The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In my estimation, Heist novels never get old. I love the feel of outsmarting wicked, pompous, and the ideologically Wrong. The constant jabs and Republicans were very funny. I never once forgot that this was a fantasy novel, but I was constantly reminded of how idiotic certain IDEAS are. I giggled, chortled, and even guffawed a few times. Heist novels area always about upsetting the status-quo. That means we need an extremely clear world to be built in order to break it. The Palace Job delivers on all counts.

It gets even better when the novel studded with shiningly clear characters borrowing from and defined perfectly by a long list of fantasy tropes. They don't sit still, either, developing nicely by non-standard trope reactions between each other and all the oddball situations they get themselves in, making a solid team to take on such a huge job. Remember, it's a Heist novel. Teamwork and conflicts within the team are bread and butter, as are reversals, reversals, reversals, and we get all of that here. Very fun stuff.

Fantasy, like SF, need a lot more novels taking on the Heist. Sure, there are already a lot out there, but it speaks to something within us all. Something fundamental and gleeful always seems to alight within us. Maybe it's just the boredom of our stolid lives that need a good shaking up, and maybe it's pointing a searchlight in the eyes of all the people who annoy the shit out of us. Fortunately for us, both the Fantasy and SF fields excel in showing us ourselves in their own right, and so this turns into a seriously relaxing and fun romp.

Did I say there were reversals? Oh yes.

The plan is solid. What in the world could go wrong?

It's just a magical incantation written into a song. It's the original! It's my birthright!

We're just hiring a death priestess for a bit of muscle. Her sentient Maul can only help us.

He's just a kid! Do NOT leave him alone with that pervy unicorn!

It was a funny novel. I'm putting this mostly in the category of mind-candy and light reading, but serious events do happen in the world and in my growing concern for it. Everyone might begin as a cardboard cut-out, including the land, but it doesn't stay that way. I like that a lot. It reminds me that this is also a solid fantasy. I'm really looking forward to the next in the series. :)

View all my reviews