Locke Lamora trade

ocke trade 🗡 illustration I made for the special edition of the fantasy classic The Gentlemen Bastards sequence’s Book one: Lies of Locke Lamora, written by Scott Lynch and edited by The Broken Binding in collaboration with Gollancz .The project includes 6 endpapers for the 3 books of the sequence.

This illustration shows the moment Locke, the main character, is being sold to Father Chains by the Thiefmaker in the Temple of God Perelandro. It’s one of the most emblematic scenes in my opinion, and I wanted to represent the moment, the characters and also the essence of the city.

The city of Camorr in general is a very special place. It’s a venetian style mixed with some ancient structures made of Elderglass, an unbreakable ancient material that shines during a few hours every night. This lapse of time is called the Falselight, but despite the name It’s the moment when people can experience the almost forgotten origin of the city, the truth of it, and realize that everything that came after the Elderglass is basically an addition. This Falselight was also a challenge because it makes an anacronical effect: a classical environment (pseudo medieval or renaissance time) enlightened by an artificial light, which I find fascinating, but difficult to represent.

I consider the glass structures and their shine as a brief claiming moment per day of the real history of Camorr to say “I am here”, and that’s exactly what I think The Temple of Perelandro does too, but claiming also for help. It has been occupied by Father Chains’ band who pretend to be Perelandro devoted people but who are thieves actually. So I imagine it as a living structure that scratches the rock to reveal the truth for a few hours a day, but none pay attention to it. In the same line, Father Chains, the fake devot of Perelandro, is making his whole performance to keep the lie: the blindness, the chains that don’t let him go further than the temple’s area...a real marthyr. It’s such a good show that none can see his very well feeded belly, or his not very well adjusted blindfold.

Lynch created amazing location in Camorr that really captivated me.