LambdaLite creator here. I just wanted to point out, in case it is not clear, that LambdaLite doesn't really introduce a new query language per se. The syntax is just "write any Lisp code you want" because actual Lisp closures are used where expressiveness is needed. Hopefully, this means the learning overhead is actually less: instead of needing to know both Lisp and SQL, you only need to know Lisp. (Disclaimer: obviously there is still an API to learn, but that would be the case with any SQL client library too.)

Because the tree structure of the parenthesized expression matches the structure of the query, manipulation of this tree using editor support such as Paredit is useful.

Non-lispers don't always realize that more parens can actually be a feature :)

Lispers don't always realize that too many parens/brackets is a code smell in almost any other language. It makes people unnecessarily wary of (stuff (like 'this)).

Its().just().the().same().for().us().lispers().abstractFactoryFactory()

And I wouldn't want to write sql like that ;)

Why not both?

Quasiquote is going into Java 9.

I dunno. If I have a "complex" condition with more than two parts to it, I prefer to be liberal with parenthesis, rather than expect any future maintainer to remember all the operator precedence rules.