GB readalong: Week 9

The Republic of Thieves read-along begins today!

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

This is going to be a shorter post than usual, because I haven't had time to put together a nice long one and I already covered my thoughts on the end of Red Seas Under Red Skies last week. Anyways...

What we're reading this week

Republic of Thieves | Prologue, Ch1-2 (and interludes between Ch2 and 3)

Recap from last week

Zamira is double crossed by one of her own and Ezri sacrifices herself in the melee that ensues, Jean is heartbroken and swears revenge; Locke and Jean get the better of Stragos, rob Requin's office, an then discover the paintings were fake. Oh, and only Jean has been cured of the latent poison.

Observations/Theories/Questions

Is it just me, or did the end of that book move at a break-neck pace? Just when you think everything is going smoothly, we run into twist after twist and betrayal and subterfuge. It was INTENSE!

We also got to one of my favorite quotes in the series this week:

“ I want to hug you. And I want to tear your gods-damned head off. Both at once."
"Ah," said Locke. "Near as I can tell, that’s the definition of 'family' right there.” 

I can't think of a better way to sum up the Gentleman bastard relationship. They get in each other's hair and drive each other crazy sometimes but in the end they're family and nothing is going to keep them apart, not even latent poisons with no known antidote!

Food for thought:

• Merrain's tattoo: We still don't know who Merrain works for, but now we have the clue that she has a dark tattoo on her arm. Did I miss any earlier references to groups with tattooed members? Does anyone have guesses about who she works for?
• Cheating death: Both Jean and Locke seem determined to die for the other. It's both endearing and tragic to see Jean's rage at being given the antidote. For all their flaws, you can't say the Gentleman Bastards aren't loyal! Since there's a book 3 and even a book 4, I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say Locke will find a way out of this. The question is at what price, and is that price worth it in the end? We'll see...
• The fake paintings: How do you feel about the paintings being fake? All the effort, wasted! But maybe the Gentleman Bastards had it coming, what with their general arrogance about being cleverer than anyone else? Do you think they deserved a big break? I don't think they would have been satisfied with living a quiet life as rich minor nobles, especially after spending their entire lives trying to take the nobles down a peg or two. I don't think it would have been too long before they started conning again. Although I must admit, I would have loved to see the cons they could pull with even more resources and the friendship of the nobles!
  
  Remember, spoilery discussions can go here.