The Republic of Thieves: Difference between revisions

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In the beginning of ''The Republic of Thieves'', the third book in the ''[[Gentleman Bastard Sequence]]'', Locke Lamora lies near death from the poison administered to him in [[Red Seas Under Red Skies|the previous book]]. The chance for a cure comes in the form of the bondsmage, Patience, who wants to hire Locke and his trusty friend Jean to fix an ordinary human election in Karthain, the city where the bondsmagi live. For that she is willing to remove the poison from Locke's body as well as give a sizeble monetary reward if Locke succeeds in his task.

To complicate the matters, the opposing faction of bondsmagi has hired Sabetha, Locke's former partner in crime and [[Single-Target Sexuality|enduring true love]] who is Locke's equal in [[Xanatos Speed Chess]]. A truly dirty election season follows in which both of the two parties in Karthain engaging in horrendously corrupt and entertaining tactics under the criminal guidance of Locke and Sabetha, all to win the rulership of a city that, unknown to the ordinary residents, is in truth ruled from shadows by the mind-controlling bondsmagi themselves. When the end comes, the results surprise almost everyone.

To complicate the matters, the opposing faction of bondsmagi has hired Sabetha, Locke's former partner in crime and [[Single-Target Sexuality|enduring true love]] who is Locke's equal in [[Xanatos Speed Chess]]. A truly dirty election season follows in which both of the two political parties in Karthain engaging in horrendously corrupt and entertaining tactics under the criminal guidance of Locke and Sabetha, all to win the rulership of a city that, unknown to the ordinary residents, is in truth ruled from shadows by the mind-controlling bondsmagi themselves. When the end comes, the results surprise almost everyone.

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* [[I Know Your True Name]]: The bondsmagi can mind-control anyone whose true name they know. They don't know Locke's.

** The people of Karthain have the custom of hiding their given names. However, the bondsmagi can go far with just a partial true name, which a surname counts as.

** A bondsmage knowing the name of another bondsmage is particularly serious business.

* [[Jerkass]]: Patience.

* [[Jerkass]]: Patience. Even to her own son.

* [[Karmic Death]]: Without Locke's involvement, in the end {{spoiler|Patience gets murdered by the Falconer, her own son, who was one of the people whom she had treated horribly.}}

* [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]]: Routinely applied by the bondsmagi.

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* [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]: Locke and Sabetha bribe various bureaucrats to cause trouble to the opposing party.

* [[Ravens and Crows]]: {{spoiler|When the Falconer returns from his catatonia in the epilogue and gains back his powers, the second thing he does is to possess a flock of crows and send them to peck to death Patience, his mother.}}

* [[Reveal]]: No one could have guessed that Locke was in truth {{spoiler|a feared bondsmage necromancer known as Lamor Acanthus who transferred his soul to the body of a small child.}} Even Locke didn't know. This will presumably become important in a later book.

* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money]]: Locke and Sabetha's chosen tactic for winning the election.

* [[Sleazy Politician]]: What Locke and Sabetha strive to expose and/or frame every opposing side politician as.