Title: The Palace Job
Author: Patrick Weekes
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: 47North
Release Date: October 2013
Format: E-book
Acquired: Netgalley ARC
Pages: 438
Date Finished: June 7, 2015
Goodreads Description
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 shape-shifting 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?
My Review
The Palace Job is an action-packed romp through a high-fantasy heist. Like all good heists, the main character, having been wronged and seeking revenge, must assemble a team of highly skilled folks to help get the job done. Of course, this team includes some strange folks with some strange skills. Ever wondered what you could accomplish with a horny shifter-unicorn and a death priestess? Read this book to find out.
A lot of the reviews I read compared this to The Lies of Loche Lamora (LLL) and deemed it lacking. If you’ve read my review of LLL, you’ll know I was not that impressed with it. I personally found A Palace Job much more likeable. The humor kept it light-hearted, the characters were more diverse, and the plot moved along at a brisker pace. It did have a bit of a slow start, but it picked up at about 20%. It also avoided the dark, grittier tropes that turned me off of LLL.
I’ll admit the characters could have been a little more fleshed out and the plot could have been deeper, but then it would have been a different book with a different feel. I personally like it just the way it is.
Wrap-Up
If you like high-fantasy with a little humor and burglary thrown in, you’ll like this book. The world-building was well paced and not daunting in the slightest. Weekes actually uses puppets in the book to keep you up to date on the political happenings. I thought it was a genius way to keep you informed without bogging down the swiftness of the plot. It’s very similar to the way we get our news in the real world. (Get it? Puppets?)
It was a fun read and I hope you’ll give it a shot. 3 1/2 stars that I would round-up to 4.
Special Thanks…
I’d like to give a shout out to Netgalley, Amazon Publishing, and Patrick Weekes for giving me the opportunity to read and review this ARC.