Mike Douton's Stuff and/or Junk

I’m un-neglecting my blog for once! I’ve been busy on the new novel, shopping the old one still, and an odd little short story. But more than all that, this last week, I’ve been busy with The Republic of Thieves.

If you don’t know about The Republic of Thieves and the Gentlemen Bastard books by Scott Lynch… Go! Read them now! This post can wait!

Seriously, this series is one of the books I recommend the most. It is Ocean’s 11 set in a fantasy world. Books like this have the broad appeal that can draw in new readers to the genre. I read the first two books, The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies back when Seas was fairly new in 2008 and have been eagerly awaiting book three since then. Well it finally dropped and wasn’t I just ecstatic that the book release even was up the road in Massachusetts.

Seriously, there is not much that willingly gets me to drive to Boston. That place sucks. A lot. But all the cool writerly stuff happens in Massachusetts and not Rhode Island. (I swear, we really are different states.) I won’t gripe about driving in Boston. Much. A lot of one way streets. Without pavement. It took twenty minutes to get off the exit ramp off the Mass Pike. New Englanders are all nodding knowingly with solidarity.

Scott Lynch reading from The Republic of Thieves

So Pandemonium Books is an awesome little store, even if it is inconvenient to get to. We seriously broke the fire code for this reading. It was standing room only. We weren’t far from needing those guys from the Tokyo subways and their sticks. The event was even a two for one. Scott Lynch’s partner, Elizabeth Bear also had a book coming out, Book of Iron, one of those awesome little Subterranean Press minis. I met both of them at Readercon this past summer and Bear was also at Boskone last winter. They’re both very friendly people and great speakers on panels and such. They’re even better when they’re bantering with each other, very witty and well spoken. Each of them treated the room to a reading from their new books.

Even cooler? When I got up to the front of the line, Scott was like “Oh! You’re Mike from twitter!” and in my head I was all “I just won at twitter.” And he remembered that I build submarines for a living. I may hate my job but I forget that other people who don’t work with me find it impressive. My whole set of Gentlemen Bastard books are now all signed and personalized. Not pictured is Seas where it says I’ve “got the right attitude when it comes to work and books” because I told him I was taking the next day off just to hole up with the book once my kiddo was at daycare.

It was a fantastically fun time. When I get jealous about people going to all the fun cons and stuff scattered

“We all live in a nuclear submarine!”

across the country and the world, I remember that sometimes they’re only one state away from me. Sometimes it’s my turn to do the fun stuff. And someday Rhode Island is going to take over and we’ll get our own cool people events too. Seriously, I’m turning into a real Rhode Islander and 50 miles away requires packing snacks.

Oh so how was the book? Bloody fucking fantastic. There were two Book Throwing Moments. TWO. On the

They brought cookies!

same page! Book Throwing Moments are the best things ever by the way and I haven’t run across one since I was reading Well of Sorrows a year and a half-ish ago. BTMs have happened… maybe a dozen times ever?

Once every two years or so sounds about right. So in twenty years of reading SFF that would be about ten or eleven. Ever. Some of my all time favorites don’t have a BTM and Thieves has two in what may be one of the best chapters I’ve ever read.

I could talk all sorts of shop about this book. The ins and outs and the mechanics and what works and what doesn’t quite and how it fits in with the other two books. But that’s not the hat I’m wearing today. Today, I’m wearing a reader hat, a fan hat and I want to impart how much this book is a joy to read and how much everyone should be reading Scott Lynch.

Go. Do it now.