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Myth Adventures #17
Myth-Gotten Gains
Aahz discovers that the shabby-looking sword he bought at a flea market in a remote dimension is Ersatz, leader of the Golden Hoard, a fabled collection of powerful magical treasures that can turn any ordinary being into a hero. They go in search of the other members of the Hoard, only to find that they're not the only ones looking. A dancer named Calypsa, working with Aahz's old friend Tananda, is seeking to collect them to free her grandfather from the dreaded wizard Barrik. Trouble is, everyone wants the treasures for themselves, and there are good reasons why the Golden Hoard is never all in the same dimension at one time.
278 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2006
10 people are currently reading
1220 people want to read
About the author
Robert Lynn Asprin
224 books1,067 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 - 30 of 60 reviews
February 16, 2021
A myth-take on glorious intelligent magical artifacts, complete with complaints, misadventures, whining -- and that's mostly the metal.
When you need to rely on a magic-less wise-cracking demon to save the day or a dancer to dance an evil sorcerer to death, you know you've walked into some weird pages.
Fortunately, this is a solid addition to the series. :)
When you need to rely on a magic-less wise-cracking demon to save the day or a dancer to dance an evil sorcerer to death, you know you've walked into some weird pages.
Fortunately, this is a solid addition to the series. :)
December 1, 2015
I was really disappointed with this book, especially after 'Class Dis-Mythed' seemed to be heading back in the right direction. This seemed quite unimaginative, and dull. For two such great characters such as Aahz and Tananda to be reduced to mere shadows of their former selves is a real shame. Much of the humour, which I have come to expect, was sadly lacking.
The plot was quite predictable, and the constant bickering between the Golden Hoard was so overdone that it became irritating. In my opinion this was not one of the better books in the series.
The plot was quite predictable, and the constant bickering between the Golden Hoard was so overdone that it became irritating. In my opinion this was not one of the better books in the series.
December 21, 2021
ch bin noch nicht so ganz sicher, wie ich dieses Buch für mich einordnen soll. Aahz ist ein Dämon der scheinbar Ähnlichkeiten mit einem Drachen hat. Eine ganz klare Beschreibung von ihm gibt es nicht aber es genügt um sich ein grobes Bild zu machen. Das wurde sicher in vorigen Bänden geklärt. Schließlich handelt es sich hier um den 17. Teil einer Reihe. Aber ich habe mich nie in dsr Handlung verloren gefühlt. Die Geschichte hat auch nicht so einen großen Anspruch.
Es ist recht unterhaltsam wie diese seltsame Duo aus einem sprechenden Schwert mit Gottkomplex und einem streitsüchtigen, schnell genervten Dämon auf immer mehr Gefährten treffen. U. a. eine Trollin (mag ich sehr, sonst hat man ja immer männliche Vertreter dieser Spezies). Z. B. eine geistig umnachtete und verwirrte Glaskugel.
Ich kenne die Vorgänger nicht aber ich kann mir vorstellen, dass die Autoren bei diesem Band schon ein bisschen ausgelutscht waren. Ich hatte aber auch keine allzuhohen Erwartungen.
Was einen hier erwartet ist eine amüsante leichte Geschichte. Jedenfalls, wenn man mit diesem Stil klar kommt. Außerdem gibt es einige Anspielungen auf andere Werke der Nerdkultur. Richtig gestört hat mich nichts, vom Hocker gehauen aber leider auch nichts. Bin trotzdem interessiert daran wie wohl die früheren Bände so sein könnten. Grundsätzlich sehe ich da nämlich Potenzial.
Es ist recht unterhaltsam wie diese seltsame Duo aus einem sprechenden Schwert mit Gottkomplex und einem streitsüchtigen, schnell genervten Dämon auf immer mehr Gefährten treffen. U. a. eine Trollin (mag ich sehr, sonst hat man ja immer männliche Vertreter dieser Spezies). Z. B. eine geistig umnachtete und verwirrte Glaskugel.
Ich kenne die Vorgänger nicht aber ich kann mir vorstellen, dass die Autoren bei diesem Band schon ein bisschen ausgelutscht waren. Ich hatte aber auch keine allzuhohen Erwartungen.
Was einen hier erwartet ist eine amüsante leichte Geschichte. Jedenfalls, wenn man mit diesem Stil klar kommt. Außerdem gibt es einige Anspielungen auf andere Werke der Nerdkultur. Richtig gestört hat mich nichts, vom Hocker gehauen aber leider auch nichts. Bin trotzdem interessiert daran wie wohl die früheren Bände so sein könnten. Grundsätzlich sehe ich da nämlich Potenzial.
May 29, 2012
Myth-gotten gains is almost a myth-begotten adventure with very little redeeming to it. It is poorly paced and reads like an imitation of the original novels in this series. It is sort of like an author was trying to replicate another author's work. Oh! That pretty much seems to be the case here as the novel was co-authored by Jody Lynn Nye, an author who seems to piggy back on other author's work (judging by an Amazon search and seeing she has written with\for Anne McCaffery, etc.)
Here's the basic. Aahz, the pervert, er... Pervect! (a joke that is so overused in the book that I tired of it and almost put the book down without completing it about the fifth time I read it-- The joke is that Aahz is from a dimension called Perve.. the people there call themselves Pervects, but others, noting their lack of moral character frequently call them perverts.. Everytime they do so, Aahz strongly corrects them. OVER and OVER again).. Anyway.. Aahz finds a badly tarnished sword in a market place that speaks to him and begs to be purchased. Aahz does so with the promise of reward but of course the reward is going to be tough to obtain. Along the way, Aahz discovers that the sword is part of a set of treasures called "The Golden Hoard" which have been part of many legendary adventures. The problem is, when these objects come together they argue with one another to such an extent as to build up a magical explosion of epic proportions.
There are the usual bad puns that are meant to be fun, but in this case seem old and tired for the most part. The adventurers dimension hop to dimensions with odd characters (kitty cat people) as they gather the magical hoard back together, each time facing a challenge of one sort or another.
Missing from this title are some of the key characters of the Myth-Adventures series. Skeez and his dragon are nowhere to be found. The gangster characters make no appearance. In fact, the only really familiar character to me was Aahz and he takes the lead in this story and he is written almost completely out of his normal, greedy, slimey character. In other words, he is not as disreputible as he once was. He is too concerned about the feelings of others, and his focus-- on the huge reward he is supposed to obtain-- well, he seems distracted from it and that is just out of character for a pervert... er.. PREVECT!
I just don't recommend this one at all. It just lacked the real snap and flavor of the early novels and seems stale and repetitive.
Here's the basic. Aahz, the pervert, er... Pervect! (a joke that is so overused in the book that I tired of it and almost put the book down without completing it about the fifth time I read it-- The joke is that Aahz is from a dimension called Perve.. the people there call themselves Pervects, but others, noting their lack of moral character frequently call them perverts.. Everytime they do so, Aahz strongly corrects them. OVER and OVER again).. Anyway.. Aahz finds a badly tarnished sword in a market place that speaks to him and begs to be purchased. Aahz does so with the promise of reward but of course the reward is going to be tough to obtain. Along the way, Aahz discovers that the sword is part of a set of treasures called "The Golden Hoard" which have been part of many legendary adventures. The problem is, when these objects come together they argue with one another to such an extent as to build up a magical explosion of epic proportions.
There are the usual bad puns that are meant to be fun, but in this case seem old and tired for the most part. The adventurers dimension hop to dimensions with odd characters (kitty cat people) as they gather the magical hoard back together, each time facing a challenge of one sort or another.
Missing from this title are some of the key characters of the Myth-Adventures series. Skeez and his dragon are nowhere to be found. The gangster characters make no appearance. In fact, the only really familiar character to me was Aahz and he takes the lead in this story and he is written almost completely out of his normal, greedy, slimey character. In other words, he is not as disreputible as he once was. He is too concerned about the feelings of others, and his focus-- on the huge reward he is supposed to obtain-- well, he seems distracted from it and that is just out of character for a pervert... er.. PREVECT!
I just don't recommend this one at all. It just lacked the real snap and flavor of the early novels and seems stale and repetitive.
July 29, 2010
I recently picked up Myth, and this book made me stop and realise that the quality of the books had been diminishing as I continued past say vol 8 or 9. Sure, it was an ok read, and there were definitely some bad puns I enjoyed... Merry Tiler Moor??? really???, but from beginning to end, Aahz doesn't seem to change much. Sure, he does some generous things against his usual nature near the end, but it seems this is a story of essentially flat characters, and not even the funny ones we're used to.
It's simply that this adventure doesn't seem special to the characters who matter, the characters we'll see again. That makes it, well, dull.
It's simply that this adventure doesn't seem special to the characters who matter, the characters we'll see again. That makes it, well, dull.
January 16, 2020
There's nothing quite like a Myth book to put me in a good mood. I know there's criticism about the Nye co-authoring. I don't mind it. I sorely miss Skeeve, but the books have been following other characters for a while now.
Asprin passing the torch gave us the gift of extending his world building. I've been reading these since I was a teen.
Asprin passing the torch gave us the gift of extending his world building. I've been reading these since I was a teen.
December 19, 2016
So, the first thing I noticed when I started reading this book is that it's lacking the fake quotes at the start of each chapter. I remember reading years ago that Asprin took as much time coming up with those quotes as he did writing the novels, so I suppose I knew it was coming. It's a further sign that the later books aren't really in the same class as the early books, and another sign that artists can't go back and recapture what made their early works unique.
In this novel, we go back to Aahz as our first-person narrator, and as in Myth-taken Identity, it doesn't feel right. This time, he buys a talking sword that leads him to other talking treasures, all of which make up the legendary Golden Hoard. Aahz's motivation here is the promise that one of them will be able to restore his magikal powers. Of course, nothing goes strictly as planned, and that's how the caper is run.
I was disappointed in the title, since it's not quite a pun; the phrase is "misbegotten gains". I suppose that looked a little weird on the cover, though, and doesn't quite roll off the tongue. It was a sticking point for me, though. The whole book was rather boring, too. It didn't have the kind of charm of the other books, and even though Tananda also features in the story with Aahz, it felt like this was just Aahz doing his thing.
That speaks to a larger issue I have with these co-authored books, which is that Tananda just takes on the role of the sex kitten. Whatever personality she had in the original books has been excised, which is weird, since Nye is now co-authoring the books. I felt like her influence made Massha a better character, but if that were the case, then why didn't it roll over to Tananda, as well?
The number of typos in this book is embarrassing, not just because they're there, but also because credit is given on the verso page to the company that copyedited and proofread the book. I'd think that if my company's name were attached to a project, I would make more of an effort than this, but at least they were consistent; instead of semicolons, they put an apostrophe instead.
I only have a few more books to go in the series, and they appear to be pretty short, so I'll persevere, but these aren't nearly as interesting as the earlier books. Maybe the nostalgia carried more weight with those books than I realized.
In this novel, we go back to Aahz as our first-person narrator, and as in Myth-taken Identity, it doesn't feel right. This time, he buys a talking sword that leads him to other talking treasures, all of which make up the legendary Golden Hoard. Aahz's motivation here is the promise that one of them will be able to restore his magikal powers. Of course, nothing goes strictly as planned, and that's how the caper is run.
I was disappointed in the title, since it's not quite a pun; the phrase is "misbegotten gains". I suppose that looked a little weird on the cover, though, and doesn't quite roll off the tongue. It was a sticking point for me, though. The whole book was rather boring, too. It didn't have the kind of charm of the other books, and even though Tananda also features in the story with Aahz, it felt like this was just Aahz doing his thing.
That speaks to a larger issue I have with these co-authored books, which is that Tananda just takes on the role of the sex kitten. Whatever personality she had in the original books has been excised, which is weird, since Nye is now co-authoring the books. I felt like her influence made Massha a better character, but if that were the case, then why didn't it roll over to Tananda, as well?
The number of typos in this book is embarrassing, not just because they're there, but also because credit is given on the verso page to the company that copyedited and proofread the book. I'd think that if my company's name were attached to a project, I would make more of an effort than this, but at least they were consistent; instead of semicolons, they put an apostrophe instead.
I only have a few more books to go in the series, and they appear to be pretty short, so I'll persevere, but these aren't nearly as interesting as the earlier books. Maybe the nostalgia carried more weight with those books than I realized.
August 3, 2022
MYTH INC and Me
A million years back, my older brother picked up a fantasy comedy novel, one that he heard was pretty good, and in typical fashion right after he finished it, I picked it up, and then our younger brother. Our parents loved when we did this, and then discussed and debated the books endlessly. This kept on with this one series until years later, when the writer kinda went into more depressing territory and the books became less fun, more of a chore.
So I stopped reading them, while my brothers kept going, and I had no clue how many books were coming out. But a year or so back I grabbed most of the rest of the series from them and plunged back in.
Now this was an experience.
So what I am babbling about is The Myth Inc Series by the late author Robert Asprin, a fantasy comedy which starts off a medieval place called Klahd, which is pronounced Clod, and a young man named Skeeve who is being trained as a magician. His master pulls a trick, and is then promptly assassinated, and suddenly Skeeve is left to deal with a green scaly demon man his master conjured up. Turns out, he is an old friend of the wizard, and has been left powerless by the trick. Aahz, which is pronounced Oz and is no relation, agrees to team up as Master and Apprentice with Skeeve.
Thus begins an interesting partnership, as Skeeve and Aahz get a pet dragon, fight a war for a kingdom, join the mob but do no moblike stuff, hop from dimension to dimension, meet vampires, play dragon poker, and meet a ton of new allies who fast become friends. We get the sexy Tanda the assassin, her brother Chumley the troll, Guido and Nunzio Skeeve’s mob bodyguards, and even more and more as the series progresses. And we get pun filled titles like Myth Conceptions and Little Myth Marker. By the time we reach M.Y.T.H. Inc Link, Asprin decides to switch the narrator from Skeeve to all sorts of the rest of the cast. It is a nice switch up for the series, but could not stop the mountains of subplots spinning everywhere and how stuff had become depressing in some places.
However one thread that was a bright spot all along was the occasional cartoon, showing scenes from the story, in the trade paperbacks by Phil Foglio, who also did the comics adaptation of the first book.
Where I exactly left off from decades ago was my first challenge, and a reread of M.Y.T.H. Inc In Action reveals I left this one two chapters short of finishing. The re-invasion of the kingdom has been settled, largely thanks to Guido and Nunzio joining the army and sabotaging it from the inside.
With a whole bunch of subplots resolved, we move into my first completely new read of the series this century, Sweet Myth-tery of Life, where Skeeve has brought Aahz back from his dimension of Perv after they had a big falling out. Now Skeeve has received a marriage proposal from Queen Hemlock and goes back to wondering about love. Oh, and he needs to fix the kingdoms finances. And more subplots get resolved. But it is also gets kinda repetitive.
Which leads to Something M.Y.T.H. Inc, where the multiple narrator shtick is back as the kingdom is in rebellion against the tyrant who raised taxes, that evil one time Court Magician Skeeve! The Myth gang set out to quell the insurrections, who are remarkedly like Zorro and Robin Hood, and not let Skeeve know what is going on. This one takes place at the same time as the last one. And this one starts off really really good, then falls apart. And all the subplots get figured out and Skeeve moves into a new place in life, so that the series can rebuild, which leads to….
Myth-Ion Improbable, a flashback tale to Skeeve and Aahz and Tanda going on a treasure hunt in a far off dimension. It is cute at best. And the big relaunch happens with….
Myth-Told Tales. Or not. Asprin gets an official co-writer here with Jody Lynn Nye, and the many narrators idea is back, but it is really just short stories. It is a mixed bag, like any collection, and still like treading water until whatever the new reality is. Methinks Asprin and Nye may not have hit it off right away, and this format was a compromise just to keep the Myth series going. Nye has a track record as a writer before this book, and I believe a real affection for these characters, so I kinda wish Asprin would just hand the series over to her, since he seems not so into it.
Myth Alliances is a Skeeve without Aahz book, where Skeeve and Bunny, his sexy and super smart assistant, have to free the dimension of Wuhses from a group of Perv business women who have become dictators. Or have they? This one starts very promising, then keeps going on and on, but still gives a pretty spectacular ending.
This leads to the Aahz centered book Myth-Taken Identity, where he finds out someone has stolen Skeeve’s id and is wrecking his good name in the mall dimension. No one does that to his former apprentice and good friend! This one is just like the last one, starts off well, meanders quite abit, then finishes strong.
It feels like Nye takes over more with Class Dis-Mythed, where Skeeve is asked by various people to teach a whole bunch of apprentices in magic. It is a learning curve for Skeeve, and one for the students, and we get a whole bunch of cameos from other characters from the series, some being very very surprising. Their is a secret the students are keeping through, which leads to the surprise ending chapters. I really dig the new characters and hope they make reappearances in future books.
So it seems like whatever Asprin and Nye got working, is really working, and Myth-Gotten Gains is proof of that. Aahz finds a magic talking sword in a bazaar and is promised money AND getting his powers back if he helps find his family of magical objects. Turns out they are The Golden Hoard, an ancient and all powerful group who don’t really get along. Aahz and Tanda travel all over, find the Flute and the Purse and the Book and the Crystal Ball. And Aahz and Tanda are completely driven crazy by the Hoard’s constant bickering and insults and attitude. I loved these new additions and their banter read in my head like a Monty Python skit.
This new groove moves us into Myth-Chief, where Skeeve comes back to adventuring and his Myth Inc aren’t all happy. So eventually Skeeve and Aahz have a contest with two competing but not so competing goals, to save a kingdom from financial ruin. Unfortunately, this one backslides to being too long, unfocused, and only one part of the ending making sense. Their is hope, since the new dynamic of Myth n Inc is finally in place here.
This is also the last one my brothers got, but Asprin and Nye gave us one more with Myth-Fortunes, and then suddenly Asprin passed away. Nye continued on with Myth-Quoted and Myth-Fits. I have no idea what happens in these volumes, or how these go generally with Nye fully in charge.
Even with the mixed results of this catchup, I am still glad I did it. It was nice to see how these old friends were doing, and seeing that they were in good hands with Nye. I think Asprin would be happy. And my brothers and I can debate this endlessly as well.
Scoopriches
A million years back, my older brother picked up a fantasy comedy novel, one that he heard was pretty good, and in typical fashion right after he finished it, I picked it up, and then our younger brother. Our parents loved when we did this, and then discussed and debated the books endlessly. This kept on with this one series until years later, when the writer kinda went into more depressing territory and the books became less fun, more of a chore.
So I stopped reading them, while my brothers kept going, and I had no clue how many books were coming out. But a year or so back I grabbed most of the rest of the series from them and plunged back in.
Now this was an experience.
So what I am babbling about is The Myth Inc Series by the late author Robert Asprin, a fantasy comedy which starts off a medieval place called Klahd, which is pronounced Clod, and a young man named Skeeve who is being trained as a magician. His master pulls a trick, and is then promptly assassinated, and suddenly Skeeve is left to deal with a green scaly demon man his master conjured up. Turns out, he is an old friend of the wizard, and has been left powerless by the trick. Aahz, which is pronounced Oz and is no relation, agrees to team up as Master and Apprentice with Skeeve.
Thus begins an interesting partnership, as Skeeve and Aahz get a pet dragon, fight a war for a kingdom, join the mob but do no moblike stuff, hop from dimension to dimension, meet vampires, play dragon poker, and meet a ton of new allies who fast become friends. We get the sexy Tanda the assassin, her brother Chumley the troll, Guido and Nunzio Skeeve’s mob bodyguards, and even more and more as the series progresses. And we get pun filled titles like Myth Conceptions and Little Myth Marker. By the time we reach M.Y.T.H. Inc Link, Asprin decides to switch the narrator from Skeeve to all sorts of the rest of the cast. It is a nice switch up for the series, but could not stop the mountains of subplots spinning everywhere and how stuff had become depressing in some places.
However one thread that was a bright spot all along was the occasional cartoon, showing scenes from the story, in the trade paperbacks by Phil Foglio, who also did the comics adaptation of the first book.
Where I exactly left off from decades ago was my first challenge, and a reread of M.Y.T.H. Inc In Action reveals I left this one two chapters short of finishing. The re-invasion of the kingdom has been settled, largely thanks to Guido and Nunzio joining the army and sabotaging it from the inside.
With a whole bunch of subplots resolved, we move into my first completely new read of the series this century, Sweet Myth-tery of Life, where Skeeve has brought Aahz back from his dimension of Perv after they had a big falling out. Now Skeeve has received a marriage proposal from Queen Hemlock and goes back to wondering about love. Oh, and he needs to fix the kingdoms finances. And more subplots get resolved. But it is also gets kinda repetitive.
Which leads to Something M.Y.T.H. Inc, where the multiple narrator shtick is back as the kingdom is in rebellion against the tyrant who raised taxes, that evil one time Court Magician Skeeve! The Myth gang set out to quell the insurrections, who are remarkedly like Zorro and Robin Hood, and not let Skeeve know what is going on. This one takes place at the same time as the last one. And this one starts off really really good, then falls apart. And all the subplots get figured out and Skeeve moves into a new place in life, so that the series can rebuild, which leads to….
Myth-Ion Improbable, a flashback tale to Skeeve and Aahz and Tanda going on a treasure hunt in a far off dimension. It is cute at best. And the big relaunch happens with….
Myth-Told Tales. Or not. Asprin gets an official co-writer here with Jody Lynn Nye, and the many narrators idea is back, but it is really just short stories. It is a mixed bag, like any collection, and still like treading water until whatever the new reality is. Methinks Asprin and Nye may not have hit it off right away, and this format was a compromise just to keep the Myth series going. Nye has a track record as a writer before this book, and I believe a real affection for these characters, so I kinda wish Asprin would just hand the series over to her, since he seems not so into it.
Myth Alliances is a Skeeve without Aahz book, where Skeeve and Bunny, his sexy and super smart assistant, have to free the dimension of Wuhses from a group of Perv business women who have become dictators. Or have they? This one starts very promising, then keeps going on and on, but still gives a pretty spectacular ending.
This leads to the Aahz centered book Myth-Taken Identity, where he finds out someone has stolen Skeeve’s id and is wrecking his good name in the mall dimension. No one does that to his former apprentice and good friend! This one is just like the last one, starts off well, meanders quite abit, then finishes strong.
It feels like Nye takes over more with Class Dis-Mythed, where Skeeve is asked by various people to teach a whole bunch of apprentices in magic. It is a learning curve for Skeeve, and one for the students, and we get a whole bunch of cameos from other characters from the series, some being very very surprising. Their is a secret the students are keeping through, which leads to the surprise ending chapters. I really dig the new characters and hope they make reappearances in future books.
So it seems like whatever Asprin and Nye got working, is really working, and Myth-Gotten Gains is proof of that. Aahz finds a magic talking sword in a bazaar and is promised money AND getting his powers back if he helps find his family of magical objects. Turns out they are The Golden Hoard, an ancient and all powerful group who don’t really get along. Aahz and Tanda travel all over, find the Flute and the Purse and the Book and the Crystal Ball. And Aahz and Tanda are completely driven crazy by the Hoard’s constant bickering and insults and attitude. I loved these new additions and their banter read in my head like a Monty Python skit.
This new groove moves us into Myth-Chief, where Skeeve comes back to adventuring and his Myth Inc aren’t all happy. So eventually Skeeve and Aahz have a contest with two competing but not so competing goals, to save a kingdom from financial ruin. Unfortunately, this one backslides to being too long, unfocused, and only one part of the ending making sense. Their is hope, since the new dynamic of Myth n Inc is finally in place here.
This is also the last one my brothers got, but Asprin and Nye gave us one more with Myth-Fortunes, and then suddenly Asprin passed away. Nye continued on with Myth-Quoted and Myth-Fits. I have no idea what happens in these volumes, or how these go generally with Nye fully in charge.
Even with the mixed results of this catchup, I am still glad I did it. It was nice to see how these old friends were doing, and seeing that they were in good hands with Nye. I think Asprin would be happy. And my brothers and I can debate this endlessly as well.
Scoopriches
September 5, 2023
At this point it’s just embarrassing to keep reading these. I mean, a friend asked me what I’ve been reading and I was like “just this sort of fantasy series I read when I was younger; I’m kind I’d just reading it now to write snarky reviews of it on Goodreads,” and she asked me what series it was and I changed the subject.
So Aahz is musing how cool it is that he has a D-hopper and can go wherever he wants now. Skeeve must have had a trunk full of these things since he gave one to Bunny too. And Aahz has had a D hopper since like book two or three? Why is this suddenly like such a big deal to him? Anyway he’s using the DHopper to travel dimensions to go shopping. I mean, that’s what I’d use it for, personally, but it seems a little weird for Aahz to be doing it.
So he finds this talking sword and buys it and the sword tells him it’s part of the Great Horde so they need to go find a bunch of other talking crap. Also, Asprin must’ve let Jody really take the wheel on this one bc they’re finally using “said,” instead of awkwardly trying to avoid it for some reason, she shrugged.
God this is boring.
Tananda is Tanda again. When did that happen?
Literally nothing happens except they go from dimension to dimension looking for a bunch of talking things that want to be reuinited but when they do it makes tornadoes or something. It’s so dull. Aahz is fucking boring. Where’s his edge? Where’s his bite? He barely yells at anybody. And oh my god you’re 400 years old let it go with the goddam “It’s per *vect!*” bullshit. Like aren’t you used to it by now? It was maybe a little funny in the first couple of books but now it’s just stupid.
It’s 278 pages which is about 200 pages too long. I honestly skimmed a lot of it bc it’s just so, so boring.
So Aahz is musing how cool it is that he has a D-hopper and can go wherever he wants now. Skeeve must have had a trunk full of these things since he gave one to Bunny too. And Aahz has had a D hopper since like book two or three? Why is this suddenly like such a big deal to him? Anyway he’s using the DHopper to travel dimensions to go shopping. I mean, that’s what I’d use it for, personally, but it seems a little weird for Aahz to be doing it.
So he finds this talking sword and buys it and the sword tells him it’s part of the Great Horde so they need to go find a bunch of other talking crap. Also, Asprin must’ve let Jody really take the wheel on this one bc they’re finally using “said,” instead of awkwardly trying to avoid it for some reason, she shrugged.
God this is boring.
Tananda is Tanda again. When did that happen?
Literally nothing happens except they go from dimension to dimension looking for a bunch of talking things that want to be reuinited but when they do it makes tornadoes or something. It’s so dull. Aahz is fucking boring. Where’s his edge? Where’s his bite? He barely yells at anybody. And oh my god you’re 400 years old let it go with the goddam “It’s per *vect!*” bullshit. Like aren’t you used to it by now? It was maybe a little funny in the first couple of books but now it’s just stupid.
It’s 278 pages which is about 200 pages too long. I honestly skimmed a lot of it bc it’s just so, so boring.
March 24, 2021
I miss Robert Aspirin. Or, at least, I am grateful for having read his MYTH Series from the beginning.
Alas, this story was far from the original greatness I found among those earlier stories.
This outing has Aahz and Tananda on a quest for the Great Hoard of magical items, or what is left of them, for a very unworthy, and unlikely, reason. Nearly every step of the way, it felt like being forced on an unnecessary cross dimensional road trip in a small station wagon, with every cousin in your family tree accumulated along the way. Knowing full well that the end result would not be palatable nor enjoyable.
Much like nails on a chalkboard, this was more painful with each page turn, with hamfisted puns and word play, exacerbated bickering among said hoard items, and derision toward our key MYTH hero, Aahz. I normally don't feel bad for this character, however, I felt his angst and anger throughout, which wasn't pleasant, fun, nor par for the course within a MYTH book.
Oh, the joy of D-hopping around to places like Vaygas and Sri Port to meet their symbolic locals while searching for magical items with personalities unworthy of long-lived, mythical beings. Or how about competing (badly) in a singing competition? or visiting the magic castle (without actual magic)? or a local library (without a library card, which is an actual plot point)?
Alas, this story was far from the original greatness I found among those earlier stories.
This outing has Aahz and Tananda on a quest for the Great Hoard of magical items, or what is left of them, for a very unworthy, and unlikely, reason. Nearly every step of the way, it felt like being forced on an unnecessary cross dimensional road trip in a small station wagon, with every cousin in your family tree accumulated along the way. Knowing full well that the end result would not be palatable nor enjoyable.
Much like nails on a chalkboard, this was more painful with each page turn, with hamfisted puns and word play, exacerbated bickering among said hoard items, and derision toward our key MYTH hero, Aahz. I normally don't feel bad for this character, however, I felt his angst and anger throughout, which wasn't pleasant, fun, nor par for the course within a MYTH book.
Oh, the joy of D-hopping around to places like Vaygas and Sri Port to meet their symbolic locals while searching for magical items with personalities unworthy of long-lived, mythical beings. Or how about competing (badly) in a singing competition? or visiting the magic castle (without actual magic)? or a local library (without a library card, which is an actual plot point)?
November 27, 2016
As an Aahz book, this is a pretty good one. He's sucked into an epic-ish quest by an egotistical, fast-talking sword who promises him a gain on his investment. Then Tananda and Calypsa get involved, and the quest takes a turn from personal gain to a rescue mission.
I thought this one was kind of cute, but dang those Hoard objects fight a lot. I mean a lot! And every time they do, chaos ensues. Anyhow, what I liked most about this one was the tour through the odd dimensions and all the challenges the team has to overcome to obtain each magical item.
The puns were as delightfully groan-worthy as ever, some more than others, just as were some of the more colorful species Aahz and pals run across. All that being said, I really miss the Skeeve and Aahz pair ups, really, all the Myth Inc. folks. These're just funnier when the whole team's together.
Overall, I really liked this one, though the Hoard's arguments get a bit repetitive. I'd recommend this to folks who like a bit of fantasy laden with a good dose of puns and irreverence.
I received this book as a gift from my husband.
I thought this one was kind of cute, but dang those Hoard objects fight a lot. I mean a lot! And every time they do, chaos ensues. Anyhow, what I liked most about this one was the tour through the odd dimensions and all the challenges the team has to overcome to obtain each magical item.
The puns were as delightfully groan-worthy as ever, some more than others, just as were some of the more colorful species Aahz and pals run across. All that being said, I really miss the Skeeve and Aahz pair ups, really, all the Myth Inc. folks. These're just funnier when the whole team's together.
Overall, I really liked this one, though the Hoard's arguments get a bit repetitive. I'd recommend this to folks who like a bit of fantasy laden with a good dose of puns and irreverence.
I received this book as a gift from my husband.
April 17, 2012
Two and a half.
Worth reading, I suppose, if you read fast.
Below average for the MYTH series, but that's no crime.
Not much dramatic tension in this. There's an overall feeling that it's a bit mechanical.
The plot is built around all these magic things, and they all have to get a turn.
The jokes and puns are so lame you have to admire them. They were obviously MEANT to be bad.
Perhaps the target audience has become a bit younger than the earlier books, or maybe I'm just aging.
Overall, it felt as if the authors phoned this one in.
Worth reading, I suppose, if you read fast.
Below average for the MYTH series, but that's no crime.
Not much dramatic tension in this. There's an overall feeling that it's a bit mechanical.
The plot is built around all these magic things, and they all have to get a turn.
The jokes and puns are so lame you have to admire them. They were obviously MEANT to be bad.
Perhaps the target audience has become a bit younger than the earlier books, or maybe I'm just aging.
Overall, it felt as if the authors phoned this one in.
October 2, 2009
I used to love this series. Maybe it's the lack of Skeeve in this adventure, maybe it's just that I've outgrown it, but the latest edition filled me with "meh." Not sure I'll pick up the next. It's a decent enough caper but not particularly exciting and there's no real drama.
February 22, 2012
Wish Tananda had had more presence in this book. If that had been the case, I might have made it a three star. I still like Aahz and Skeeve together the best!
April 8, 2023
This is a MASSIVE step back after the previous installment Class Dis-Mythed
Aahz randomly buys a sword just for it to be a legendry treasure from the days of yor. This launches him on a fetch quest to gather the entire hoard.
When I say fetch quest I do mean it. A random female crane shows up with her tale of woo and asks him to do it in order to... something, doesn't matter.
I was confused about how this one was going until a random throw away line enlightened me.
Paraphrasing but:-
"hey, what happened to that apprentice of yours. The really promising one?"
"You mean Mary? Oh she had so much protentional, she could have been anything she wanted."
"Well?"
Face twists in bitterness. "She got married. Lived happily ever after with a prince. She's called Mary Sue now."
And that's when it hit me. This was meant to be a parody?! The Crane woman is as Sue as you can get and everyone just plays cheer leader to her but.... is it really parody when you play it straight and follow all the tropes?
This one is pretty dull and lacks luster. I was so bored I kept putting it down and not wanting to pick it up again.
Aahz randomly buys a sword just for it to be a legendry treasure from the days of yor. This launches him on a fetch quest to gather the entire hoard.
When I say fetch quest I do mean it. A random female crane shows up with her tale of woo and asks him to do it in order to... something, doesn't matter.
I was confused about how this one was going until a random throw away line enlightened me.
Paraphrasing but:-
"hey, what happened to that apprentice of yours. The really promising one?"
"You mean Mary? Oh she had so much protentional, she could have been anything she wanted."
"Well?"
Face twists in bitterness. "She got married. Lived happily ever after with a prince. She's called Mary Sue now."
And that's when it hit me. This was meant to be a parody?! The Crane woman is as Sue as you can get and everyone just plays cheer leader to her but.... is it really parody when you play it straight and follow all the tropes?
This one is pretty dull and lacks luster. I was so bored I kept putting it down and not wanting to pick it up again.
December 2, 2023
Reading Myth-Gotten Gains, one of the later books Robert Asprin wrote with Jody Lynn Nye, I wondered what Terry Pratchett thought of him. We know that Asprin died while reading a Pratchett novel in 2008. As far as I know, they never got together to share a pun or two. Asprin started publishing a few years before Pratchett but had a fallow period in the nineties when Pratchett was reaching his stride. Their fictional worlds share the idea that our muggle dimension bleeds over into the livelier realms of fantasy. Both had fun with interdimensional puns. Discworld had a fad called Music with Rocks In. Asprin gives you a groaner from an old TV ad. When the Shaor Ming nuns tell Aahz that their good works and prayers exempted them from taxes and fees, Aahz quips, “So nobody is supposed to squeeze the Shaor Ming?” The nuns, of course, don’t get it. Pratchett’s humor has depths that Asprin seldom reaches, but as a Catskill comic might say, funny is funny. So enjoy.
January 20, 2025
Seventeenth in the Myth Adventures series, a series I haven't dipped into for a long time. It was a pleasure to read about the characters again, and some of the humor was spot on, but in other ways it was a long way from the earlier books in the series. Those older ones were rich in comedy, but also able to interweave peril and tension in a way that this entry cannot. The constant feel of the protagonists being jerked around got tiring very early. The stakes of the book felt artificially inflated, and the majority of the allies were unlikable jerks who filled the pages with snippy, but not particularly witty, dialogue. By no means did I hate the book, but from the repeating arguments to the editing errors, it had a disappointing aura of no one really investing themselves in the effort.
February 3, 2020
It tries really hard and *almost* gets there.
All the pieces are in the right places, but instead of being finely-tuned clockwork, they're a sort of stamped-metal "good enough" replacements. In a series whose charm lay in the subtleties hidden within the gauche, there is precious little left to the imagination here.
I read it out of loyalty to Asprin's memory. I have no regrets about doing so, but I came very close to having them. Two stars, but I can see the bones of a five-star tale within it.
All the pieces are in the right places, but instead of being finely-tuned clockwork, they're a sort of stamped-metal "good enough" replacements. In a series whose charm lay in the subtleties hidden within the gauche, there is precious little left to the imagination here.
I read it out of loyalty to Asprin's memory. I have no regrets about doing so, but I came very close to having them. Two stars, but I can see the bones of a five-star tale within it.
August 27, 2024
Book 17 was f the Myth Adventures. This one focuses on Aahz. Skeeve does not appear at all in this one, but that doesn’t make it less of an enjoying adventure nor do the smiles stop as he even gets in a reference to Mary Tyler Moore. Genius. As always a strong moral to the story about the value of helping others over personal gains. A few familiar faces and lots of dimension hopping on the fun scavenger hunt. Continue to highly recommend this series with both its light hearted banter and deeper life lessons.
Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com
Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com
May 15, 2019
The demon Aahz comes upon a talking sword, which leads to a quest to find other legendary artifacts. Their intelligence might be debatable, but they all can talk. What they can't do is get along. Somehow, Aahz has to get them to cooperate in order to help a beaky damsel in distress rescue her grandfather from an evil magician.
Like the others in the series, this is good, light fun. Quite enjoyable.
Like the others in the series, this is good, light fun. Quite enjoyable.
November 11, 2019
Better than many of the other books at the tail end of the series.
However, there are numerous editing errors that become distracting (apostrophes instead of commas, some repetition, at least one random font change for a paragraph near the end).
However, there are numerous editing errors that become distracting (apostrophes instead of commas, some repetition, at least one random font change for a paragraph near the end).
September 5, 2022
Humor, puns, action, and a heroine in the making. This was a light but fun read, I'd like to look for the rest of series now. The story is humorous, adventurous, and full of action, but doesn't take itself seriously, and it's been a fun read over all.
April 4, 2018
3,5*
Bolo skvelé opäť stretnúť starých známych, aj keď chýba mi Skeeve. Celkovo veľmi príjemné počítkanie.
Bolo skvelé opäť stretnúť starých známych, aj keď chýba mi Skeeve. Celkovo veľmi príjemné počítkanie.
May 1, 2018
It was okey, not their best work and I miss Skeeve, and the hoard was really funny in all their auguing among each other, fun illustrations in this one.
August 24, 2018
I enjoyed this book but kept getting annoyed by some characters. It still had some pretty funny scenes.
March 20, 2019
This is always a fun series to read the next installment of, but do read them in order to keep up with the subplots and fun, pun references.
April 18, 2019
This was a great story for Aahz. He really is starting to deal with not having powers or Skeeve.
February 26, 2021
"It's a matter of principle."
D. Rockefeller
D. Rockefeller
January 11, 2022
Not my fav in the series but i still liked it.
June 4, 2023
Not bad, I did not enjoy this story as much as the earlier stories in this series. I guess I missed Skeeve. Aahz and Tananda where fine it just felt like there was something missing.
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