Scott Lynch to release 3 new Gentleman Bastards novellas and a short story: "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent"

The Gentleman Bastards will soon be back with new adventures! While at Glasgow Worldcon earlier this month, author Scott Lynch announced details about his forthcoming trilogy of novellas in his beloved Gentleman Bastards series. Dubbed "The Road to Emberlain," this trilogy will offer fans a chance to catch up with charcters like Locke Lamora and Jean Tannen with new stories set before the series' long-awaited fourth novel, The Thorn of Emberlain.

"The Road to Emberlain is a linked sequence of three novellas bridging the events ofThe Republic of Thieves and The Thorn of Emberlain, detailing the year Locke and Jean spend crossing the continent and developing the scheme that will bring them to Emberlain in its time of war," Lynch wrote on his website. "They're pretty robust. Each one clocks in around 40,000 words. They're also a fun chance (or so I hope) for a bit of a leg-stretch and some halting to smell the roses, as it were. In these novellas you'll find all the convoluted swearing, desperate schemes, and fast-paced bloodshed you expect from the Gentlemen Bastards, but you'll also find heartfelt conversations, slices of life in Locke's world, elements of religion and philosophy, stargazing, strange mysteries and stranger truths. You'll get songs, campfire tales, and ghost stories told beside empty roads and ruins."

In addition to revealing some plot details about the novellas, Lynch also shared their names:

I — More Than Fools Fill Graves
II — The Mad Baron's Mechanical Attic
III — The Choir of Knives

"This is a project forthcoming from Subterranean Press. The books will be offered in their usual spectacular lettered and limited editions, with original illustrations, many of them signed by me," Lynch wrote. "Subterranean Press has been a world leader in fine collectible editions of SF/F works for decades. All details and release timetables will ultimately be up to them; expect the next announcement about these books to come from them. I will repeat all new information in every channel I have as soon as I have it."

Lynch emphasized that, "Absolutely nothing in these novellas will be essential to readers ofThe Thorn of Emberlain; no critical plot information will be withheld," adding that "it is crucial to me, as a cornerstone of this project, that nothing in these books be required to understand any of the events ofThe Thorn of Emberlain. However, if you're eager to spend just a bit more enriching, mystifying, blood-soaked quality time with Locke and Jean, look no further."

In other words, you don't need to read these three novellas in order to enjoy Lynch's forthcoming book The Thorn of Emberlain...but if you're one of those readers who's been eagerly waiting to spend more time with Locke and Jean, why wouldn't you? The last Gentlemen Bastards novel, The Republic of Thieves, was released back in 2013. There's still no release date yet for The Thorn of Emberlain, but these three brand new Road to Emberlain novellas sound like a perfect warm-up. Consider me optimistic that we'll be hearing more and more about the return of Locke Lamora in the coming months.

A two-part Gentlemen Bastards short story is coming in Grimdark Magazine

In addition to The Road to Emberlain novellas, Lynch also announced that he's publishing a new Gentlemen Bastards short story as well: "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent." This one will be set during con artist Locke Lamora's younger years, before the bulk of the events of the first novel in the series, The Lies of Locke Lamora.

"Grimdark Magazine is celebrating ten years of phantasmagorical grit, and I was invited to be a contributor for the anniversary issue in October. After a bit of discussion, we decided to seize the opportunity to do something really special," Lynch wrote. "I'm delighted to report that "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent" will be a two-part extravaganza bridging the October 2024 and January 2025 issues of GDM."

Here's the official description of the short story:

"In this tale from Locke's teenage years, our nervous, hormonal, romantically-confused hero spends a few months working as a bar-back in one of Camorr's most brutal Right People taverns. This is one of Father Chains' endless series of training and personal enrichment schemes; as per usual, it's full of fuckery, and as per usual, Locke is expected to work it all out himself. His only real ally of the moment is the aging mercenary Mazoc Saba, a man addicted to risking his own life in a gambling spectacle involving poisoned wine.

As Locke's troubles boil over, so do Mazoc Saba's debts, and when you publicly flaunt your obligations to the one and only Capa Barsavi, Barsavi reaches out to publicly remind you of them..."

The first part of "Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent" releases this October in Grimdark Magazine. As for The Road to Emberlain novellas, keep your eye on Subterranean Press for updates.

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