"Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent" eases readers back into Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series

To be a fan of The Gentleman Bastards is to know a longing that few other fandoms outside of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire or Patrick Rothfuss' The Kingkiller Chronicle understand. Back in 2006, author Scott Lynch took the fantasy world by storm with the release of his novel The Lies of Locke Lamora, which was the first installment in a projected seven-book series called The Gentlemen Bastards Sequence. The following year, Lynch released Red Seas Under Red Skies, carrying on the tale of con man extraordinaire Locke Lamora as he headed to the marine city-state of Tal Verrar. The wait was quite a bit longer for the third book, The Republic of Thieves, which came out six years later in 2013.

It's been over a decade since then. The forthcoming fourth novel in The Gentlemen Bastards, titled The Thorn of Emberlain, has been in the works a long time, though Lynch has been admirably candid with fans about the reasons that the books have taken as long as they have. But for the reader who loves to spend time with the crass and clever Gentlemen Bastards, the longing to see Locke and the rest of the gang again is real.

But there's good reason to be hopeful, because earlier this year Lynch announced three new novellas and a two-part short story were coming out in the near future, all of which are set in the Gentlemen Bastards world. The short story is coming first, and you don't even need to take my word for it: part one of "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent" came out last month in the 10th anniversary issue of Grimdark Magazine! That means you can go read it right now if you want to.

I've had a chance to read the first part of "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent," which means it's now time to give you some impressions. This is going to be a spoiler-free review, beyond a few details of set up and such to give you an idea of exactly what you're getting into with this story. Read on, and let us return to Camorr together!

"Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent" whet my appetite for more Gentlemen Bastards

There's one thing I want to drive home right at the top to make sure no one gets confused, and it is that "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent" is a two-part story. The first part is out now in Grimdark Magazine Issue #40, which released on October 1, 2024. It does not, by any means, finish the tale — that will be for part two, which is slated to released in the January 2025 issue of Grimdark Magazine. Is it kind of hilarious that Scott Lynch's first ever Gentlemen Bastards "short story" is large enough that it demands to be told in two parts, which almost makes it closer to a novelette really? Yes, but who among us does not want more Gentlemen Bastards? Drink your fill and be happy we've not only got new words from Lynch to enjoy, but that we're going to get more in just a couple more months.

With that out of the way, let's talk about "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent" itself. This story is set during a particularly formative time in the lives of the Gentlemen Bastards: right as they're entering puberty. As such, don't go into this expecting to get big heavy details that will have massive ramifications for The Thorn of Emberlain. "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent" feels like a small slice-of-life story featuring Locke where we see how he handled one particular summer where his foster guardian Father Chains set him to a humbling task. It's bears some similarities to the flashback sequences in The Republic of Thieves in that way.

Of course, this means that one huge plus of "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent" is that we get to spend (a little) time with the whole Gentlemen Bastards crew, before they were broken apart by personal rifts and the devastating events of The Lies of Locke Lamora. This feels a little like the warm fuzzy blanket approach to getting us back into the world of Camorr, with an intimate story that reminds us why we loved these characters in the first place, and I love that about it.

But at its heart, this story is all about Locke Lamora himself; the rest of the crew are more like passing cameos than central players in this particular chapter of the infamous con artist's upbringing. Recognizing Locke's uncanny knack for stealing things as both a blessing and a curse, Father Chains dispatches him to serve as a bar boy at a seedy tavern for Right People, with a strict command to not collect over a certain amount of money during his time there. This gets us to the main setting for the story, The Jug, where Locke encounters a drunkard by the name of Mazoc Szaba, who is prone to wagers and imparting advice about the way things work in the criminal underworld of Camorr.

The first part of "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent" ends on a cliffhanger, which I didn't much mind because we know the rest of the story is coming sooner rather than later. By far my favorite thing about it was just being immersed in that world again. I missed Scott Lynch's writing, the tone and feel of the Gentlemen Bastards world, the way he structures chapters, how he sprinkles bits of history for his locations in amongst scenes with snappy dialogue which often contain exercises in creative cussing. Simply put, it's just a lot of fun to be reading any new Gentlemen Bastards stories.

Now, if you go into this expecting it to be some big epic ordeal, I will say that you'll probably be disappointed. This is a short story and it's got the scope to match. But to get any sign of life whatsoever for The Gentlemen Bastards is wonderful, and it's clear that Lynch has very much "still got it" in terms of writing these characters and this story. "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent" is a great way to ease yourself back into The Gentlemen Bastards, enjoying this small story about Locke Lamora while we await the three forthcoming Road to Emberlain novellas from Subterranean Press. There's no doubt I'll be picking up Grimdark Magazine Issue #41 to see how "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent" wraps up early next year.

You can read the first half of "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent" now in Grimdark Magazine Issue #40. And it's not the only story worth reading in the latest issue of the magazine; it also features short fiction from the likes of Mark Lawrence, Andrea Stewart, Christopher Buehlman, and more, as well as a bunch of interesting interviews, reviews, and editorials. At only $3.99, it's pretty much a steal.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.