GB Readalong: Week 2

The Lies of Locke Lamora Read-along continues...

Whoooooo we got through our first week of the read-along! I have to admit that I didn't have as much time to read as I wanted (final exams started today), but next week I'll have plenty of time to do more readalong posts :)

If you're just joining in, check out the intro post for the schedule and other details!

What we're reading this week

Lies of Locke Lamora | Book 2 (chapters 4-8)

Recap from last week

Flashbacks: We find out how Locke Lamora went from being a scrawny orphan under the Thiefmaker to a member of Father Chains' gang of miscreants. Locke learns how to be a con-man and a thief from Chains and becomes pezon to Nazca Barsavi.

Present Day: Locke, Jean, Calo, Galdo, and Bug are running a scam against Don Salvara involving ridiculous amounts of money, Austershalin wine, and lots of disguises.

There is also a mysterious shadow flying around...

Observations/Theories/Questions

*My spoiler tag HTML is malfunctioning so I made the spoiler text in white instead of using the spoiler buttons. I've marked warnings before all spoiler text, so just make sure not to highlight it if you haven't read that far yet!*

1) Roller coasters
For those of you reading for the first time, what do you think so far? The first 150 or so pages give you a great idea of how this book (and series) goes down: There is lots of witty banter and a lot of laughs, but there is also a significant undercurrent of darkness and you never know when it's going to surface. There's the switch between the Thiefmaker's comical ranting to Chains and Locke finding out exactly what brutality he set in motion, and again when we switch from Locke running the scam against Don Salvara while watching the sharks tear apart a contrarequilliera. You honestly don't know what to expect (talk about a rollercoaster...). Do you think there's a good balance, or would you rather see more of one than the other? Rereaders, is it just me or is this book waaaaay more emotional the second time around??
Spoilers for Lies of Locke Lamora:
Calo and Galdo and Bug! MY HEART.

2) Emberlain

There's a reference to a war going on in Emberlain, which is probably what the fourth book will be about: "We do not necessarily agree...that, ah, the Graf von Emberlain should be deposed while he is out of the canton with most of his army, showing his flag on behalf of his cousins in Parlay and Somnay" (p73 of the UK paperback). The thing is we don't know how much of what Locke tells Don Salvara is a story and how much is true, but the synopsis of Thorn of Emberlain does mention the conflict in The Marrows finally escalating.

3) Sabetha

There's a rather loaded few pages on Locke and his feelings for Sabetha. Spoilers for Republic of Thieves:

In our overall timeline for the series, the flashbacks in Republic of Thieves happen between the flashbacks and present for Lies of Locke Lamora. It's so strange to revisit kicked-around-puppy Locke now that I know what Sabetha is really like and just how badly she stomps on him later on. You can feel his resentment and complicated feelings for her already, which is something I picked up on the first time around but I didn't pay much attention to. 

4) World building

There isn't actually that much magic in this book, although the amount of magic increases as the series goes on. It's kind of cool that the magic is built into the world rather than the characters, like the alchemical wine or the magic scar crayon. 

I caught something about Elderglass, which is interestingly referred to as "alien glass...somewhat covered over with wood and paint and other human materials" in The Broken Tower. At first I brushed off the "alien" but then it specifically says "other human materials" which makes me think there could actually be something to the alien nature of Elderglass. Does that mean we have non-human characters/creatures to look forward to later on in the series? 

MAJOR spoiler for RoT: 

 If what Patience says is true, Locke isn't technically human anymore, right? What if there are other creatures that created the Elderglass that we just haven't met yet?

5) That shadow

For those of you who are reading for the first time, did you catch the shadow flitting around? Any thoughts on what it means?

What did you think of the first part of the series? If you have spoilery comments, either hide them if you have better HTML skills than me or comment here instead!