On 2013 - Top Three and Bottom One

So, 2013 has come and gone (10 days ago, I know I'm a little behind on the obligatory "year in review" type of post).  It was an entertainment filled year where I went to the theater to see more movies and read more books than 2012.  I hope to continue this trend in 2014.  

I see a lot of top 10 lists around (most of them posted timely around New Year's, but I'm behind on reading the blogs too).  I will cut the list down to the top three and bottom one.  Movies / Books are linked to my review where one exists.  

Movies (only counts if I saw the movie in the theater):

# 3 - Monsters University

I took my four year old to see this and she loved it.  I did too.  Even today, weeks after she received the movie on DVD over the holidays and we have more-or-less had this on TV any time Yo Gabba Gabba is not on, I still love it.  It is fun, funny, and one of the better sequels done by Disney.  Ok, what it teaches children may not be the best lesson in the world, but it's a fun movie filled with a lot of good laughs.  I mean, it's Revenge of the Nerds for kids.

I don't believe it.  I'm on a top of the year list!

# 2 - The World's End

These guys are comedy gold.  All three of the movies are completely different yet all carry similar humor, heart and over-the-top ridiculous goodness.   

Made the list.  Time to hit the pub!

# 1 - Pacific Rim

Giant Robots fighting Giant Monsters.  And Ron Perlman.  

I liked the movie this much!

Honorable Mention - The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug  

This loses a little ground in that to me it didn't live up to the first part, and was an hour too long.  

Bottom - Broken City

Maybe it would have been better had I not gone into the theater thinking it would be an action movie.  Probably not.  So.  Slow.  

Books (based on what I read, not year of release)

# 3 Demon Cycle (I need to cheat and use the series since I did a lot of series binging this year)

I never posted a review of these books, so I feel compelled to at least put a blurb here.  I was convinced I would not like the Demon Cycle books (great way to start a review, no?).  I read the premise and thought it really interesting.  And then I picked up book one.  It starts WAY in the past of the "present" storyline (though you don't know that at the time).  Thinking this is what the story would be, I knew I wouldn't like it.  But the present storyline comes on with a vengeance, and it grew on me more and more with each page.  

# 2 The Republic of Thieves 

Sabetha

# 1 The Lightbringer (again cheating with the series name)

Cliche cloaked man doesn't do justice to a FANTASTIC book series (love the coloring though)

Bottom - NOS4A2

I love Joe Hill, and it's really not fair that he holds this position as the bottom of my 2013 pile.  Heart Shaped Box and Horns are fantastic books.  NOS4A2 wasn't horrible, but it really didn't hold my attention as well as his prior works.  And I should add that being the bottom book I read in 2013 is not necessarily a terrible thing.  I had no 1 or 2 (goodreads) rated books in 2013.  I don't read 50 books a year, so I tend to make sure my selections will hold my interest whenever possible.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  2013 was a good book year for me.  I still highly recommend Hill's works, though maybe you pick up the other two books first.  

On The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard #3) by Scott Lynch - REVIEW

I should open this by stating that if you haven't read books one and two of the Gentleman Bastard series (which I highly suggest you do), this post may contain inadvertent spoilers (I know there are some blogs I follow and who follow me that are doing a read along of this book, so I will keep this spoiler free in terms of The Republic of Thieves).  

Synopsis (per Goodreads): 

Having pulled off the greatest heist of their career, Locke and his trusted partner in thievery, Jean, have escaped with a tidy fortune. But Locke's body is paying the price. Poisoned by an enemy from his past, he is slowly dying. And no physiker or alchemist can help him. Yet just as the end is near, a mysterious Bondsmagi offers Locke an opportunity that will either save him - or finish him off once and for all. 

Magi political elections are imminent, and the factions are in need of a pawn. If Locke agrees to play the role, sorcery will be used to purge the venom from his body - though the process will be so excruciating he may well wish for death. Locke is opposed, but two factors cause his will to crumble: Jean's imploring - and the Bondsmagi's mention of a woman from Locke's past . . . Sabetha. The love of his life. His equal in skill and wit. And now his greatest rival. 

Locke was smitten with Sabetha from his first glimpse of her as a young fellow-orphan and thief-in-training. But after a tumultuous courtship, Sabetha broke away. Now they will reunite in yet another clash of wills. For faced with his one and only match in both love and trickery, Locke must choose whether to fight Sabetha - or to woo her. It is a decision on which both their lives may depend.

Review:

"Life boils down to standing in line to get shit dropped on your head.  Everyone's got a place in the queue, you can't get out of it, and just when you start congratulating yourself on surviving your dose of shit, you discover the line is actually circular."

Scott Lynch has a way with words.  I don't say this about many authors.  Patrick Rothfuss falls into this category as well.  Ok.  Let's hold the train a moment.  Patrick Rothfuss writes prose as if it were poetry.  Words flow effortlessly into a whispering wind of elegance and beauty.  Scott Lynch takes Patrick Rothfuss' "way with words" and turns off the profanity filter.  His characters cuss like...  someone that cusses an awful lot.  But there is an elegance to it.  The dialogue is still deeply philosophical without being preachy about it, lovelorn without being overly dramatic, humorous without ruining the drama.  

The Republic of Thieves is part three of The Gentleman Bastard books, and Mr. Lynch carries Locke and Jean into another situation they will need to lie, cheat and steal their way through.  Mind you, book three is nothing like book one or book two of the series.  Scott is not afraid to take his characters in new directions (maintaining decisions within character).  Book one was a fantasy "Ocean's Eleven." Book two was a retooling of "Pirates of the Caribbean" (not to say it was an outright copy or anything, but any fun/funny piracy has the PotC feel nowadays).  Book three puts the con artistry in the backdrop of an election scandal.  In the end, this book is more about Locke and Sabetha than any con.  A love story told through a play, childish pranks, and an election.  

If I had one criticism to the previous chapters in the life of Locke Lamora, it would be Scott Lynch's use of "Interludes" to tell the backstory.  All three novels are told in two time periods - the "present" scam and the "interlude" (which takes place earlier in the life of Locke).  I don't entirely have a problem with the use of two time periods; however, in Lies (book 1) the "interlude" periods went from an explanation of Locke's childhood to exposition of city life, backstory to obscure characters, and explanations of various aspects of Camorri civilization.  Republic does away with the exposition and gives us two concurrent stories...  present and past.  It gives us the meeting and development of the relationship with Sabetha as well as the reunion with her.  It's two stories for the price of one.

I was slightly disappointed in the "origin" of Locke (assuming it turns out to be true).  Hopefully that gets downplayed a little in the next novel.  I am, however, looking forward to the comeback of the other character (leaving that intentionally vague).

Simply put, The Republic of Thieves was a fun advancement of Locke's character, a nice introduction to Sabetha, and a great setup of the next book.