No Phule Like an Old Phule (Phule's Company) [Paperback]

Robert Asprin (Author), Peter J. Heck (Author)

Book Description

Series: Phule's Company | Publication Date: March 30, 2004

Phule gets on the wrong side of celebrity canine Barky the Environmental Dog by hosting a group of big game hunters who think they can bag a dinosaur on Zenobia. Needless to say, dinosaurs are not a native species. But cold, hard facts never stopped a Phule. And neither will Barky's cold, wet nose.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Already famous in sf circles for his Myth Adventure series, Asprin, accompanied here by sometime mystery author Heck, is rapidly becoming just as famous for his madcap Phule books. That's Phule as in Galactic Alliance officer Willard Phule, thrill-seeking megamillionaire bachelor, who, along with his motley band of misfit troops and his ever-eloquent butler, Beeker, remains stationed on one of the alliance's drearier outposts, Zenobia. In his latest misadventures, an ambassador friend courts his favor to cajole the locals into allowing big-game hunting on the planet. As he tries to oblige, he must put up with a bungled kidnapping attempt, the meddling of his munitions magnate father, the arrival of a hotshot new recruit, and an unplanned visit from the Alliance Ecological Interplanetary Observation Union--AEIOU, that is--and celebrity canine Barky the Environmental Dog. The Phule series is a welcome send up of military sf. Asprin devotees and readers who like their sf light won't want to miss the latest installment. Carl Hays
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ace (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441011527
• ISBN-13: 978-0441011520
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #517,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( A )

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Only because the rating won't let you choose no stars!, December 8, 2004

By 

Rob (AB, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Phule Like an Old Phule (Phule's Company) (Paperback)

If you enjoyed the 1st 2 books you will *not* enjoy this one. I can't believe that Asprin (assuming it was not actually written by Asprin) would allow his name to be put on this piece of rot. The writer does not seem to have read the original books, destroyed the flavour, mangled the characters and cannot even keep the facts correct. I could not even read a third of it, especially after Willard's (not Wilfred) father's character was completely destroyed. From a man who trusted his son's business sense enough to shell out capital for something completely on spec to an egotistic moron of a businessman who could not grasp the rational of odds and casinos trying to beat the slot machines instead of trying a game that at least required some skill/knowledge from the player. This is the last Phule book I will read unless another writer or Asprin takes over the writing.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars waste of money, May 2, 2005

By 

Shimon - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: No Phule Like an Old Phule (Phule's Company) (Paperback)

Three word reveiw: Waste of Money

Longer review:
This book is so poorly written, poorly edited, and poorly thought out, I am suprised Asprin is not suing to get his name removed from the cover.

There are six concurrent plotlines: The environmental agency is coming after Omega Company, a group of big game hunters need to be dealt with, there is a new recruit from a new non-human race, the Rev wants to convert the zenobians to the Church of the King but runs into an existing mythos about L'Viz, Phule sr is trying to discredit the business model of his son's casino, and the mob is trying to kidnap Phule again.

Exactly zero of these six plotlines are well developed.

The book gave up on plot and story for puns and rapid shifts between shallow story threads. The hunters have names like Euston O'Better, his wife Dallas and Austen Tay'Shun. The new recruit is a humanoid rabbit named Thumper. The environmental agency is the AEIOU, and their senior being is a genetically engineered dog named Barky.

Also, none of the characters you knew in the other books are here. The names are the same, but their personalities are almost unrecognizable. Phule is a bumbling fool who is more concerned about a hoped for promotion to major than anything else. Beeker is arrogant, pedantic and sarcastic. He looks down on Phule as an uneducated lout who would never accomplish much if Beeker wasn't there to take care of him. Phule's father is an arrogant, egocentric fool who can't understand the simple arithmatic that explains why casino's are profitable. He beleives the casino is giving away money despite all evidence that it is amazingly profitable (even after looking at all the sets of books). He insists he can prove it and will 'beat the system', and will beat it on slot machines. (The authors feel it vital to point out that slot machines are the game with the lowest payout rates and least player control. While this is true in real life, they feel the need to point it out every single time anyone mentions slot machines.) The list goes on and on.

There are also simple spelling and grammar errors throughout the book, as well as skipped words. For example, at one point Phule's first name is spelled Wilfred (his name is Willard, and is spelled correctly through the rest of the book). The editor over at Ace needs to be soundly chewed out, if not outright fired. This is simple lazyness and incompetance.

IF you have every other Asprin book, AND you can't abide the idea of a gap in your collection, try to find it in a library book sale or garage sale. Paying more than 50 cents for this travesty is a waste of money. I own a copy, but I wish I had read the reveiws before buying it.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Previous Phule books good. This one... not so good., June 9, 2004

By 

Soar - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Phule Like an Old Phule (Phule's Company) (Paperback)

This book was disappointing to me. The most glaring issue to me was that the characters (introduced in previous books in the series) acted differently than I remember them in the other books and seemed to not have much depth on the whole.

The primary character, Captain Jester or Phule, comes across as a doubting somewhat incompetent person. In the previous books he is anything but this. In fact, his poise and his balanced relationship with his butler help to make the books. I don?t see that in the current book.

The premise of the book overall just does not fly. That the father of Phule can be a leader of a huge corporation and not understand statistical odds in casinos smacks you in the face as unsound throughout the whole book. Then to add to the mix a storyline that stutters and goes off on tangents for no reasons, and you have a very confused disgruntled reader.

In summary, avoid this book and go buy the previous books if you haven?t already. I don't like criticizing authors I like and enjoy (I own almost all of Asprin?s books), but this book just didn't measure up to previous books.

I wish I had taken the reviews more to heart before I bought the book.