The Palace Job

Rogues of the Republic, Book 1

By: Patrick Weekes

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

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 is now in the hands of the most powerful man in the Republic. To do so, Loch - former soldier, former prisoner, and 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 war hammer, and a lad with seemingly no skills. This crack team of misfits will 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?

©2013 Patrick Weekes (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved

Great - with some reservations.

Great story, but a little trope-laden. Narrator seemed like she was whispering or something, which made us turn up the volume more than I'd like and made it difficult at times to understand.

Great narration good story

I dug it but it kinda got wash, rinse, repeat towards the end if you know what I mean. Best parts: narration, characters, humor. I hear a rumor that the second installment is better. I'll check it out.

Fantastic fun, with smarts & ethics

Patrick Weekes creates a world fully realized, with a large cast of distinctive characters, and lets rip with an elaborate heist plot full of surprises, vividly choreographed action, and engaging warmth & wit (it's not surprising that he also writes for the game Dragon Age). Justine Eyre brings it all to life with all the right measures of grit and humor, giving all the characters their due across accents, genders, ages, and classes. And a very special bonus: the whole thing is built on ideas of ethics, both personal and social. Plus the extra-special bonus of ethnic diversity and realistically depicted race relations, including a long history of race-based oppression. None of it is preachy; it is realities the characters live with. Thank you, Patrick Weekes: a fantasy world with people of color, where the central protagonist is a woman of mixed race, and there are all kinds of people in a world that feels genuine and thoroughly lived-in.

I discovered this series through Audible, and I looooooooove it! So very much fun.

Had me Pacing

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Most definitely. It's very well written has a good balance of humor and severity. Justine also does a great job of giving each character their own voice. There is only a couple of times were the characters sounded very similar where it was hard to tell one from the other but that was rare and far in-between.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved that this book kept me on the edge of my seat. I never knew what was going to happen, even when you thought the outcome is obvious there a little extra surprise to keep you guessing and entertained.

Which scene was your favorite?

Without giving anything away, there is a prophecy about one of the members of the group. Their face-off and the one-liners where hilarious.

Ocean's Eleven in fantasy land

The story starts with a bang, but slows down as Locke gathers her crew. This reads like Ocean's Eleven in fantasy land. The narrator is incredible! She gives each character their own voice and accent. And there are lots of characters. It is a bit confusing until you get to know them. Many characters have similar sounding, unpronouncable names. After all three books in the series, I still can't say Locke's real name. This series is a non-stop adventure ride.

Wow! An incredible fantasy heist sure to please.

This is a book that had the potential to go horribly wrong - yet instead ended up brilliant. A fantasy heist that feels like someone's Dungeons and Dragons game of Ocean's Eleven - and is better for the mix.

It manages to seamlessly blend comedy, drama, sexual tension, a love triangle, tragedy and intrigue. I found myself chuckling at humorous moments, then hoping that a character's interest in another would be returned, then getting upset at the villain.

It has an ensemble cast of characters, something I usually find distracting. Instead, each one seemed to be truly alive, with different motivations, personalities and abilities that made each one enjoyable to follow. Several had fascinating back stories, and all were deeper than they were first made out to be. The icing on the cake was that they got along - not perfectly, but well enough.

The setting is fantasy, with some things clearly copied from our own world - coffee is almost transparently copied in with a new name, for example - but it's just enough to make you feel like your feet are on the ground. There is a wonderful, full-bodied world going on, but you only get tantalizing glimpses of it as the story goes on. It's a terrific case of showing, not telling. I was especially impressed with the world's version of the Death God... but no spoilers.

My only real complaint is that I found the reader slightly soporific at first. Once I got past the introduction, when the mood of the book really took hold, things picked up quickly. This is the best book I've read (well, listened to) in the past year, and I will be looking out for more by Patrick Weekes in the future.

Amusing and confusing, a rather fun read

So. Many. Layers of plans! More layers than an ogre... Of course that just meant that I couldn't put it down. I felt like this was an adult game of Tom and Jerry played on hard mode, only for half the book I didn't know which was which. I love books that keep me guessing!

Funny!

Call me immature all you want, but your mom jokes will never get old! Great story.

Lost on Page 1

I was thoroughly confused while listening to this book. Was I not following approved listening procedures? Did I skip the instructions? Were there too many characters? Was the narrator too clever with her accents? If there was a quiz after the book ended, Audible would be emailing me a big fat “F” and contacting my parents.

To be fair, the narrator was enthusiastic and parts of the book had me biting my nails.

Wow! What a book! Great Fun & Amazing Characters!

A con job, swindle, & revenge story... A fast paced adventure with strong characters and a lot of twist and turns!