Customer Reviews

Pyramid Power (Pyramid Series)

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Flint and Freer once again craft another fun-filled (or is it pun-filled) tale in their sequel to 2001's Pyramid Scheme, which skewers and roasts Norse mythology with as much good humor and irreverence as they did to Greek and Egyptian mythology in the first book. It has all you could ever ask for in a book: alcoholic gods, scheming government bureaucrats, and lovesick flatulent dragons!

A thoroughly enjoyable tale by the same warped minds that brought you Rats, Bats & Vats and The Rats, the Bats & the Ugly. Recommended!

This is in someways an even better book than the original. Both have good action, bad puns, great pacing and three dimensional characters. P-Power takes you to the under explored Norse Mythology Urworld. Fascinating. My favorite novel of the year.

Pyramid Power (2007) is the second SF novel in the Book of the Tail duology, following Pyramid Scheme. In the previous volume, Jerry Lukacs, Liz De Beer, Lamont Jackson, Sergeant Anibal Cruz, and Corporal Jim McKenna return to the real world in Las Vegas with assorted girlfriends, children, dragons, and a sphinx. The Luxor Hotel has a field day with the free publicity.

In this novel, Miggy Tremelo is now head of the National Science Advisory Council with an out-of-sight security clearance, but he just cannot seem to get anything done without his secretary. Marie Jackson is on sick leave. Her temporary replacement is pleasant enough, but just doesn't have the aggressive power of Marie and certainly doesn't know how to make coffee.

Liz De Beer is considering whether to wake Jerry Lukacs when the phone rings. Tremelo's secretary is calling for Jerry, but Tremelo comes on the line when Liz explains that Jerry is not yet fit to talk. Miggy apologizes for calling so early and explains what he needs.

Liz mentions her appointment with the INS and Tremelo suggests that he handle the situation. They exchange pleasantries and then Liz begins to wake the night owl. Jerry believes that he is easy to awake.

Helen Garnett is Director of the Pyramid Security Agency. The President and congress had created the agency to show that something is being done about the Krim device. At least they have stopped throwing nuclear weapons at the probe.

James Horton is Assistant Director, Operations, of the PSA. He wears sunglasses even in his own office. Apparently he hasn't recognized that Men In Black is a comedy.

Sergeant Cruz and Corporal McKenna are requisitioned by PSA agents. The agents seem to think that the PSA is all powerful, but Cruz is calculating how to take out his three and decides to let Colonel Frank McNamara have the other four. Medea assumes that PSA Special Agent Ledbetter was hired for nepotic reasons.

Odin is the head of the Aesir, the Norse gods. He is willful, cunning and an oath-breaker. He is also an agent of the Krim device, but soon becomes a loose cannon.

Loki is a shapechanger and the embodiment of fire, the trickster god of the Norse. He is sometimes malicious and impulsive, but not really evil. He really doesn't want to rule the Aesir.

Thor is the thunder-god of the Norse. He is probably the most honorable of the Aesir and is one of the few who defends Loki from the disparagement of his fellows. Yet he is a little slow in his thinking and keeps getting persuaded by Odin to do regrettable things.

Sigurd is a Germanic hero later immortalized in the Nibelungenlied, Wagner's colorful -- but long -- musical extravaganza. It all started with a curse on the ring of Andvari. Sigurd carries Gram, a very sharp sword.

In this story, the PSA is looking for Tom Harkness. The Krim device had taken Harkness and his assistants during the first day of its operation on Earth. Presumably, the NSC man is somewhere in the Greek mythworld. They have a plan to retrieve Harkness. Unfortunately, it is a very bad plan.

When Liz and Jerry reach the professor, he spends most of the time cussing the PSA. Then Lamont and Marie Jackson arrive with bad news: Marie has cancer. Apparently she has three months to live.

When the PSA agents enter the snatch zone of the Krim device, they are initially ignored. When they get into a fight with Jerry and his friends, however, the Krim probe vanishes them. They find themselves in the Norse Ur-mythworld.

This tale retells the Norse myths in a somewhat cynical way. Neither of the authors seems to have Nordic ancestry, so maybe they are neutral observers to the conflict of the gods. In any case, this is NOT a regurgitation of the Nibelungenlied. Enjoy!

Highly recommended for Flint & Freer fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of mythological adventure, Norse magic, and true love.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This sequel is just as good as the first book. The venue has moved to Nordic mythology with a strong dose of Washington DC stumble bums getting in the way.

Having been defeated in the world of Greek mythology (Pyramid Scheme (Pyramid)), the Krim pyramid attempts to take over the world of Norse mythology. With Odin on their side, how can it fail to bring about Ragnarok and feed on the suffering?

Easily. Because of a series of really stupid moves, the Krim ends up snatching some of the same people it did last time. It turns out that gods neutralized by Odin are not quite out of commission, and the world of Norse mythology can be fixed with a bit of magic and a lot of cunning.

This is a great sequel to Pyramid Scheme (Pyramid). It has many of the same characters and themes, but seen in a different, northernly, light. If you enjoyed the first book in the series, you should get the second. If you haven't read it, you should probably get it first.

The take on Norse mythology is also interesting, a bit similar to Lars Walker's The Year Of The Warrior, but without Christianity.

If you've read "Pyramid Scheme", you'll love this book. If you haven't, you should go read that one first, then read this book. It's a great sequel to the first one, following up on the characters as they manage to accidentally make their way back into the alien pyramid and into Norse mythology this time. I've always liked the stories of the Norse gods, so this was particularly fun for me, but even if you're not familiar with the mythology, you'll enjoy the characters and humor in the book. This series is one of the strangest and silliest take on alien contact I've read, and is what put Dave Freer on my list of authors whose books I must buy as they come out. (Eric Flint was already there.)

This is a sequal to Pyramid Scheme and while not as good is still fun. If you like the first book, you will likely also like this one.