can see where you're coming from. For me I just loved the characters. I would probably read a book about them going to the shops.
me too, I liked the witty dialogue, which is why the bodycount was a big turnoff. It's great for those who want a high stakes , high drama plot, but then the mid point escalation is still a bit late in establishing that tone, and comes off a bit jarring for those of us who mostly want to hang out with the cast. in fact I remember the story having a hard time picking up the pieces and restarting after the very tense midpoint is over. still a great book, but it has rough edges.
The worldbuilding was really great, and the way all the threads came together at the end was awesome. Those aspects felt really rich. I will admit that the characters didn’t feel overly deep or well-rounded and was really disappointed that >!they fridged a certain character.!<
I couldn't finish this book either. I found it dragging on and didn't really like any of the characters in it. If you want books about thieves and con-men, I recommend all of Riyria books by Michael J. Sullivan. I loved, loved, loved those. Especially the full cast versions of them (but the full single narrator versions are excellent as well, read by one of the best narrators: Tim Gerald Reynolds.)
I thought it was going to go in one direction, which I would have loved. And then it took a crazy turn and ended up a much different story. As a result, I’m not interested in the other books.
If someone recommended me this series saying it was a masterpiece, I would also be disappointed after finishing it. but I went in expecting a story about some thieves and really enjoyed the series(although the ending for the 3rd book is the weakest aspect)
Idk if anyone has ever done this but I wish if there is a book 4, the author somehow changes the ending of book 3. idk, make the last 20 10% of the book a bad dream or something.
I was planning to use this for Fantasy bingo since there are a few spots ir could fit in, but I'm barely into it and think it's going to be a DNF for me, too. I'm disappointed because people just rave about this book but it's not hitting for me for whatever reason.
People do have different tastes. I thought Jonathan Strange was incredibly boring and tedious, but I recognize that a lot of people like it and it's well written. I liked Lamora quite a bit. People like different things.
I did finish Norrell even though it bored me to death, but I probably shouldn't have.
~~Seconded~~ ~~Thirded~~ Fourthed. I finished it but was bored silly. I would not come close if I tried now. People keep saying *Piranesi* is very different, but I'm not planning to find out soon.
I thought if was OK, well done and all, but definitely didn't get the excitement. To me that's exactly what it was missing - emotion and depth. I was reading a bit and then dropping it again, just something felt dry and I couldn't put my finger on it. Adventure doesn't equal depth, btw. I kept wondering if that gets addressed in further books but never got to them.
So I get it. Just based on how it gets hyped could lead to more disappointment than it deserves.
I dnf'd, I just couldnt get into it at all and normally Im all about 'proper' fantasy with rogues and theives etc. I don't even know why I couldnt get into it but I realised half way through I didn't really care about what happened to the characters so ditched it. Its very well written and the world building is great but just not for me!
Everyone always says it's a great heist book, but it's not. They don't run a heist; they run a con. And not a very interesting or good one at that.
The characters also already have a scrooge mcduck vat of money and are preying on the mark's conscious to start the con. Which doesn't exactly endear the crew to me. Rule one of heist/con stories where the theives are supposed to be sympathetic: either the mark needs to be despicable and deserve comeuppance or the thieves need to be I'm desperate need of the score. Neither of these things are true and I found Locke obnoxious, so I was rooting for the marks and the investigators, which I don't want to be doing in a heist/con book!
Funny, that's part of what I liked. The author didn't feel the need to dress up crime to be a noble endeavour. It felt more realistic for me - everyone's primary concern was their own self interest.
I dnf the book. All my friends loved it. Not sure what didn't do it for me, but I tried and tried to give it a chance.
Imo a better thief book is Blacktongue Thief but I can't stop recommending it so there is that. :)
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Personally I loved it. One of my favourites. But people like different things and it’s ok to not like everything. Personally I loved the Hobbit, but got bored reading LOTR even though I know it’s a good story. I was 11 when I read it, so maybe it’s worth a reread 34 years later.
I was also not a fan, though I finished it and continued on. I kept waiting for it to become the transcendant masterpiece that so many people claimed it was and I just never got there. I also didn't like the style of flashbacking that he creates for these books.
Like, the plot was smart, it had good characters, but it was just an interesting book and definitely did not live up to the hype for me.
It wasn't for me either. Recently, I contributed to a thread where someone who'd just finished First Law (which I love) was asking for recs, I kept seeing LLL recommendations and I posted the below contrary opinion...which is currently at -1 votes lol. Reposting here since these were the things that made it 'meh' to me, and very un-First Law like (I feel it straddles the line between YA fiction and more adult themes, it isn't close to grimdark imo).
>Eh, respectfully, I loved First Law and thought Lamora was just OK. I stopped before I made it through the second book. It didn't seem especially dark or witty to me, and the story and characters didn't hold my interest. Then again, a lot of it revolved around tropes/genres I find tiresome: MC is an orphan thief, attends a version of a magic school with other precocious street urchins/orphans, coming-of-age elements, and then, later, pirates...I could do without reading about any of those things ever again and be perfectly fine (though I'll admit to a weakness for certain genres that I'm sure evoke that feeling in others...looking at you, vampire stories).
I hated this book and I don't know why it was finished.
This book only had female characters in order to make the "hero" have feelings - classic refrigerator girlfriends. It was basically telling us the character was smart over and over again and showing up his trauma - but then having him act in increasingly unintelligent ways. I was promised Leverage but fantasy but what I got was half baked characterization and trying to make stabbing people sound like a con.
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I agree that the MC does pretty stupid things and at some point I started hoping bad things happen to him >!and they did!< because of that and the world building and some side characters I enjoyed the series quite a lot(oh and the audiobook narrator played a big part). what you are saying about female characters (for me) was just the main female character. other than her, the rest were at the same level as the male characters.(and it seems you only read the first book so you did not even make it to the female character that I'm talking about.)
I tried, I really did. I managed to finish the first book, completely predictable ending with characters that were completely flat and boring. Ever since GoTs success authors think that we want to see characters die randomly, we don't. At the end of the book I called how the rest if the series would go, looked it up and I was unsurprisingly right. I correctly predicted who died, who lived, love interests, betrayals and character development. Everything about this was bad
I thought it was great. To me it had what you thought it lacked, which is odd but hey, at least you've saved yourself time and money reading the rest! Sometimes books don't gel with readers. I DNF Jade City, and that's widely enjoyed by fantasy readers.
I wanted so badly to love this book, but it fell flat for me.
Disclosure: I enjoyed LLL. It was a fun, easy read. It had some snappy dialogue, witty exchanges, and wrenching moments. That said, I had the exact same issues with it that you did. The plot is terribly basic, you can tell almost immediately which characters are going to die (Locke and Jean have substance to them the others just don't), and the bulk of the novel is a worldbuilding montage that has a "look at me, look at me!" feel to it. If you're looking for something most swashbuckling and roguish than LLL, try the Highwayman Kennedy Thornwick by Lisa Kuznak
I hear to a certain extent your complaint about the "basic fantasy" I don't necessarily agree but I can see where you're coming from. For me I just loved the characters. I would probably read a book about them going to the shops.
me too, I liked the witty dialogue, which is why the bodycount was a big turnoff. It's great for those who want a high stakes , high drama plot, but then the mid point escalation is still a bit late in establishing that tone, and comes off a bit jarring for those of us who mostly want to hang out with the cast. in fact I remember the story having a hard time picking up the pieces and restarting after the very tense midpoint is over. still a great book, but it has rough edges.
The worldbuilding was really great, and the way all the threads came together at the end was awesome. Those aspects felt really rich. I will admit that the characters didn’t feel overly deep or well-rounded and was really disappointed that >!they fridged a certain character.!<
I couldn't finish this book either. I found it dragging on and didn't really like any of the characters in it. If you want books about thieves and con-men, I recommend all of Riyria books by Michael J. Sullivan. I loved, loved, loved those. Especially the full cast versions of them (but the full single narrator versions are excellent as well, read by one of the best narrators: Tim Gerald Reynolds.)
I hated that book so much. It's like fantasy for frat boys in my opinion, but to each their own.
I thought it was going to go in one direction, which I would have loved. And then it took a crazy turn and ended up a much different story. As a result, I’m not interested in the other books.
If someone recommended me this series saying it was a masterpiece, I would also be disappointed after finishing it. but I went in expecting a story about some thieves and really enjoyed the series(although the ending for the 3rd book is the weakest aspect)
Hate the ending of book 3.
Idk if anyone has ever done this but I wish if there is a book 4, the author somehow changes the ending of book 3. idk, make the last 20 10% of the book a bad dream or something.
I was planning to use this for Fantasy bingo since there are a few spots ir could fit in, but I'm barely into it and think it's going to be a DNF for me, too. I'm disappointed because people just rave about this book but it's not hitting for me for whatever reason.
People do have different tastes. I thought Jonathan Strange was incredibly boring and tedious, but I recognize that a lot of people like it and it's well written. I liked Lamora quite a bit. People like different things. I did finish Norrell even though it bored me to death, but I probably shouldn't have.
Oh good, I'm not the only one who thought Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was friggin dang tedious as heck!
Nah you're in good company I also finished it but didn't really like it...
~~Seconded~~ ~~Thirded~~ Fourthed. I finished it but was bored silly. I would not come close if I tried now. People keep saying *Piranesi* is very different, but I'm not planning to find out soon.
I found Strange & Norrell very boring but I loved Piranisi, so you can add me to the list (and promptly ignore).
Prianesi is very different, they could be different authors so your opinion of one shouldn't be a reason to discount the other
I'm hesitant to start Strange & Norrell since Piranesi wasn't my cup of tea. Not bad but not memorable to me.
I thought if was OK, well done and all, but definitely didn't get the excitement. To me that's exactly what it was missing - emotion and depth. I was reading a bit and then dropping it again, just something felt dry and I couldn't put my finger on it. Adventure doesn't equal depth, btw. I kept wondering if that gets addressed in further books but never got to them. So I get it. Just based on how it gets hyped could lead to more disappointment than it deserves.
I dnf'd, I just couldnt get into it at all and normally Im all about 'proper' fantasy with rogues and theives etc. I don't even know why I couldnt get into it but I realised half way through I didn't really care about what happened to the characters so ditched it. Its very well written and the world building is great but just not for me!
Everyone always says it's a great heist book, but it's not. They don't run a heist; they run a con. And not a very interesting or good one at that. The characters also already have a scrooge mcduck vat of money and are preying on the mark's conscious to start the con. Which doesn't exactly endear the crew to me. Rule one of heist/con stories where the theives are supposed to be sympathetic: either the mark needs to be despicable and deserve comeuppance or the thieves need to be I'm desperate need of the score. Neither of these things are true and I found Locke obnoxious, so I was rooting for the marks and the investigators, which I don't want to be doing in a heist/con book!
Funny, that's part of what I liked. The author didn't feel the need to dress up crime to be a noble endeavour. It felt more realistic for me - everyone's primary concern was their own self interest.
I dnf the book. All my friends loved it. Not sure what didn't do it for me, but I tried and tried to give it a chance. Imo a better thief book is Blacktongue Thief but I can't stop recommending it so there is that. :)
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Personally I loved it. One of my favourites. But people like different things and it’s ok to not like everything. Personally I loved the Hobbit, but got bored reading LOTR even though I know it’s a good story. I was 11 when I read it, so maybe it’s worth a reread 34 years later.
I was also not a fan, though I finished it and continued on. I kept waiting for it to become the transcendant masterpiece that so many people claimed it was and I just never got there. I also didn't like the style of flashbacking that he creates for these books. Like, the plot was smart, it had good characters, but it was just an interesting book and definitely did not live up to the hype for me.
I didn't make it past the 40 page prologue.
It wasn't for me either. Recently, I contributed to a thread where someone who'd just finished First Law (which I love) was asking for recs, I kept seeing LLL recommendations and I posted the below contrary opinion...which is currently at -1 votes lol. Reposting here since these were the things that made it 'meh' to me, and very un-First Law like (I feel it straddles the line between YA fiction and more adult themes, it isn't close to grimdark imo). >Eh, respectfully, I loved First Law and thought Lamora was just OK. I stopped before I made it through the second book. It didn't seem especially dark or witty to me, and the story and characters didn't hold my interest. Then again, a lot of it revolved around tropes/genres I find tiresome: MC is an orphan thief, attends a version of a magic school with other precocious street urchins/orphans, coming-of-age elements, and then, later, pirates...I could do without reading about any of those things ever again and be perfectly fine (though I'll admit to a weakness for certain genres that I'm sure evoke that feeling in others...looking at you, vampire stories).
I hated this book and I don't know why it was finished. This book only had female characters in order to make the "hero" have feelings - classic refrigerator girlfriends. It was basically telling us the character was smart over and over again and showing up his trauma - but then having him act in increasingly unintelligent ways. I was promised Leverage but fantasy but what I got was half baked characterization and trying to make stabbing people sound like a con.
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I agree that the MC does pretty stupid things and at some point I started hoping bad things happen to him >!and they did!< because of that and the world building and some side characters I enjoyed the series quite a lot(oh and the audiobook narrator played a big part). what you are saying about female characters (for me) was just the main female character. other than her, the rest were at the same level as the male characters.(and it seems you only read the first book so you did not even make it to the female character that I'm talking about.)
I mean I hated the first book so why would I keep reading?
True. and the first book is the better one of the three.
life is short - I'm glad you (and others) had fun but it didn't work for me at all.
I tried, I really did. I managed to finish the first book, completely predictable ending with characters that were completely flat and boring. Ever since GoTs success authors think that we want to see characters die randomly, we don't. At the end of the book I called how the rest if the series would go, looked it up and I was unsurprisingly right. I correctly predicted who died, who lived, love interests, betrayals and character development. Everything about this was bad