Thorn of Emberlain. Image via Gollancz
18. Gentleman Bastards
The Book: The Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch
The Story: The series follows the journey of a thief named Locke Lamora his crew of Gentlemen Bastards — a group of con artists. The Bastards operate in the criminal underworld and use their various skills to con the city’s elite. The Bastards soon find themselves double-crossed and mixed up in a dangerous revenge scheme.
The series is set to have seven books, but only three have been released so far: The Lies of Locke Lamora, Red Seas Under Red Skies and The Republic of Thieves. The Thorn of Emberlain, The Ministry of Necessity, The Mage and the Master Spy and Inherit the Night are all still forthcoming.
The Adaptation: When I think about what I’d like to see in a Gentleman Bastard adaptation, I can’t help but think about another book adaptation: BBC’s The Musketeers. It was swashbuckling, adventurous fun (that started to fall apart by the third series, but that’s a whole other issue entirely). This show should have the same spirit of excitement and adventure, but with a little extra mystery and magic.
Warner Brothers actually bought the film rights to the first book (The Lies of Locke Lamora) back in 2006, but the movie has been sitting in development hell ever since.