I read this a couple weeks ago, so I'm trying to remember what was in it. Was this the section that alternated between the Thiefmaker/Chains and young Locke's years at Shades Hill? But it didn't show Locke being turned over to Chains yet, if I recall.

I remember finding it intriguing in my first readthrough, because of the drawn-out insinuation that Locke has done something terrible, that he, as the chapter title indicates, steals too much. That's a great premise, I thought. A young thief who is too clever and too eager to display his cleverness for anyone's good, especially his own. That idea really sets the tone for the entire novel.

If I recall, the explanation of what he finally did to get the death sentence and to be sent to Father Chains isn't offered until the first chapter flashback. I wanted to know about it, as I read this prologue, and at first I was annoyed that it wasn't explained straight off, that we went into the present for a bit first before flashing back again. But I quickly came to appreciate the flashback structure, as the narrative jumps around to illuminate the present with stories of the past.

Still, the idea of dangerous, ignorant, precocious young Locke, stealing too much and in ways he shouldn't, carried the prologue through. As well, the dialogue between the Thiefmaker and Chains is delightful. Dialogue is one of Lynch's greatest strengths, I think. It's not always perfectly realistic, but it always sparkles, and the interactions between his characters are easy and fun to follow.

I don't remember if very much of Camorr is revealed in the prologue. Seems to me there were a few mentions of elderglass, which is tremendously interesting to me. That there was some unknowable, alien species that once lived across the land, and that they built with materials that never weather, that can't be damaged or destroyed, that glow with ethereal light. And then later on we see an example of elderglass that was damaged sometime in ancient history, and I can't help but wonder what did that, and whether or not it might still be around somewhere.