Review (PDF) The Palace Job (Rogues Of The Republic Book 1)
Loch is seeking revenge. It would help if she wasn’t in jail.The plan: to steal a priceless elven manuscript that once belonged to her family, but now is in the hands of the most powerful man in the Republic. To do so Loch—former soldier, former prisoner, current fugitive—must assemble a crack team of magical misfits that includes a cynical illusionist, a shapeshifting unicorn, a repentant death priestess, a talking magical warhammer, and a lad with seemingly no skills to help her break into the floating fortress of Heaven’s Spire and the vault that holds her family’s treasure—all while eluding the unrelenting pursuit of Justicar Pyvic, whose only mission is to see the law upheld.What could possibly go wrong?The Palace Job is a funny, action-packed, high-fantasy heist caper in the tradition of Scott Lynch’s Gentleman Bastards series, from debut author Patrick Weekes.
File Size: 4570 KB
Print Length: 439 pages
Publisher: 47North; Reprint edition (October 8, 2013)
Publication Date: October 8, 2013
Sold by: Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B00D7JWTTQ
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray: Enabled
Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #1,345 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mythology & Folk Tales > Folklore #7 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Humorous #11 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime
I normally start a review with a small plot summary, but so much happened in this novel, my plot summary would not be small. Long story short, Loch and her... I want to call it a ragtag band; her collection of accomplices feel thrown together by circumstances and they are, really. So, Loch and her band set out to steal something, and they do. But a lot of stuff happens along the way. For the long story, you'll have to read the novel. But, as a review isn't much of a review without some impressions, here are some clues as to what you'll find along the way.There is a death priestess. She used to be a love priestess, but things change. She has a talking hammer who used to be a king. (Things change, eh?) The hammer is a member of this band; it talks, it is assigned a share of the proceeds. So is the sixteen year old virgin with the incomparable name `Dairy'. I loved Dairy. I cheered when they took him along and made him a part of the crew. I just had a feeling he'd be important--and he was cute. They have a magician who can spin illusions, a safe cracker and her extremely athletic, talented and lethal sidekick, a unicorn (yes, a unicorn) and Loch's faithful comrade in arms, Kail.These are the good guys. Then there are the accomplices and if I start listing the villains, we'll be here all day. There's a lot going on, but the beauty of this novel is I didn't get lost once. We've all read long and complicated books with a horde of characters and several intertwined plots where we have to flip back a page or a chapter to refresh our memory of who is who and what on earth is going on, right? Patrick Weekes tosses nine balls in the air (this ragtag band) and keeps them spinning while adding plates and dancing a jig. It's an impressive feat and makes for a rip-roaring good read.
4.5 starsI'm probably going to horrify a lot of Fantasy lovers by saying this, but . . . I was not a huge fan of The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. And believe me, no one was more surprised by that than I was. At the time this review was written, it had a 4.28 average rating on Goodreads, based on nearly 75k readers.That's nuts.Additionally, the second highest category (after fantasy) the book was shelved on was Adventure, and 25% of readers also shelved it as Crime. And people . . . it is a truth universally acknowledged that Adventure + Crime = HEIST.And maybe there was a heist. I honestly don't know, b/c I was too bored to get there.YES. It was clever. YES. It was beautifully written. NO. It did not hold my attention, and it wasn't an issue of too many details, b/c I THRIVE on details.It just wasn't what I was expecting, and the difference between reality and expectation was so great that the two could not be reconciled. *shrugs*There is a reason why I'm yammering on about The Lies of Locke Lamora when I'm supposed to be reviewing The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes, and that reason is The Palace Job was exactly what I was expecting The Lies of Locke Lamora to be: a laugh-out-loud high fantasy heist.And it didn't sacrifice depth to slapstick comedy either. Rather than separating the humor from the detail, which is what I felt happened in that other one, Weekes combined the two, and as is often the case, the whole was greater than the parts.Take the political commentary that happens throughout the book via puppets (yes, puppets---you can say a lot with a puppet that you can't say as a person b/c sedition).
**A 3.4 Review as posted on KindleObsessed blog**At the beginning of every great action movie there is a fuse, a scene designed specifically to lure its audience in. It can be one of a hundred different things: a fire, a fight, the full frontal view of a giant man-eating octopus smacking its lips in anticipation. Whatever it is, it's there to stimulate your mind and ask questions. Questions that (inevitably) must be answered. Which in turn keeps your ass firmly planted in a seat that is slightly too small, and has probably been peed on a time or two.Fantasy novels tend to follow the same stream of logic. Start with steam, then (once there is no way the audience can jump ship for fear of lingering angst over artfully dodged answers) they launch into the bones of the story.Patrick Weekes (who is previously known for his work on the Mass Effects series..that's a game, just FYI) followed suit with his novel "The Palace Job." Launching his characters into a truly enjoyable (floating) jail-break right out of the gate, and then asking the question...why? The 423 pages that follow are the answer. And believe me...it's a slippery one."The most powerful man in the republic framed her, threw her in prison, and stole a priceless elven manuscript from her family.With the help of a crack team that includes an illusionist, a unicorn, a death priestess, a talking warhammer, and a lad with a prophetic birthmark, Loch must find a way into the floating fortress of Heaven's Spire-and get past the magic-hunting golems and infernal sorcerers standing between her and the vault that holds her family's treasure.
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