The Palace Job (Rogues of the Republic)

I only bought the novel because I recognized the author as having been involved in the DragonAge games. I was not disappointed. The characters are quite interesting though one can take only so many lucky happenings in this story. Can't wait to read the others in the series.

EDIT: Finished the book, and dropped it from 4-stars to 3-stars. See below for reasons.

The writing is so-so, and I'm hopeful that it gets better in the author's other books. There's no deep POV, for instance, so we often aren't even sure whose POV the scene is supposed to be from! However, the heist-plot is good, and MAJOR kudos to the author for making the lead a female PoC. Additionally, whereas many multi-racial fantasy worlds are super-enlightened, racism DOES exist in this world. That fact bumped it up from a 3-star to a 4-star, and I have recommended it to friends.

EDIT: Now that I've slogged my way through the ending, I have to drop it back down to 3 stars. The action just got eye-rollingly predictable, with the characters (particularly the lead) ALWAYS being one step ahead of the bad guy... or if not, then saved by yet another Deus-Ex-Machina-y twist. I swear, every character died (no, totally, like, for realsies this time!) at least once, only to WHOOPS! not really be dead after all. The author was writing a movie script, not a book, judging from the lack of deep POV (because if we were in the characters' heads, we'd know all about the super-secret upcoming plot twist) and the number of cut scenes. The ending alone necessitates reading this book in paperback, just so you can flip back and forth so that you can remember the last time X character appeared (you know, when he died. For realsies).

The blurb compares it to Lynch's Gentlemen Bastard series, but Locke is a much deeper, more complex, and more fallible character than Loch. I will not be reading the rest of this series, despite the potential of this plot.

I enjoyed it from start to finish. I was seriousely frustrated every time my lunch was up and I had to wait a little longer to finish it. It's convoluted, but not in a bad way. Defiantly worth a read.

Amazing characters and situations. I really got into the book after downloading the audio. I found myself stumbling over names and descriptions. The story moved smoothly for me after that!
I Highly recommend this book. On to the next.

The Palace Job was fun, funny, and clever from start to finish. It's basically a caper story set in a fantasy world. Don't let the fantasy turn you off, it's not Tolkien or Game of Thrones, but instead a lot of fun twists on some of the standard fantasy tropes. Instead think Firefly meets Leverage meets the Wizard of Oz.

Liked the colorful & diverse characters. Liked the excellent humor and dialogue. Loved the idea of a fantasy version of Ocean's 11.

Didn't like the pacing. Not sure what it was lacking, but I kept getting tired and having to take breaks until the last 200 pages. Perhaps more focus on character development instead of plotting and tactics would have helped. :)

Gave it 4 stars-3 stars for great characters, dialogue, action scenes, & plot. 1 star extra for a fantastic first book by the very talented Weekes. He deserves it for such great work he put into it. Can't wait to see what he'll come up with next!

It's kind of funny, and there are some interesting characters and ideas, but I just didn't feel compelled to get back to it, I read 2 other books after I started it, and finished both quickly, This book felt like I had to finish it ,so I fimnsally came back to it, but I won't be buying the rest of the series.

A fun, engaging story told with satirical wit. Thoroughly enjoyable and well written.

- Gary Nelson, author of Project Kids Adventures The Ultimate Tree House Project: Project Kids Adventure #1 (Project Kids Adventures) (Volume 1)

I enjoyed reading this book. The heist plot was well done and the trope was executed well. The world feels like there's a good story bible worked out behind the scenes but without wasted time in world building exposition. In my opinion, a few of the twists felt like they unearned with their causes untelegraphed. Our lack of knowledge of this fantasy world makes them feel a little out of the blue.

My literary criticism attempted, let me say I had fun

I really enjoyed this one. High fantasy heist novel with a premise I enjoyed and a lot of witty twists and turns! Reminiscent of The Lies of Locke Lamora, and anyone enjoying the Gentlemen Bastards would do well to check this series out, too.

Better written in terms of language flow, character development, and plot than 90% of the genre. If this was as series, I would buy every one of his books. Problem is that this is a single book so my happiness at finding it is frustrated. Writing games must pay well, but of course, simply writing books doesn't pay well until you have a whole series.

Easy, fun read and a rollicking adventure. Great stuff - great characters, witty and intelligent dialogue, slightly (but not too) bawdy, I enjoyed this so much more than I expected. It reminded me of the fantasy that I used to read in the 1970s and 1980s as a tween and wary teen (yes, I realize I am old). I cannot wait to read the next book in the series!!

Unfortunately, Patrick Weekes' brilliant idea of a Ocean's Eleven-style heist in a fantasy setting is ruined by his overrealiance on EVERY character having a near infinite cycle of plan-preplanned counterplan-preplanned COUNTERcounterplan. A bit more simplicity and I would have loved it.

This is a delightful heist book! The characters, while basically stock characters (the stoic wizard, the virgin-crazed unicorn, the idiot farm boy) were funny and likable. The entire plot had elements from some of my favorite movies which was great. It was a relatively fast read, with good pacing and action and entertaining characters.

Rating: 5/5

4.5 stars, maybe. It was funny and clever, exciting and surprising, and not just fluff. A bit more cynical and occasionally bawdy than my auto-buy authors, but I really enjoyed it. (Hmm, I should've reviewed it right away because now I've forgotten the clever allusion I'd come up with -- 'guess that means I'll have to read it again!)

Loved it! Excellent humor, pace and story. The characters were wonderfully fleshed out and had distinct personalities. Fantasy world building was not extensive but who needs that when the story grabs you for the ride as it builds momentum to a perfectly orchestrated crescendo!

Patrick Weekes has a history of creating memorable and delightful characters. The first book in this series introduces a bunch of good ones. I'm looking forward to completing the series and finding out more about his gang of misfits and heroes.

This is a fun, light fantasy that I would definitely recommend to others. It's not the Lord of the Rings or the Wheel of Time but it is well-written with interesting characters. The plot has some good twists and turns and keeps your interested up until the end of the story. The author is a good story-teller and I look forward to reading other books by him.

Was not impressed by this writing. Though parts were entertaining it was easy enough to guess the why's and the werefores. I'm sure Mr Weekes will continue to get better at writing but this book just didn't do enough for me. You may view this differently but it was not worth it to me.

I love mixed genre stories, and this book does not disappoint. Imagine Ocean's 11 in a fantasy setting, with all the one-liners and slight-of-hand that made the movie fun. I'm going to get the second book in the series right now!

it was a little bit of politics, romance and good adventure. some good laughs and a lot of personality. I loved all the fight scenes. my favorite character was Kail. I loved his ingenious way of distracting...

Picked up on a whim, I turned out really impressed by this book. It has a light tone at first, but there's a deeper sense of the world and it's magic that you pick up on as the story evolves. All of the characters are memorable, and I found myself liking them (even the evil ones were interesting).

I thoroughly enjoyed this well written romp of a story. The characters are well drawn and you can't help but root for them. The story is complex enough to keep the reader entertained til the end of the book.

I really enjoyed this frolicking fantasy story. It was fun to read, although keeping track of all of the different characters and types of characters was difficult at times. Magical, non-magical, god-like and rogue-like they were well characterized and fun to read about.

I read all of the time but seldom write reviews. Mom always said if you can't say something nice . . . I've got lots of nice things to say about this book, but I don't want to spoil any of your fun. Enjoy the laughs.

Author has created a complex world of magic with very little logical base making everything hard to follow. The entire series is well written but scenes as well as overall plot line are overly elaborate to the point of ridiculousness. I do not recommend this book or the others.

Great fantasy / science fiction. A wonderful face off between good and evil with all kinds of political allegories applicable to today's political scene including haves and have not, race, technical advances accessible to some (cloaked in extremely creative magical imagery), wonderful characterizations and just a great read!

This book is a treat! It's polished, gripping, and full of throwaway humor -- a grand romp of an adventure, with complex and likable characters. I hated to have it end -- it's in my "buy more" file!

Good story, with an interesting group of characters, but I was able to guess some of the surprises in the story. Also,the writing could be improved somewhat. Several spots I got a little confused as to what was going on and had to reread the pages to clear things up. I will probably be open to reading the next one in the series.

A Superb Read. With just a touch of Pratchett, Vance, and mostly Weekes, the story takes place at the speed of a bullet train, with an unending rain of horrific villains against a motley crew of heroes. Time after time the author brings us to the edge of another cliff, all seems lost, only to surprise us with a last minute clever....something.
This book is very difficult to put down and scary, thrilling, funny, and mind boggling all at the same time. In a word it is truly FANTASTIC.

I also enjoy and appreciate that the main protagonist is a tough and very smart female, whose dark skin marks her as an Urujar, which brings into play themes of racism, a subjects rather infrequently present in the rarefied atmosphere of SF Fantasy. The attitude toward women and the racism are not the only reflections on reality, in this otherwise way-out fantasy.

I feel sorry for the reviewers who fail to enjoy this terrific book, it is without doubt one of the best, most original, entertaining book I've read recently. The names and the made up languages are really well done, which is rather unusual these days.

I recommend it highly and I hope there are more great books coming from Patrick Weekes.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Good plot line mixed with enough interesting twists to keep you reading. The characters make this story stand out. Fully developed and rich enough to make you actually care about them. All this mixed in with a good helping of humor to keep things lively.

Great characters and story but the biggest downfall for me is the all to common fantasy easy fix. Every plot twist or complication has a character who surprisingly has done it all before. On the plus side the characters a well written and the story is funny with a fast paced plot.

A totally original world with well- defined characters drew me in to the story. Witty, charming, and coiled tight as a spring, this story delivers. However, hairpin turns in the plot make it difficult to follow at times. These heartfelt rogues keep you guessing in a story that never pauses to catch its breath.

This book was filled with unique fantasy characters that seemed like Danny Ocean's infamous crew most of the time. The action was great and the twists were surprising. I'm looking forward to the next book.

Great story. Nice conglomeration of characters. Some descriptions a bit rushed, but overall development makes up for it. Mr. Weekes is a favorite of mine, though I didn't know it until I read the Author's note. This is his first book, but he's been heavily involved with writing for the Mass Effect series of games, thus creating many characters I truly enjoyed already. I've already pre-ordered the second book.