In the Palace of Shadow and Joy (Indrajit \u0026 Fix, #1) by D.J. Butler

In the Palace of Shadow and Joy (Indrajit \u0026 Fix, #1) Reviews

• 
  2Due

  5/10
  This book had a very good potential, interesting creatures and designs, busy worldbuilding -if a bit messy- yet something got lost in the way.
  The dynamic between the two main protagonists was a bit all over the place. As they met, Indrajit was immediately thinking to open a business with a guy he barely talked to. It started odd and their friendship looked forced from the start. And they bicker and ramble quite often, which if done with the right rhythm can be fun to see it develop into a deep friendship, but to me it sounded annoying.
  Other things that got annoying were, for example, the constant reminder Indrajit's vision is wide, ok, we get it, he has fish eyes but he's not a fish, or also how Fix's motivation to be in the city is to win a woman back DESPITE she's married to someone else, and yet Fix insists, wanting to even move in the city in her neighborhood to help her in case she needs. Get over it, creep.
  The whole book was a huge drag for me, but I still wanted to see how it ended.
  The most interesting parts were just the beginning and one thing happening in the very middle of it, the rest is a lot of
  Let's go to this guy and ask info
  Lots of money involved
  Guys getting beaten-up
  Run and hide
  Repeated four or five times and it was boring. Lots of names, lots of characters, at the beginning I tried to keep track because I was genuinely fascinated, but by the end I didn't care.
  Only a few characters stuck with me and none were the protagonists.
  The climax of the book was honestly predictable, but it was a good fight with a maniac creature which I enjoyed, but it wasn't enough to save the whole thing for me.
  Cool cover art though.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Michael

  In the Palace of Shadow and Joy by D.J. Butler was a very enjoyable read. I read it in just one day! It is a tale about two very different men who through circumstances beyond their control must work together for very different reasons. Even so, they quickly become fast friends and their ensuing adventures on a world with a thousand races of humanity are fast-paced and action-packed.
  The world-building and character development in this book are amazing. A must-read for fans of D.J. Butler.
  Note: I won this book in the "Five Authors - Five Books August give-a-way. It is signed by the author and came with several extras. I really appreciate being chosen as a winner for this month's drawing. :)
• 
  Mitchell Land

  Such a quick, easy read. The banter back and forth between Indrajit and Fix is entertaining. The plot twists keep you interested to the very end.
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  Liam

  A fun adventure of Indrajit and Fix as they are paired together for a job that turns into multiple murders and a mystery. A fantastic mix of Lieber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser with Vance’s Dying Earth. I look forward to getting to the short stories.
• 
  Sun P. Persona

  When reading fantasy, sometimes one may decide to stray from the norm. Princesses and knights and dragons and serfs become too bland for the taste and a palette cleanser is required. Well, D.J Butler’s book is just that cleanser. Imagine Fritz Leiber’s most famous duo, Fahrd and the Grey Mouser, stuck in a Jack Vance-like city.
  
  Set in a city called Kish, the people that make up its populace are a variety of men. Not any men you’d encounter on the street though. No, instead these men cover a spectacular carnival of physiques, mentalites, and abilities. From the batcharian Grotonk to the D&D style Kobold-like Zatalings, the men stretch the word to an absurd degree. One of these men though is Indrajit, who’s piscine appearance is remarked upon multiple times in the story. Down on his luck, the Retical Thane, as he dubs himself, takes upon a contract to clear all his debts. His partner in this endeavor is the mundane, for besides his eidetic memory his appearance isn’t too striking, Fix. Together they must protect their ward from dangers both obvious and hidden.
  
  The setting is an amazing romp through a vast, and diverse, city that could sit among the greats like Lankhmar. The multitude of odd folks combined with a business world almost like Earth make for absurdly fun times. Not only that, but our two main viewpoints—Indrajit and Fix—are of the old mold of comical companions. Both compliment the other and shine when they’re together. Indrajit is both a naive newcomer while a connoisseur of artistic endeavor, while Fix possesses a strong wit when it comes to business but is lacking in the charismatic department. Together, they immediately join partnership and form a close friendship. On one hand, the author subverted the old ‘butting heads’ trope concerning duos of opposite alignment, but on the other hand their immediate friendship comes almost out of left field. The pair feel too connected, where their immediate casual banter feels too hastily done. Even a bit more exploration between the two would’ve felt more appropriate.
  
  The plot follows Indrajit, who at this point in time used up the last of his money. On the verge of being throttled, Indrajist is saved in the form of a job opportunity. There he forms his partnership with Fix and the duo are tasked with a simple job: protect the lead actress of the Palace of Shadow and Joy. What once begins as a simple job spirals into an interwoven tale of betrayal, politics, and mystery. It's a story juicy enough that fans of old S&S and newcomers alike can enjoy. If you enjoy scenes of comedic fumbles that right outta Fritz Leiber, strange norms and abilities showcased by the races of men, and odd imagery conjured by both characters and settings, then this is the book for you.
  
• 
  James T

  This was a really charming book and a delightful adventure. There is a ton to love here. The two protagonists are wonderfully crafted characters. Indrajit in particular is so much fun, from his willful hatred of literacy to his ridiculous Blaashti Epic and backstory. Purely charming.
  
  Also, the city itself has a great personality to it. Kish is a really phenomenal locale and a wonderful homage to Lankhmar, while still being it’s own thing.
  
  And the “thousand races of man” was very imaginative and inventive. Having all these bizarre subspecies of humans all running around in the city just gave it that capital W weird feeling. It reminded me of Adventure Time with all its kingdoms of not people that act like people. Idk why?
  
  The dialogue between our two protagonists is often quite humorous. The story moves at a solid pace with a great feel to the momentum (kind of like a whodunit mystery.) Risk-Merchantry is a fun satire of insurance/banking etc. Finally, the conclusion is really satisfying and felt well worth the time invested. And it matched the theatrical theme of the titular Palace of Shadow and Joy.
  
  I do have some criticisms. It is a little too talky except for the final act. I know it’s not in vogue to have your characters stand for verbal photographs so to speak, but honestly the 1000 races of men are so creative I really wish the author had spent more time painting their picture with words. Same for the city. And the action, until the final act, despite often taking place in front of fabulous backdrops didn’t quite give me that “blood and thunder” feeling I was hoping for. Maybe the fights just needed a tiny but more description as well?
  
  But these criticisms are nitpicks and overall I had a great time. It’s not exactly Sword and Sorcery, but for fans of the genre (or classic pulp fiction in general) I think this is the closest a major publishing house has given us to a book that felt like the best of yesteryear since Howard Andrew Jones’ short lived Dabir and Asim series more than a decade ago.
  
  I hope Baen keeps them coming. I would love to see more of these two rascals.
• 
  Gregory Mele

  Note that my star rating is definitely reflective of YMMV.
  
  As noted elsewhere, this is somewhere between Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser meet Vance's the Dying Earth, only with the weirdness of his Planet of Adventure aliens instead. The plot structure is more or less a tongue-in-cheek variation of a noir detective story.
  
  Butler is clearly having fun, the book moves quickly, Indrijeet and Fix are charming, and the banter between our heroes is often what drives the scenes. For me, it's all a little too gonzo and twee. The "1000 Races of Man," however they came to be, are in some cases so strange and so weird, it's distractingly goofy and weird: like the Tatooine cantina on an acid trip. I found myself spending more time trying to make sense of how all of this world-building was supposed to work (bronze swords and muskets, frog people where the males are small tadpoles embedded in the female's body) than I suspect the author did, when the idea was to just go with the crazy.
  
  It's clever, it's fun, it's a little more tongue-in-cheek than my want for this sort of story. But if that's what you're looking for, it's probably a 4-star book.
• 
  Nick

  Wildly inventive, Butler's romp through a multi-peopled world of violence and corruption involves a Bard and a martial artist who team up to try to protect an opera singer (with strange power over men's minds) from those who are trying to kill her. The dialogue between our two heroes is witty and involves a series of running jokes and mystifications that keep things entertaining and fast-moving. The variety of alien life forms is bewildering, but ultimately makes a kind of sense. (I'm not sure about the ecology of the whole messy world, but maybe all will be revealed in future volumes.) This is not my usual fantasy choice, but it certainly was fun as a fantastical amuse bouche. High marks to Butler for his/her/their brilliant adventure-romp-comic novel writing.
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  Eran

  Generally a fun mini-adventure fantasy story, the writing could have been more compelling, the plot maybe could have been less naive and with more substance, but overall it's fine.
  A bit of running around town on sort of a quest. A nice bunch of humanoid races and a bit of magic.
  The characters are nice, Fix and Indrajit's banter is fun.
  The ideas the story is based around could have been more fully formed, instead it's padded with a bit of action and world building.
  The world is interesting, but doesn't feel fully fleshed out or really immersive.
  Combining a fantasy world (the classic medieval European style city with a palace, rolling houses, a public market etc.) with some modern take on economics (selling and re-selling derivatives on contracts) is interesting.
• 
  Micheal Boudreaux

  Banter, Bravery, and Blaatshi
  
  DJ Butler's latest work proves to be perhaps his most fun yet. It retails all the intelligence and deep worldbuilding one finds in his Witchy novels, but ups the ante when it comes to action, intrigue, and banter. In fact, the interplay between the two protagonists, Indrajit Twang (a fast-talking poet of a dying people) and Fix (a well-read and combat ready entrepreneur), is a pure delight and a highlight of the book and more than once elicited laughter and surprise. Throw in a thousand bizarre races of Man, plots within plots, and a dose of pulpy classic action and daring, and you have a must read.
• 
  Ryan

  Protagonists Indrajit and Fix are lowly mercenaries tossed together by a literal two-faced risk-merchant to help protect a valuable opera singer. What follows is a hilarious romp through the sprawling city of far-future Kish, populated by a smorgasbord of humanish creatures, many of whom want nothing more than to stop our bumbling, bantering heroes from fulfilling their contract. Swordplay and wordplay are ever present, so prepare yourself by keeping your dictionary and fascicle within arm's length.
  
• 
  Christoph Weber

  A fun story.
  
  An unlikely duo gets sent on an errand and it soon gets wild.
  
  Butler doesn't take the fantasy part too seriously, there are thousands of races, none of the typical elf-dwarf variety, so there are a lot of descriptions of how people look.
  It doesn't distract from the story though, which is fun and has a really solid mystery beneath it.
  
  The interaction between the protagonists is instant, as between long-time friends and feels right and has a lot of the humor that I personally like.
• 
  David

  Fun Three Day Ride
  
  The action in this story is fast paced, non-stop, and thrilling. Mr. Butler is an excellent story teller, keeping you hooked with twist after twist. The characters were fun to read, in fact this read almost exactly like some of my roleplaying campaigns. Especially one of the main characters randomly hitting people for no apparent reason! Almost as if the author had been in one of those sessions...
• 
  T. Horne

  Wonderful fantasy heist.
  
  Only gripe I have is that the book's greatest strength (it's amazing worldbuilding) is also its weakness. This world features 1000+ races of humanity, many of which have animal characteristics, yet this could have been explored so much deeper.
  
  Still a worthy action story with a heady, finance-driven heist bent. Best recommended for desk workers who dream about living in a D&D setting.
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  Cordelia

  I enjoyed this new "far-future planetary adventure". It is classical space opera. Great world-building. Lots of action and adventure. Good writing. A lot of fun. Ultimately, a pretty good past-paced story which held my attention all the way through.
  
  Thank you to Edelweiss, the publisher and the author for sending me this ARC.
• 
  John

  Big fun, featuring lots of chases and pursuits, a fantastically diverse cast, and stellar banter. A bit high on the body count, and the protagonists (or “Protagonists”) don’t seem to be much affected by being stabbed, shot, and beaten so often that it got silly. Nonetheless, I’m up for sequels…hope they won’t be long in coming.
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  Adrian Montanez

  In the Palace of Shadow and Joy by D.J. Butler is a gripping adventure that I couldn't put down. Two unlikely friends navigate a world brimming with diverse races, making for a fast-paced and action-packed read. Butler's world-building and character development are top-notch, making this book a must-read for fans of thrilling fantasy adventures.
  
  4.0 stars out of 5.
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  Maurynne Maxwell

  It was ok. I like teams more than bros, doesn't have to be romantic interests, just adventure. But it was ok. Made me realize I'd rather read a Tiger and Del refresh than a Fafhrd & Gray Mouser refresh.
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  Graham Bradley

  Some overly dialogue-heavy parts but still a fun read and a unique fantasy.
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  Martin

  Really enjoyed it