Lynch's debut novel, The Lies of Locke Lamora, was a World Fantasy Award finalist in 2007. In both 2007 and 2008 Lynch was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Lynch received the Sydney J. Bounds Best Newcomer Award from the British Fantasy Society in 2008.
The series takes place in the world of the shattered Therin Throne Empire and its successor states. It follows the life of the young professional thief and con artist Locke Lamora, over a period of some fifteen to twenty years. Lynch has stated that there will be a sequel series set twenty years after with new protagonists, which will also be seven books long. The world described has a society and technology roughly similar to that of the historical 16th or 17th Century, but with several crucial differences: the world is littered with "Elderglass", an unbreakable material left behind by mysterious beings known as "Eldren"; firearms have not been discovered, the crossbow being the most advanced offensive weapon known; magic exists, virtually monopolized by the secretive and malevolent Bondsmagi; the practice of alchemy offers some devices far beyond 17th Century levels, such as alchemical lights which are the equivalent of electric ones. Though the society depicted is far from egalitarian, and there is an enormous gap between rich and poor, it does have very considerable gender equality. Similar to present-day Western society - and very different from historical 17th Century societies - women in this world can and do have jobs and careers, on both the bottom and the top of society. Within a few chapters of Red Seas Under Red Skies the protagonists encounter female dock workers, female carpenters, female assassins, female captains of both naval and pirate ships, and women in various other positions. Lynch has described each novel of the series as " what you might call a different general situation" in which "the same characters getting into trouble but the backdrop changes."
''Queen of the Iron Sands''
In August 2009 Lynch began to publish the online novel Queen of the Iron Sands. A planetary romance, in the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom novels. The story concerns female aviator and ex-WASP who is transported to a fantastic Mars. Chapters were scheduled to be released weekly. The serialization ran until September 2009 and picked up in June 2010 and halted again in September 2012.
Selected awards and honors
Personal life
Lynch resides in New Richmond, Wisconsin. Lynch has had a variety of jobs including dishwasher, busboy, waiter, web designer, office manager, prep cook, and freelance writer. He is also a volunteer firefighter, certified in both Minnesota and Wisconsin. The "Acknowledgements" column published in the 2007 Red Seas Under Red Skies started with Lynch acknowledging his debt "once more to the amazing Jenny, for being so many things over the years - girlfriend, best friend, first reader, constructive critic and, at long last, wife" In his biography Lynch mentioned Jenny as being "a biology major and eventual veterinarian". However, at some later time Lynch divorced Jenny and in October 2016 he married Elizabeth Bear, a fellow fantasy writer. Lynch has acknowledged an extramarital relationship with writer Alexandra Rowland, following their accusations of abuse from both him and Bear.
