Between Princesses And Other Jobs:
by
D.J. Butler
(Baen, July 4, 2023, 362pp, HC & Kindle)
“Sacrifices” (reprint not reviewed)
“No Trade for Nice Guys” (reprint not reviewed)
“Backup” (reprint not reviewed)
“The Path of the Hunter” (reprint not reviewed)
“Power and Prestige” (reprint not reviewed)
“The Lady in the Pit” (reprint not reviewed)
“Welcome to Kish” (reprint not reviewed)
“Good Boy”
“The Politics of Wizards”
Reviewed by Rick Cartwright
As introduction and to set the stage for just who Indrajit and Fix are, the pair of unlikely rogues at the center of these tales, the following short paragraphs taken from the dust flap of this collection should pique the interest of any sword & sorcery fan:
“Indrajit and Fix are the founding partners of the Protagonists, a jobber company in Kish. Since the seven great families of Kish farm out all tasks they and the city need doing, a jobber might one day unblock a well; the next, man a tollgate for the fair; and on the third, hunt down a murderer on the loose, all in a corrupt old city that isn’t so much governed as kept barely in bounds.
“Indrajit is a poet of a dying race, looking for his successor. Fix is a failed monk, pining for his lost love. They’re swordsmen and thinkers, heroes in their hearts and in their deeds. They also recover stolen documents, unravel financial fraud, escort shipwrecked diplomats, and hunt in the ruins beneath the city for missing academics. Meanwhile, the criminals they investigate, rival jobbers, sorcerers, spies, assassins, and other mysterious parties get more and more reason to want the Protagonists dead.
Welcome to Kish.”
Indrajit and Fix were first introduced in the novel In the Palace of Shadow and Joy in 2020 and are quickly becoming worthy successors to Fritz Leiber’s classic and much beloved duo Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. For those interested in the novel, the following descriptions make a perfect teaser:
“BARD DESPERATE FOR APPRENTICE AND ROGUE WITH SIDELINE IN INSURANCE SEEK WORK. PREFERABLY AS GOOD GUYS.”
Indrajit Twang is the four hundred twenty-seventh epic poet of his people, the only person alive to carry their entire epic history and mythology in his head. His people are dwindling in number, and if he can’t find a successor in the great city of Kish, their story will disappear with them.
Fix grew up a foundling on the ancient streets of Kish and is making his living as a mercenary. The woman he loves married someone else, and Fix has turned to buying and selling risk on the black market—but is he trying to impress her, or prove something to himself?
With an intro like that how can you not keep reading? It is definitely not necessary to have read the first novel to enjoy this collection of stories. The author bucks the trend in fantasy for giant multi-volume tomes with an overarching theme like Larry Correia’s Son of the Black Sword in favor of providing small, satisfying bites of sword and sorcery by recounting the adventures (and misadventures) of the pair along with their companions who are essentially heroes for hire known as the Protagonists.
In the only original short story in this collection, Munahim, a member of the Protagonists, is normally a supporting character in the Indrajit and Fix stories. The canine-like Kyone gets his chance to shine here, however, whether he wants to or not in “Good Boy.” He’s forced to use all of his skills in order to find and rescue his two fellow Protagonists whose simple job has gone spectacularly wrong.
“The Politics of Wizards,” the concluding tale and a much longer novella, starts out as a father needing his son rescued. Or retrieved because he won’t come home. The father is a little hazy about that. Indrajit and Fix don’t look too hard at the commission as Munahim hasn’t been paid in weeks and they are all hungry. A secret magic society and a demon or two later they are wishing they had ignored their growling stomachs. A fun read with the twists and turns that are the hallmark of the series.