Customer Reviews

Another Fine Myth/Myth Conceptions 2-in1 (Myth 2-in-1)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read the Myth series about fifteen years ago while I was in high school, and I recently picked them up again after seeing these double volumes had been released. I was looking for some easy reading, and if you go expecting nothing more than that you should be rather satisfied with these first two outings. The characters of Skeeve and Aahz are likeable enough, but the ball really doesn't seem to get rolling until the second book where the extended cast begins to get introduced.

I did feel after revisiting this series that Asprin does go overboard explaining reasons for characters behavior in a way that makes it seem as if his target audience were adolescents. In many ways, you'd find more sophisticated fantasy in the Harry Potter books as the Myth tales can border on the juvenile at times. I didn't even find the humor to be that funny, but it was the aspects of dimension traveling and the supporting cast of characters that kept me interested. Probably the biggest flaw in these books is that far too much time is spent building up the misadventures that Aahz and Skeeve find themselves in and then far too little is spent upon the actual resolution. The endings seem rushed and very forced.

If you are looking for enjoyable light fantasy with an offbeat feel I could recommend this book, especially for teens. Anyone looking for something serious, challenging, or thought provoking best pass it up.

Another Fine Myth is the first book in what became one of the best fantasy series EVER! Not only is it full of magic, monsters and mayhem but it also has lots of humor. Sheeve was a apprentice, until his teacher dies and leaves him with a powerless demon named Aahz, a couple of assassins and a evil magician who wishes to rule ALL the dimensions.
Few people can mix humor and fantasy such as Robert Asprin. And this book is not just the first novel, but also holds the follow-up, Myth Conceptions. In the second book Sheeve go to the court to try to become the Court Magician of Rodrick the Fifth. The amazing part is he gets the job with Aahz's help. But he finds, to his horror, that his first assignment is to stop the largest army the world has ever seen. All by himself.
The only other author I can think of, off the top of my head, who can pull off this mixture of humor and serious fantasy is Steven Brust.

The Myth series by Robert Asprin is a wonderful and exciting read. The series is full of excellent humor and is well worth the effort to acquire and read. The author has a wonderful wit and a super command of satire. The Myth series centers around a young mage named Skeeve and his mentor and best friend Ahaz. Ahaz is a money hungry demon from Perv who has lost all of his magical powers. Ahaz takes it upon himself to teach the fledgling mage all he knows of magic and in the process attempts to gain as much wealth and fame as he can for the young magi and himself. With this fame comes endless chances for adventure. The book series takes these two, as well as a host of friends, on many misguided and hilarious quests. I have rarely laughed out loud while reading, but I found myself chuckling constantly as I read this series. With friends like Tananda the sexy female troll or trollop as they are called and Chumley her very ugly, super smart brother with an English accent and proper manners, the story is a virtual paradise of laughter. Throw in the very overweight but sweetly dedicated Massha, and a loving but mentally limited pet dragon, and the mix is complete. This party of individuals gets into and out of all sorts of messes. The story is rich in reference humor as well. An example of this includes a reference to Elfquest. While adventuring in one realm the party of friends encounter two werewolves named Ydnew and Drahcir. Please note the reverse spelling of these two characters. They are known as the Wolf Writers. The obvious reference is a friendly nod to WaRP graphics. Asprin has worked with Richard and Wendy in the past, so this makes even more sense. In short, the adventures of Skeeve and Ahaz take them many places. While hilarious, this series does not forget to deal with more serious issues. In essence, it is a story about growing up. It is also a story about the wonderful power of friendship. Morality is constantly important to the series, and Asprin deals with this superbly. The misadventures of the characters in this series are both fun and interesting. Asprin is able to capture good fun and somehow combine it with serious issues. Friendship is a major subject in the series as well as loyalty. The "growing pains" of young Skeeve remind us all of youth and its difficulties. This mixed with excellent humor makes for a fantastic read.

Another Fine Myth/Myth Conceptions was a real joy to read. The story starts with a young would-be-thief who has changed professions to become a wizard apprentice. However, as he is being taught one day, his master is killed by assassins, at the exact moment when he was summoning a demon from another world. Fortunately for Skeeve the apprentice, the demon was spelled, and is powerless to use his magic. Unfortunately, the demon is a good creature and wants to continue to teach Skeeve magic so they can get to the bottom of the mystery, and the Demon may someday be able to return home.
The story is a great little tale, with countless subtle jokes and references that only a sharp reader can catch. As the two travel the lands seeking clues, they encounter all sorts of strange people, including inept demon hunting templar, ruthless merchants from other dimensions, and a beautiful girl who also happens to have a mysterious background. The end of the second book has Skeeve and his strange allies setting up to battle a much larger army, and its a fight you dont want to miss!
This is an easy read, and will create a more than rewarding few hours.

If you do buy this book, make sure you get the "double volume" and not just the first book. Also, there are about 10 sequels that you can expect to buy, as this series is just that good, and that's no myth.

Relic113

These are silly books. If you want there to be a point, then you are in the wrong place.

These myths are quite funny, and extremely pun-y. If you can enjoy a good pun, a bit of zaniness (actually, make that three dashes of zaniness), and don't care whether the over-arching story is ever fully resolved, then you'll like these.

Each story is self-contained, and yet there is an overarching... plot, if you will... that connects them. At times, it seems as though the overarching plot will never move forward. It does, but only slowly, and clearly not to any intended conclusion.

Each individual plot, on the other hand, wraps itself up in a totally absurd manner in the individual volume.

Oh, go on, buy them. You'll fly right through them, chuckling the whole way. Who cares if there's no point!

I'll meet you at the bazaar. I've been stuck here for so long that I don't remember where I came from. But I've set up a tent. I tend dragons.

I could repeat all of the previous comments, but that would be redundant. The main problem I have is that it's a PAPERBACK. If you're going to get this trust me YOU WILL NEED A HARDCOVER. I guarantee you'll find yourself over indulging in these stories long after you've finished the book. Spend the extra money and get a copy that will last. That said I suppose someone should plead the case for an Omnibus or Collectors Edition in hardback to the publisher so start writing.

Simply put, this is Asprin's most enjoyable series of books he has. It's a lengthy series but the books all are pretty thin, around 250-300 pages. Skeeve and Aahz are entertaining characters and with the additions of Tandy, Gleep, Hugh Badaxe, and others, its humorous fantasy that travels through dimensions on entertaining adventures. Each chapter begins with a supposed quote from someone real such as "I'm just going out for a short horse back ride... G. Kahn". Some of the books I enjoyed less than others but overall an great series.

I first ran across Asprin's Myth books many years ago at the public library, and they've stuck in my head ever since. You can imagine my surprise when I ran across the complete set in paberback at the local bookstore. Asprin was one of the pioneers in this genre of humor/fantasy books. He has great characters, well rounded and believable. He spoofs whatever he can in the genre. And he does it well. If you haven't read these books, then you need to get started. And since this is book one and two, this is the place to start.

An omnibus of the first two MythAdventures books.

Another Fine Myth
The first book in Robert Asprin's MythAdventures series, Another Fine Myth introduces us to an apprentice wizard Skeeve and his frustrated mentor, Garkin. Skeeve is only half-heartedly studying his lessons as his real desire is to be a thief. Everything changes when Garkin is assassinated while summoning a demon. Now Skeeve and the purple-tongued demon Aahz the Perv must track down Garkin's killer.

Despite the grim sounding synopsis above, Another Fine Myth is a very light-hearted and funny fantasy story that never takes itself too seriously. Filled with narrow escapes, plenty of magic and encounters with strange and interesting characters, Skeeve and Aahz tend to escape using their wits and magic rather than brute force.

I very much enjoyed this first entry to the series. Robert Asprin spins a terrific yarn filled with humor. The universe he has created for this story is interesting. Similar enough to other fantasy stories that it is familiar, but unique enough that you don't feel like you are reading a parody of Tolkien. This is a funny book, but the humor is situational rather than slapstick and obvious. The jokes never seem forced; rather they arise organically from the story.

I very much enjoyed this first MythAdventures and am planning to read the rest of the series.

Myth Conceptions
Myth Conceptions, the follow up to Another Fine Myth finds Aahz talking Skeeve into trying out for a court magician's post in the tiny kingdom of Possiltum. Those civil service jobs are a magicians dream!

As usual there's more than meets the eye and the next thing you know Skeeve is caught up in a power struggle between a general and a chancellor. Did I mention he also has to single-handedly defend Possiltum from an invading roamin' empire?

As in the first book, Robert Asprin gleefully piles the complications on Skeeve and Aahz who solve their troubles with wit and magic rather than brute strength.

I'd say this book is more humorous than the first book. Aahz can always be counted on to throw out a bad pun, usually one with a reference to Earth culture that the other characters don't get but we do. Old friends return for another go and new guys are introduced. I hope we see more of Gus the gargoyle. But again with all this going on, Asprin doesn't lose sight of the story. The story never felt like a framework to hang jokes on. I was always interested in what was going to happen next.

Overall, I am very much enjoying this series and plan to read all twelve of the original Asprin books. I hope they are as entertaining as these first two have been.

I was saddened by Robert Asprin's recent death. So in honor of his accomplishments, I grabbed the first couple of books in his Myth series from my shelf to remember why I'd liked what he had written. Darnit, these books are STILL good.

The premise is almost silly: Skeeve, a magician's apprentice (who originally aimed to be a thief) ends up under the tutelage of Aahz ("no relation"), a demon who lost all his powers. In the first book, the characters try to return Aahz's powers; in the second, Skeeve takes a "piece of cake" job as court magician that turns out to be a bad idea. This is very light fantasy and very easy reading. An adult can read it in an evening.

The story is sweet and funny and -- despite what you might assume from any description of a would-be thief and demon -- full of family values like loyalty, friendship, and remembering to say I'm Sorry.

And I'm not just saying that. I first read these books in the 1980s when they came out, and they were soon borrowed by friends who had a then-11-year-old son who (despite his bookworm parents) hadn't quite gotten into reading. To everyone's delight, Trevor read every book in the series multiple times, and it tipped him over into "read everything" mode. These books don't have the same power as Harry Potter did a generation or two later, in regard to convincing children that Reading Is Good, but it had that effect on *one* boy -- and how can that be bad?

These books are very well suited for a pre-teen. There's no sex or kissing, though there's a little suggestive eye-waggling by a sultry green woman who joins the fray. If you're looking for a fantasy that will attract a youngster to SF/F, this would be a suitable candidate.

But do read it yourself. For an adult, this is cotton-candy SF. It's not deep or filling, but it's a great little interlude.