The white-robed boys swept back their hoods and Locke saw that they were twins; perhaps a year or two older than himself, and far sturdier-looking. They had the olive skin and black hair of the true Camorri; their identical long, hook-ended noses, however, were something of an anomaly. Smiling, they joined hands and bowed in unison from the waist.

'Um, hi,' Locke said. 'Which of you is . . . which?'

'Today, I am Galdo,' said the one on Locke's left.

'Tomorrow, I will probably be Galdo,' said the other one.

'Or perhaps we'll both want to be Calo,' added the one that had first spoken.

'In time,' Father Chains interrupted, 'you'll learn to tell them apart by the number of dents I've kicked in their respective arses; one of them always manages to be ahead of the other, somehow.' He stood behind Locke and placed both of his wide, heavy hands on Locke's shoulders. 'Idiots, this is Locke Lamora. As you can see, I've just bought him from your old benefactor, the master of Shades' Hill.'

'We remember you,' said presumed-Galdo.

'A Catchfire orphan,' said presumed-Calo.

'Father Chains bought us just after you arrived,' they said in unison, grinning.

'Knock that bullshit off," Father Chains said, his voice somehow regal. 'You two have just volunteered to cook dinner. Pears and sausage in oil, and a double portion for your new little brother. Get. Locke and I will deal with the kettle.'

Sneering and gesturing rudely as they went, the twins ran for the curtained door and vanished behind it. Locke could hear their footsteps trailing away down some sort of staircase, and then Father Chains motioned for him to sit beside the copper money-kettle.

Thankfully Tamaki is nothing like Locke and Kyouya only has a few shared similarities with Father Chains. I'm sure you can pick out which.

Obligatory crossover bunnies aside, I've only just finished the prologue and I'm absolutely hooked. The writing is brilliant and obviously well researched, the dialogue cracks me up, and the characters are absolutely fascinating.

The summary pretty much says it all:

The Lies of Locke Lamora is a fantasy novel by Scott Lynch. It follows the adventures of a group of con artists known as the Gentlemen Bastards. They live in a city called Camorr, heavily based on late medieval Venice. The book is divided into two interspersed stories. In the present time, the Gentlemen Bastards must contend with the Grey King, a powerful figure terrorizing Camorr's criminal community. Every other chapter, however, delves into the history and mythology of Camorr, the Gentlemen Bastards, and especially the protagonist Locke Lamora.
— Wikipedia entry accessed June 6 2011

The author, Scott Lynch, has his own scott_lynch, and finally, there is the following:

"Locke's first name is an homage to a character in SquareSoft's Final Fantasy VI, also known as Final Fantasy III in the United States. This game had a huge influence on me when I was in my mid-teens; I think it's one of the most brilliant and heartbreaking console roleplaying games ever created, a real work of art. "

So there is next to no reason why anyone who even remotely likes this genre shouldn't read this book.

If I can get my act together I think I may be compelled to illustrate some scenes from this book because seriously the lights and the glass bridges and dilapidated temples and hnnng