Thinking about it, there’s not so much of a plot here, but then these stories have often worked more for the plotting than for the plot itself. Republic is definitely an enjoyable read, just as as the previous two instalments were.

For the obvious part we're back on dry land, but there’s also the return of the Sanza twins, Calo and Galdo, as the book is split between the present day follow on from Locke and Jean’s pirate adventures and the early days of the group’s history. The Republic of Thieves is the long awaited third book in Scott Lynch’s Gentlemen Bastards series, and it’s something of a return to familiar territory after Red Seas Under Red Skies. Nevertheless, I will eagerly await the Thorn of Emberlain (whenever it finally comes out) as I do love Lynch's writing and Locke and Jean as characters so much. I also found the character of Sabetha a little disappointing - she was never going to live up to the hype created by the previous two books and she didn't feel fully fleshed out (I honestly wish we had more from her POV or something to make me connect more with her because I really do want to love her but find it hard to do it from Locke's POV as he kinda becomes annoying when it comes to her). However, this was the weakest in the series so far for definite, which I think was mostly due to me not caring at all about the election plot - I really like the first 200 pages or so and I liked the interlude part a lot as well, but the actual election which forms the main plot was kinda meh for me and didn't have the same high stakes/excitement/big twists that I felt the previous two books had. I adore this series in general, mostly because I love Scott Lynch's writing style and humour - I really gel with it and find that I fly through these even though they're pretty long.

The Thorn of Emberlain by Scott Lynch