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Жребий рок-звезды, как известно, труден - а порою чреват и реальными опасностями!
Безумные фэны? До черта и больше!
Идиотские статьи в мировой прессе? Чертова уйма!
Все вместе? Да полная чертовщина!
Вот только - не поминай, рок-звезда. Князя Тьмы всуе. Потому что - его зовут, а он тут как тут!
И тогда на жизнь твою начнется подлинная ОХОТА... охота Сил настолько паранормальных, что их и называть-то не хочется!
И тогда спецагент из самого загадочного отдела британской "Сикрет Сервис" поневоле поймет - спасением явится только то, во что верить неохота!
И тогда - а вот тогда начнется ТАКАЯ ЕРТОВЩИНА, какую способен изобрести только немыслимый полет фантазии Роберта Асприна!
Безумные фэны? До черта и больше!
Идиотские статьи в мировой прессе? Чертова уйма!
Все вместе? Да полная чертовщина!
Вот только - не поминай, рок-звезда. Князя Тьмы всуе. Потому что - его зовут, а он тут как тут!
И тогда на жизнь твою начнется подлинная ОХОТА... охота Сил настолько паранормальных, что их и называть-то не хочется!
И тогда спецагент из самого загадочного отдела британской "Сикрет Сервис" поневоле поймет - спасением явится только то, во что верить неохота!
И тогда - а вот тогда начнется ТАКАЯ ЕРТОВЩИНА, какую способен изобрести только немыслимый полет фантазии Роберта Асприна!
382 pages, Hardcover
First published February 27, 2001
194 people want to read
About the author
Robert Lynn Asprin
224 books1,068 followersRobert (Lynn) Asprin was born in 1946. While he wrote some stand alone novels such as The Cold Cash War, Tambu, and The Bug Wars and also the Duncan & Mallory Illustrated stories, Bob is best known for his series fantasy, such as the Myth Adventures of Aahz and Skeeve, the Phule's Company novels, and the Time Scout novels written with Linda Evans. He also edited the groundbreaking Thieves' World anthology series with Lynn Abbey. Other collaborations include License Invoked (set in the French Quarter of New Orleans) and several Myth Adventures novels, all written with Jody Lynn Nye.
Bob's final solo work was a contemporary fantasy series called Dragons, again set in New Orleans.
Bob passed away suddenly on May 22, 2008. He is survived by his daughter and son, his mother and his sister.
Bob's final solo work was a contemporary fantasy series called Dragons, again set in New Orleans.
Bob passed away suddenly on May 22, 2008. He is survived by his daughter and son, his mother and his sister.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 2, 2024
This book started off a little slow, as it had to introduce the characters first. But it rapidly moved into an intriguing, action-packed adventure that swept me up in the reality, the believability and the comparison to events happening in the world around us.
I liked most of the characters, even when they didn't like each other. Except the bad guys, which surprised me, as there's usually a bit of redeemable spirit or heart somewhere in everyone. The bad guys here, while desiring world damage, were written in a way that made you hope they didn't get what they were striving for.
The action was superb and the main characters were very believable in their actions and roles, even as the ending drew in and this reader at least knew that there just about has to be a follow-up coming.
I liked most of the characters, even when they didn't like each other. Except the bad guys, which surprised me, as there's usually a bit of redeemable spirit or heart somewhere in everyone. The bad guys here, while desiring world damage, were written in a way that made you hope they didn't get what they were striving for.
The action was superb and the main characters were very believable in their actions and roles, even as the ending drew in and this reader at least knew that there just about has to be a follow-up coming.
September 23, 2007
This book started out hilarious and suddenly became serious, which wasn't what I expected from the synopsis on the back cover. I was disappointed. If he stuck with funny, he would have been brilliant. Instead, the story was fairly well written with a few developed characters, a shallow plot, and overblown dangers. It's still worth reading, but nothing special.
May 30, 2018
I hadn't read anything by either Robert Asprin or Jody Lynn Nye before picking up this book, but both have sizable reputations as fantasy/sci-fi writers, and good ones at that. The premise of this book, a mystery-thriller involving magic and the supernatural, was intriguing as well, and I figured if nothing else I could enjoy the magical mayhem. Even the fact that it was a collaboration didn't bother me -- both these authors have collaborated on novels before, so I figured they had to know what they were doing. Unfortunately, while this book did keep me reading to the end and there were some enjoyable parts, it never really gelled together well or led me to grow invested in its characters.
"License Invoked" follows Elizabeth Mayfield, an MI5 agent who specializes in magic. When OOPSI, the branch of the British intelligence agency that specializes in the supernatural, sends her to act as a bodyguard of sorts to Fiona Kenmare, lead singer of the Irish acid-folk band Green Fire, she's just hoping to get this over with so she can get home and hopefully get promoted. But not only does Liz discover that she has a startling link to Fiona, she realizes that Fiona's insistence that something magical in nature is plaguing the band isn't her imagination -- she's really being targeted by sinister magic forces! As the band prepares for a big concert in New Orleans, Liz ends up teaming up with an American FBI agent named Beauray (though he prefers the nickname "Boo"), and the two must use all the magical means at their disposal to protect Fiona, Green Fire, and an entire stadium of fans from a black magic conspiracy that could destroy them all...
When this book found its groove and was at its best, it was an enjoyable read. Liz is a somewhat neurotic character, but believable and with her own quirks and flaws, and I found myself growing to like her and rooting for her. Her relationships with other characters felt believable, and when she was the focus of the book I greatly enjoyed the read. Boo is a curiously flat character, simply written to ooze Southern charm and provide handy exposition when needed, but his banter with Liz was enjoyable and fun. And the author's depiction of New Orleans made it seem like a colorful and exhilarating place to visit... though these descriptions were bittersweet, as the book was written before Hurricane Katrina hit and devastated so much of it.
The other characters are pretty much stereotypes and caricatures -- the snotty rock diva, the harried and fussy band manager, the overprotective bodyguard, etc. Even Liz's parter Boo, as stated above, feels curiously flat and underdeveloped. And the villains are so over-the-top evil that they're just flat-out cartoony and laughable, falling back on Hollywood depictions of Satanism that ceased to be scary decades ago. Said villains also seem to have no real motivation behind the destruction they're plotting beyond being as evil as possible -- there's talk of creating a surge of black magic power, but no indication on what that power is going to be used for.
The plot is fairly by-the-numbers, and at times it can't seem to decide whether it wants to be a sharp comedy or a bog-standard police procedural. I know Asprin in particular was capable of writing witty humor along with his magical antics, but here attempts at humor largely fall flat. And the police-procedural thriller is livened up a little bit with magic but is otherwise fairly predictable... and it doesn't help that the rock star whose safety is so central to the plot is seriously unlikable for much of the book, spoiled and ungrateful.
I'm willing to give both Asprin and Nye another chance, as it hardly seems fair to judge two authors by one lackluster collaboration. But "License Invoked" definitely doesn't seem like their best work, and while entertaining at points is an uneven and cliched read. It bears a few signs that it was meant to be the start of a series, but reading this book, it's easy to see why said series never panned out.
"License Invoked" follows Elizabeth Mayfield, an MI5 agent who specializes in magic. When OOPSI, the branch of the British intelligence agency that specializes in the supernatural, sends her to act as a bodyguard of sorts to Fiona Kenmare, lead singer of the Irish acid-folk band Green Fire, she's just hoping to get this over with so she can get home and hopefully get promoted. But not only does Liz discover that she has a startling link to Fiona, she realizes that Fiona's insistence that something magical in nature is plaguing the band isn't her imagination -- she's really being targeted by sinister magic forces! As the band prepares for a big concert in New Orleans, Liz ends up teaming up with an American FBI agent named Beauray (though he prefers the nickname "Boo"), and the two must use all the magical means at their disposal to protect Fiona, Green Fire, and an entire stadium of fans from a black magic conspiracy that could destroy them all...
When this book found its groove and was at its best, it was an enjoyable read. Liz is a somewhat neurotic character, but believable and with her own quirks and flaws, and I found myself growing to like her and rooting for her. Her relationships with other characters felt believable, and when she was the focus of the book I greatly enjoyed the read. Boo is a curiously flat character, simply written to ooze Southern charm and provide handy exposition when needed, but his banter with Liz was enjoyable and fun. And the author's depiction of New Orleans made it seem like a colorful and exhilarating place to visit... though these descriptions were bittersweet, as the book was written before Hurricane Katrina hit and devastated so much of it.
The other characters are pretty much stereotypes and caricatures -- the snotty rock diva, the harried and fussy band manager, the overprotective bodyguard, etc. Even Liz's parter Boo, as stated above, feels curiously flat and underdeveloped. And the villains are so over-the-top evil that they're just flat-out cartoony and laughable, falling back on Hollywood depictions of Satanism that ceased to be scary decades ago. Said villains also seem to have no real motivation behind the destruction they're plotting beyond being as evil as possible -- there's talk of creating a surge of black magic power, but no indication on what that power is going to be used for.
The plot is fairly by-the-numbers, and at times it can't seem to decide whether it wants to be a sharp comedy or a bog-standard police procedural. I know Asprin in particular was capable of writing witty humor along with his magical antics, but here attempts at humor largely fall flat. And the police-procedural thriller is livened up a little bit with magic but is otherwise fairly predictable... and it doesn't help that the rock star whose safety is so central to the plot is seriously unlikable for much of the book, spoiled and ungrateful.
I'm willing to give both Asprin and Nye another chance, as it hardly seems fair to judge two authors by one lackluster collaboration. But "License Invoked" definitely doesn't seem like their best work, and while entertaining at points is an uneven and cliched read. It bears a few signs that it was meant to be the start of a series, but reading this book, it's easy to see why said series never panned out.
November 2, 2025
License Invoked is an Urban Fantasy novel by Robert Lynn Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye. In this one, Elizabeth Mayfield is an MI5 agent who specializes in magic. OOPSI, the branch of MI5 that specializes in the supernatural, sends her to act as a bodyguard for Fiona Kenmare, the lead singer of the Irish acid-folk band Green Fire. This is her first major assignment, and she desperately wants to succeed and hopefully get promoted. Not only does Liz soon discover that she has a past link to Fiona, she realizes that Fiona's insistence that something magical in nature is plaguing the band isn't her imagination, but that she is really being targeted by sinister magical forces! As the band prepares for a big concert in New Orleans, Liz ends up teaming up with an American FBI agent named Beauray, and the two must use all the magical means at their disposal to protect Fiona, Green Fire, and an entire stadium of fans from a black magic conspiracy that could destroy them all!
May 22, 2022
Two countries have sub rosa magic bureaus, set up to deal with magic attacks and other manifestations. A popular singer is the victim of multiple attacks, seeming to build before a major concert in the Big Easy. Who is behind it and how to stop it? The book doesn't drag, but keeps the action going.
May 1, 2025
There were times when I struggled to keep track of the large cast, but overall, I really enjoyed the numerous characters and how they interacted with each other. I especially liked the way the magic system was described and utilized. Most of the book is fun and wacky, leading up to a surprisingly but not unearned serious and spectacular climax!
January 15, 2024
This book starts out slow, but the last third has some better pacing. Two agents in hush-hush magic Departments are tasked to protect a singer against repeated magic attack.
The characters are a bit bland, largely. Clever idea that has been done in more interesting ways these days.
The characters are a bit bland, largely. Clever idea that has been done in more interesting ways these days.
September 18, 2021
So wonderfully hokey and i loved every minute of it
January 11, 2017
Silly story about an acid-folk rock band whose lead singer is being targeted by Satanists. Yeah you read that right. Their protection is an uptight Brit lady-agent and a "N'awlins" freelancer both natural magickers who both work for secret government departments that deal in The Magic. My biggest take-away was wondering whether Green Fire (the band in the novel) and their Irish green-haired front woman weren't a thinly veiled stand-in for Garbage and their Scottish pink-haired frontwoman. Hope not as Shirley Manson seems infinitely cooler than Fionna/Phoebe. I kept waiting for the twist that would make the read worth it. It never came.
March 12, 2009
A whimsical look of what might happen if the government ever decided to take "magick" seriously and create a bureacracy about it. Of course, anyone that "knows" or "believes in" magic knows that this stuff in the book is pure fiction. Magick doesn't work that way because it's internal, not external.
Even so, this is one of Asprin's better attempts away from either the Myth, Phule or Thieves World series. That doesn't mean it's his best work, though.
This book has it's slow spots where it tends to drag a bit and looses my attention. The main characters, though, are entertaining in their stereotypical ways.
Even so, this is one of Asprin's better attempts away from either the Myth, Phule or Thieves World series. That doesn't mean it's his best work, though.
This book has it's slow spots where it tends to drag a bit and looses my attention. The main characters, though, are entertaining in their stereotypical ways.
April 1, 2012
Strange book. Not a comic fantasy, but a black magic thriller. Irish acid rock group, Green Fire, plans to begin their US tour in New Orleans, but the lead singer believes she is the recipient of black magic. So the Brits send one of their special forces agents along, and the Americans add Boo-Boo, a special agent of the FBI to guard against such activities. The group is in fact being demonized by a tele-evangalism church, who is paying top dollar to topple the group. It sounds like it should be a comic romp, but in fact turns more thriller oriented. It is however engaging; a fast page turner that keeps you reading once you're in to the story.
June 29, 2013
I really liked this book at the start but midway through it changed direction and the enjoyment factor decreased. Sort of the reverse of The House that Jack Built which took a while to get into before enjoying to its conclusion.
February 25, 2016
Loved it, are you ready to go save an Irish Folk rock star & New Orleans from black magic? Another fun book from Robert Lynn Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye.
February 2, 2015
Dumb. Don't bother.
October 22, 2025
This was a quick read. Entertaining, but lacks on details in a few sections. Overall a nice little story.
January 16, 2013
skimmed - I was right - I have read
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews