The hardcover is now sold out and will not be reprinted. The e-book edition is available on Amazon worldwide (here are quick links to the US, UK, and Canada) and on Kobo.

Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent is the Sixth title in Short Stops, a series from Conversation Tree Press dedicated to bringing exceptional shorter works of fiction to life through beautifully bound, letterpress-printed, limited editions that begin shipping immediately upon announcement. See the full announcement here.

The novels in the acclaimed Gentleman Bastards series trace the exploits of an elite band of thieves and confidence artists moving through a richly imagined city-state shaped in the image of medieval Venice. In Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent, Scott Lynch returns to the cobblestones and canals of Camorr, offering a glimpse into the formative years of one of the young Gentleman Bastards.

Here, however, Locke is not yet the architect of elaborate deceptions, but a boy apprenticed to learn something wholly new and entirely unnatural: the discipline and meagre rewards of (mostly) honest, hard labour.

Set against the uproar of taverns and the quiet menace of the canals, the story focuses on an unlikely companionship and the education it affords.

First published in Grimdark Magazine, this edition has been expanded by the author and is considered his preferred and final version.

If this is your first visit to Camorr, you’ll find a tale that’s equal parts funny, tragic, and warm, while being entirely accessible as a standalone. If you’ve met any of the Gentleman Bastards before—well, you know what to expect.

Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent by Scott Lynch is a limited edition of 500 unnumbered copies, letterpress printed by Ascensius Press in Maine on Neenah Cotton Pearl White Letterpress 118gsm paper. It features three full-colour illustrations by Even Mehl Amundsen and the book is quarter-bound in book cloth and hand-marbled paper from Renato Crepaldi. The endpapers are GF Smith Colorplan with a linen finish.

All copies are signed by the author and artist.