Myth-Alliances [Hardcover]

Robert Asprin (Author), Jody Lynn Nye (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 2004

Here it is! The first novel in the brand new Myth Adventures Series, by the authors of Liscence Invoked! Robert Asprin teams up with Jody Lynn Nye (Applied Mythology and Advanced Mythology) to bring you a brand new set of Myth Adventures with Skeeve, Aahz, Tanda, and the rest of the gang! Will be followed in 2004 by Myth-taken Identity. "You want me to do what?" Aahz gasped, spitting a mouthful of beer clear across the open dance floor. The tuba player gave him a chiding glance and turned his instrument over to empty it. "Ten... Female... PERVECTS!? A dimension full of Wuhses? The Deveels cheated them out of their last dime, and the Pervects got it back for them? And now they want us to throw the Pervects out? Mmm, mmm." He slammed his mug down. I recoiled slightly at the violence of the gesture. His lips twisted. His shoulders started to heave. "Mmm mmm mmm. Ha ha ha ha. HAWHAWHAWHAWHAW! HAWHAWHAWHAWHAW!" He laughed until the building rang with the sound of his voice. The other patrons watched him nervously as he slapped me on the back, stood up, slipped to his knees, and slid down the trestle of the table until he was sitting on the floor laughing. Soon, he recovered and climbed up to his feet again. He took my hand in a crushing grip. "Aw, part-Skeeve," he said, wiping tears from his yellow eyes. "I've missed you, kid. That is one of the best jokes I've heard in months. Really did me good. Fraulein!" He held up a hand and snapped his fingers. "A round for my friends!" "But I'm serious," I stated.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Skeev the Wizard is back, flying, so to speak, from a new publisher's masthead. A land of Wuhses has been taken over by 10 female Pervects (who are green, scaly, and fanged, but varied in size, skill, and fashion sense) bent on debt collection. The Wuhses call on Skeev, who, with girlfriend Bunny, sidekick Trollop Tananda, and dragon Gleep, is soon off to troubleshoot or, at least, trouble-negotiate. It soon seems that, while the Pervects may be taking advantage of the Wuhses' economic illiteracy, susceptibility to marketing manipulation, and inability to make a decision without unanimity, they aren't doing all that much harm. On the other hand, they do have the Wuhses producing addictive, magically activated, virtual-reality glasses for export. By the time the Wuhses are shut of the Pervects, satires on marketing, fads, pop psychology, fashion, computers (which are pets in some lands in the book), and many other things have gone down, and the reader has very probably had fun. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Myth Alliances demonstrates that humor done right can be an integral part of a fantasy novel." -- Midwest Book Review, September 2003

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 374 pages
• Publisher: Meisha Merlin Publishing, Inc.; 1st MM Pub. Ed edition (November 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592220088
• ISBN-13: 978-1592220083
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,598,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars <sigh> Postmodern Gobley gook, June 9, 2005

By 

Literate on Lithium (Chicago, Il USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Myth Alliances (Paperback)

The bad guys aren't really bad; the good guys aren't really good. There is none of the humor, sensibilities, or character of his first three books in the series.

Mr. Asprin can be a fine, funny writer but has a tendency to lose both control and track of his characters. What started out as a fine funny romp in 'Another Fine Myth' has settled down into formulaic nonsense in which the characters don't have character, they have stereotypes. The characters aren't flawed, they are plot points. No exploration of the humor of the human condition, just something else to resolve to extend the text a few pages.

What could be interesting interplay between a not quite mature or worldly boy wizard and a way too worldly Businesswoman Bunny is completely... well... nothing. There is no there there. Tananda has been relegated to a set piece (where is the fiery whimsical assassin who said "Bark at the moon, Istavon"?). The rest of the guys remind me of Michael York's Basil Exposition in the Austin Powers movies. They are simply there to inject or resolve plot points that Rob didn't have the imagination to deal with properly. Also, when did Ahaz become Yoda?

The whole series died somewhere during `Little Myth Marker' and perhaps should have stayed dead.

Let the flames wars begin!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Did it really need to take 29 chapters?, August 2, 2005

By 

Laura Belle "MYTH Fan" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Myth-Alliances (Hardcover)

As a long time MYTH-series lover, I was so excited to have a new MYTH book to read. I was terribly enthusiastic through MYTH-ION Improbable but my reading pace slowed to a crawl through MYTH Alliances. The plot was predictable, the puns came across as merely a substitute for imagination, and I really didn't feel as if I were getting to know the characters any better. You could see where the plot was headed from chapter 1. Three weeks on my desk and 29 chapters later, it went exactly where I thought it would and took an inordinate amount of time to get there. In addition, Asprin and Nye have taken to making Skeeve's character just plain uninteresting. Before he had his faults, but he was still endearing. Now, he's matured into a standard, boring adult. Bring back the orginal creativity and spark!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It took 15 years and a co-author..., August 27, 2004

By 

Victor Catano (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Myth Alliances (Paperback)

..but we finally have a really good Myth book!

This is the Myth I remember! Snappy pacing, whimsical adventure, funny action scenes! At last!

I'm not sure how much credit should go to Robert Aspirin, but considering that he's said in the past that when he co-authors a book he puts his name on the cover and doesn't add a whole lot else and that this book is quantum leaps ahead of the last SIX VOLUMES, I think the lion's share of the credit should go to Jody Lynn Nye. She has done a fantastic job of staying true to the spirit of the Myth books and the characters while making them fun to read again.

Everything here clicks. The quotes, the characters, the plot. It's like a visit to an old friend who was ill, but has now recovered. It's great to see them again without having to ask them if there's something wrong.