Between Princesses and Other Jobs

Indrajit & Fix #2

by D.J. Butler

They want to rescue damsels in distress. They have to pay the bills. The continuing adventures of Indrajit and Fix.

WELCOME TO KISH

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.

Praise for Witchy Winter :
“Butler follows Witchy Eye with a satisfying second tale of a magic-filled early America. . . . Deep and old magic influences both places and characters, and the story is tightly focused on the determined Sarah. . . . Fans of epic and alternate historical fantasy will savor this tale of witchery and intrigue.”— Publishers Weekly

"For readers who love history-based fantasy, steampunk, or urban fantasy . . . this series that gives the genre a new twist."— Booklist

Praise for Witchy Eye and D.J.
" . . . you can’t stop yourself from taking another bite . . . and another . . . and another. . . . I didn’t want to stop reading. . . . Kudos!”—R.A. Salvatore

“Excellent book. I am impressed by the creativity and the depth of the worldbuilding. Dave Butler is a great storyteller.”—Larry Correia

“ Witchy Eye is an intricate and imaginative alternate history with a cast of characters and quirky situations that would make a Dickens novel proud.” —Kevin J. Anderson

"Butler’s fantasy is by turns sardonic and lighthearted; ghoulish shadows claw into the most remote areas and heroism bursts out of the most unlikely people. Sarah is the epitome of the downtrodden hero who refuses to give up until she gets what she needs, and her story will appeal to fantasy readers of all stripes."— Publishers Weekly

"David's a pro storyteller, and you're in for a great ride."—Larry Dixon

" . . . a fascinating, grittily-flavored world of living legends. Hurry up and write the next one, Dave."—Cat Rambo

"This is enchanting! I'd love to see more."—Mercedes Lackey

“Goblin Market meets Magical Musketpunk . . . A great ride that also manages to cover some serious cultural terrain.” —Charles E. Gannon

" Witchy Eye is a brilliant blend of historical acumen and imagination, a tour-de-force that is at once full of surprises and ultimately heart-warming. This is your chance to discover one of the finest new stars writing today!" —David Farland

“A gritty, engrossing mash-up of history, fantasy, and magic. Desperate characters careen from plot twist to plot twist until few are left standing.”—Mario Acevedo

"Captivating characters. Superb world-building. Awesome magic. Butler fuses fantasy and history effortlessly, creating a fascinating new American epic. Not to be missed!"—Christopher Husberg

"[A] unique alternative-history that is heavily influenced by urban and traditional fantasy and steeped in the folklore of the Appalachians. . . . Fans of urban fantasy looking to take a chance on something with a twist on a historical setting may find this novel worth their time."— Booklist

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories

304 pages, Hardcover

Published July 4, 2023

About the author

D.J. Butler (Dave) is a novelist living in the Rocky Mountain west. His training is in law, and he worked as a securities lawyer at a major international firm and inhouse at two multinational semiconductor manufacturers before taking up writing fiction. He is a lover of language and languages, a guitarist and self-recorder, and a serious reader. He is married to a powerful and clever novelist and together they have three devious children.

Dave is published by Baen, Knopf, and WordFire Press. He writes adventure fiction for all ages. He writes for young readers under the name Dave Butler: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Read about D.J. Butler’s writing projects at http://davidjohnbutler.com.

Reviews

[James T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this. It took everything enjoyable about the first and boiled it down to shorts stories and novellas, which honestly, for the characters and settings work even better. It's wildly imaginative and unapologetically fun.

Much like the first book the city of Kish is as much a character as any of the actual people. Each story plays off the other adding tiny nuggets of world building (without being intrusive) which make the city feel even more alive. The same is done with the characters and world in each story, building more to just add a little bit clearer and more complex picture. There's a nice interplay between the stand alone adventures.

I also like the addition of Munahim as a third Protagonist. His first story, is admittedly my least favorite in the collection, but he grows on you as he develops. He's loyal, honorable and charmingly incapable of lying.

One of my critiques of the first novel was it was a bit too 'talky.' However, this really works in a 20 page short story. The humor very much comes through, and since these are smaller narratives the fact that so much of the story is dialogue works better than a full length novel.

I should note, though I adored the short stories, the two novellas: Welcome to Kish and The Politics of Wizards are my favorite stories.

Welcome to Kish tells a great, although a bit tragic in the end, story that plays on so much of what was setup about the characters backstories in the events of the first novel.

The politics of wizards is everything I love about genre fiction. It's wildly imaginative and dreamlike. It also manages to feel deeply moralistic without being overbearing. Indrajit's inner thoughts after a certain sequence I thought were deeply compelling, if not moving, despite humor and adventure being the forefront of what this book has to offer.

I think if you're a fan of pulp fiction, and sword and sorcery(planet or sandal) this is what you're looking for in a modern publishing landscape, that outside some small press outlets, is no longer catering to your tastes. This book will grab hold of your imagination, it will make you laugh, it will give you the kind of adventure that takes you away from your every day troubles, and finally it gives you heroes, who though deeply flawed and human, are ultimately good and in their own quirky and mischievous way inspiring.

I still have one complaint. The setting features the 1000 races of men, with some implication this is our world in the far future. Whenever one of these races is introduced I really wish the author would spend a few more sentences describing them. His brisk prose might serve the action and adventure well but I don't think it always serves the imagination. I really do think a bit more description would elevate the work. I know spending a paragraph to paint the picture of a character isn't in vogue, but what he's imagined is so cool it deserves to be painted with words.

Also this would make a great video or TTRPG setting. Somebody, please, get the license.

Absolutely recommended.

[Sun P. Persona · Rating 4 out of 5]

D.J Butler does it again, we the reader find ourselves back in the wonderful city of Kish; Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar on acid. In this book, our meta-named “Protagonists'' begin their career as a newly formed Jobber Company. To those who don’t know, this job entails being a mixture of mercenary/bodyguard/private detective. Recently invigorated by their success with their previous case, the duo find themselves in a plethora of strange and exciting adventures.

The first story titled “Sacrifices” our illustrious pair are tasked to locate an ambassador from a distant city-state. The reader comes upon Indrajit and Fix walking across a beach to find a shipwreck, before it crashed the ambassador was said to have sailed on it. During their search, the duo quickly find themselves accosted in a hamlet. Put on the run by assassins, the duo fortunately find their target and do their best to head home. The added complication of the non-combatant ambassador makes their plans much more difficult. But the pair accomplish their goal, with a final twist in the end.

Following this story is “No Trade for Nice Guys” , a seemingly deceptive story which involves our pair investigating a necklace. Another task straight from the Lord Chamberlain, our pair are rightfully confused about this simple job. First finding themselves in the office of a local fence, the pair are led towards one of the city’s most dangerous syndicate leaders. There, they make a discovery that is hopefully expanded upon in a sequel book.

The next story is “Backup” where the duo try their best in infiltrating a local gambling den. Complications arise when they’re not only discovered, but are discovered by a familiar enemy. Thankfully for them, they have backup.

The fourth story in this anthology is “Path of the Hunter”, my second favorite story in the entire book. We find our heroes hired to protect the last member of a merchant caravan. After a journey from the Endless Roads, the edge of the known world, it seems the merchants brought something back with them. And it appears the last member is to be the final victim of this malicious force. A surprise crossover with another setting I’m not familiar with; the story’s mystery, twist, and appearance of the crossover character makes me interested enough in picking up a book where they appear.

Next comes “Power and Prestige”, the story begins with this line: “I feel I should warn you,” the man with the doglike face said. “There’s a possibility I may eat my feces.” That is all I'm going to write about. Read the story to find out what happens next.

Afterwards, the sixth story “Lady in the Pit” begins with our characters, and their new companion Munahim, and the relationships of the cults of Kish. Here, the reader is tantalized with the odd practices of one of Kish’s many gods. A practice that will test the mettle of our near-fearless Protagonist company. Idols are placed in a massive pit located in the cult’s underground temple and our duo are contracted to retrieve it. Dangers lurk though in the dark caverns of the god’s temple. A weird thing happened to one of the characters that made me scratch my head. The same concept appears in the following story which handles it much better.

Our seventh through ninth stories in this anthology, titled “Welcome to Kish” , is a unique three-parter. Our protagonists, minus a certain dog-faced fellow, are hired to retrieve documents taken from a sailor. Not by any rogues however, but by the sailor’s very own daughter. Seemingly taken as a way to fund her and her lover’s escape, Indrajit and Fix head off to meet them. However, when our duo meet the sailor’s daughter, Indrajit is immediately smitten when the young woman begins to recite the Blaashti Epic in perfect form. What happens next spirals into a story of conspiracy and murder that leads to a dour ending in an otherwise light-hearted book.

Our penultimate story “Good Boy” follows the newly hired Munahim. While on a case, the trio are suddenly separated, leaving behind Munahim. Alone from his partners, our dog-faced must figure his way through the sprawling city of Kish. Munahim’s way of thinking is unlike Indrajit and Fix. Both bolder than them in regards to getting information, but much less suave and refined in matters requiring charisma. Munahim's talents are still refined enough that he manages to save the day.

Our final story, and my personal favorite, is “Politics of Wizards” which is the first story to showcase the world’s magic. Even with the oddities of the ‘men’ that populate the setting, magic is treated as strange and superstitious as you’d find in a less wondrous Sword & Sorcery story. Indrajit, Fix, and Munahim are hired to locate the son of a Wixit, one of the city’s lesser men. This tea shop owner, named Hector Throat, informs the trio about his son’s apprenticeship to a magic-user. Fix scoffs at the story but he joins the rest of his partners in finding the boy. The story then explodes into a Jack Vance-like story where grotesque and hammy wizards duke it among themselves for supremacy. An exploration of a wizard’s manse, transportation to another part of the continent, a being of supernal might is called upon, it has everything you’d want in a tale concerning the affairs of wizards.

[Sun P. Persona · Rating 5 out of 5]

D.J Butler does it again, we the reader find ourselves back in the wonderful city of Kish; Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar on acid. In this book, our meta-named “Protagonists'' begin their career as a newly formed Jobber Company. To those who don’t know, this job entails being a mixture of mercenary/bodyguard/private detective. Recently invigorated by their success with their previous case, the duo find themselves in a plethora of strange and exciting adventures.

The first story titled “Sacrifices” our illustrious pair are tasked to locate an ambassador from a distant city-state. The reader comes upon Indrajit and Fix walking across a beach to find a shipwreck, before it crashed the ambassador was said to have sailed on it. During their search, the duo quickly find themselves accosted in a hamlet. Put on the run by assassins, the duo fortunately find their target and do their best to head home. The added complication of the non-combatant ambassador makes their plans much more difficult. But the pair accomplish their goal, with a final twist in the end.

Following this story is “No Trade for Nice Guys” , a seemingly deceptive story which involves our pair investigating a necklace. Another task straight from the Lord Chamberlain, our pair are rightfully confused about this simple job. First finding themselves in the office of a local fence, the pair are led towards one of the city’s most dangerous syndicate leaders. There, they make a discovery that is hopefully expanded upon in a sequel book.

The next story is “Backup” where the duo try their best in infiltrating a local gambling den. Complications arise when they’re not only discovered, but are discovered by a familiar enemy. Thankfully for them, they have backup.

The fourth story in this anthology is “Path of the Hunter”, my second favorite story in the entire book. We find our heroes hired to protect the last member of a merchant caravan. After a journey from the Endless Roads, the edge of the known world, it seems the merchants brought something back with them. And it appears the last member is to be the final victim of this malicious force. A surprise crossover with another setting I’m not familiar with; the story’s mystery, twist, and appearance of the crossover character makes me interested enough in picking up a book where they appear.

Next comes “Power and Prestige”, the story begins with this line: “I feel I should warn you,” the man with the doglike face said. “There’s a possibility I may eat my feces.” That is all I'm going to write about. Read the story to find out what happens next.

Afterwards, the sixth story “Lady in the Pit” begins with our characters, and their new companion Munahim, and the relationships of the cults of Kish. Here, the reader is tantalized with the odd practices of one of Kish’s many gods. A practice that will test the mettle of our near-fearless Protagonist company. Idols are placed in a massive pit located in the cult’s underground temple and our duo are contracted to retrieve it. Dangers lurk though in the dark caverns of the god’s temple. A weird thing happened to one of the characters that made me scratch my head. The same concept appears in the following story which handles it much better.

Our seventh through ninth stories in this anthology, titled “Welcome to Kish” , is a unique three-parter. Our protagonists, minus a certain dog-faced fellow, are hired to retrieve documents taken from a sailor. Not by any rogues however, but by the sailor’s very own daughter. Seemingly taken as a way to fund her and her lover’s escape, Indrajit and Fix head off to meet them. However, when our duo meet the sailor’s daughter, Indrajit is immediately smitten when the young woman begins to recite the Blaashti Epic in perfect form. What happens next spirals into a story of conspiracy and murder that leads to a dour ending in an otherwise light-hearted book.

Our penultimate story “Good Boy” follows the newly hired Munahim. While on a case, the trio are suddenly separated, leaving behind Munahim. Alone from his partners, our dog-faced must figure his way through the sprawling city of Kish. Munahim’s way of thinking is unlike Indrajit and Fix. Both bolder than them in regards to getting information, but much less suave and refined in matters requiring charisma. Munahim's talents are still refined enough that he manages to save the day.

Our final story, and my personal favorite, is “Politics of Wizards” which is the first story to showcase the world’s magic. Even with the oddities of the ‘men’ that populate the setting, magic is treated as strange and superstitious as you’d find in a less wondrous Sword & Sorcery story. Indrajit, Fix, and Munahim are hired to locate the son of a Wixit, one of the city’s lesser men. This tea shop owner, named Hector Throat, informs the trio about his son’s apprenticeship to a magic-user. Fix scoffs at the story but he joins the rest of his partners in finding the boy. The story then explodes into a Jack Vance-like story where grotesque and hammy wizards duke it among themselves for supremacy. An exploration of a wizard’s manse, transportation to another part of the continent, a being of supernal might is called upon, it has everything you’d want in a tale concerning the affairs of wizards.

[Eran · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fun to read on in this world and characters, but the format is problematic. The short stories tend to feel incomplete and underdeveloped, and a collection of them means there's a lot of repetition about the basics and background, continuously reintroducing the main character and the setting.

[Christoph Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

D.J. Butler delivers the best sword and sorcery right now.

The Protagonists are at it again, in short stories this time.

The interaction between Indrajit and Fix is hilarious. The worldbuilding is consistently simple and awesome. The city Kish is home to half the thousand races of man... so we meet a lot of weird and weird-looking folks. Awesome.

[Greg S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fine collection of missions for our main characters. It’s mostly the two bantering like the two characters in pulp fiction.

There’s plenty of world building, but I couldn’t say if it all ties together. At some point, it all seemed random and my eyes started glazing over

So, read for the banter and the throwaway fighting.

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kish should be your next destination. It’s fantastic, decadent, dangerous, and home to the comic duo of Indrajit and Fix that is great for fans of a good time or Vance and Leiber if you want me to be more specific.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the ribbing the two give each other, and think this collection of loosely linked shorts is worthy of top shelf status for this first line alone:

“I feel I should warn you,” the man with the doglike face said. “There’s a possibility I may eat my feces.”

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are a little odd and have a vaguely old fashion feel about them. But they are fun light reads.

[Richard H. Whitten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual But Delightful Fantasy

Indrajit and Fix aren't quite Abbot & Costello, but their bickering may remind you of them. This is a delightful fantasy adventure, full of wizards, different breeds of "man", and a few mysteries to unwind. Enjoy, I sure did!