0 Unbelievable Characters

I have been reading Scott Lynch's Red Seas Under Red Skies, the sequel to his terrific The Lies of Locke Lamora. Lynch's writing style is clever and fun, and though the books are quite large, they are quick reads since the reader never has a chance to get bored.

Lynch does commit what I consider to be some rather large mistakes, but he does so in such a delightful way that the typical reader would not even notice. The biggest mistake in my opinion has been to make the main character have abilities that are simply too good to be true, and thus the character becomes unbelievable. For example, he enters the most prestigious gambling den in the world and some guards who are supposed to be the very height of professionalism thoroughly search him. Later when he meets the owner he amazes the guy and shows his guards to be inept by pulling out five different packs of playing cards from various parts of this clothing. Sorry, but this is flat-out unbelievable. It did pull me temporarily out of the story, even if most readers would just accept it.


He also makes use quite often of deus ex machina, which is considered a particularly egregious crime by today's writing standards. The main character is always getting himself into situations that feel impossible to get out of, and only after he has miraculously escaped do we find out some pertinent information that makes perfect sense as to why he could escape.

I'm not complaining, really, as Lynch manages to weave such a wonderful story that he simply proves that not all rules can be set in stone. Despite my nitpicks, I still think he is one of the very best of the newer fantasy authors, and readers will generally love his work.