Book Reviews

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Rusty
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Re: Book Reviews

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Myth-Nomers and Impervections by Robert Asprin - Skeeve travels to Perv to try and find his mentor and friend, Aahz. While there, he encounters quite a few things that he is not used to and he must acclimate himself quickly. He doesn't have much luck tracking down Aahz, but learns a lot about him during the search. This series continues to be very entertaining.
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M.Y.T.H. Inc. In Action by Robert Asprin - This book occurs at the same time as the previous book, but takes place back on Klah and is told from Guido's viewpoint. Skeeve's friends set out to slow the advance of Posseltum's army as it encroaches on neighboring countries. Guido and Nunzio sign up for the army and find themselves being quickly promoted through the ranks, much to their chagrin. Their efforts to mess things up from within don't work out as planned. While I still prefer the Skeeve books, this was a fun book with a different take on what is happening due to the new viewpoint character.
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Sweet Myth-tery of Life by Robert Asprin - Skeeve has returned to Possiltum and faces the dilemma of either marrying Queen Hemlock or having her abdicate and naming him the heir. The kingdom is in poor financial shape due to a rapid expansionist movement. Not a bad book, but this one was the last book in the series for 7-8 years and was not a good place to stop. Fortunately, the series did eventually continue.
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Something M.Y.T.H. Inc. by Robert Asprin - This book overlaps Sweet Myth-tery of Life, but from the perspective of Guido as the group deals with the situation in Possiltum and Skeeve's having to decide what he really wants for his future. The last bit of the story takes place from Aahz's perspective. Asprin was still getting his Myth Adventures legs back under him after a long absence from writing the series. It was a good book, though fairly familiar due to going back over the same ground as the other book.
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Heart of a Tiger by Herschel Cobb - The grandson of Ty Cobb shares his memoirs of his youth and the time he spent with Ty as a boy. Herschel Cobb's father was abusive and died at age 33. His mother was neglectful of her three children and didn't want much to do with them. Ty provided love and support to his grandchildren and helped them survive. Ty's ex-wife and daughters were also part of the support system, but Ty is the focal point here and it paints a much different view than what is commonly portrayed. It was a pretty good book.


Myth-ion Improbable by Robert Asprin - A tale from early in Skeeve's career where Skeeve, Aahz and Tananda follow a treasure map through the dimensions in search of the golden cow that gives golden milk. This is a fun adventure and one that Asprin used to find his footing again in the series after a long layoff.
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Myth Alliances by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye - Skeeve has taken a leave of absence to resume his magic studies on Klah, but is approached by a man from Wuh who wants to hire Skeeve to rid their dimension of the Pervect 10, a group of Pervect women who have taken control of their society. A pretty decent adventure - maybe not quite up to the earlier standard, but close.
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Sacrifices by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill - The third book in the Shadow Grail series is a bit darker in tone. The student population is decreasing as students disappear. The restrictions on their freedom keep increasing as the Shadow Knights seem to be everywhere. Spirit, Burke, Loch, Muirin and Adele keep investigating the Shadow Knights and discover that they are all reincarnations out of Arthurian folklore/history. An interesting and entertaining novel that sets up what should be a very nice finale.

Spymasters (Cahill FIles #2) by Clifford Riley - Several short stories fill in bits of the past as Cahills go up against Vespers. A boy during the War of 1812 has to take a message to Dolley Madison at the White House at great risk. Harry Houdini is perfecting his magic skills as a young man and has to survive a brutal Vesper assassin. Fiske Cahill has to travel aboard a nuclear submarine to try and escape Vesper scrutiny. The tales were interesting, if nothing really special. A decent addition to the series.

Myth-Taken Identity by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye - When creditors arrive looking for Skeeve, Aahz enlists Chumley and Massha to investigate at The Mall, a huge, sprawling shopping emporium built on a volcano in another dimension. Aahz discovers that there are a ring of thieves impersonating Skeeve and other victims of identity theft and partners up with mall security and a detective from yet another dimension to try and catch the master thief behind everything. Plenty of fun, though I think I would prefer to see a book with both Aahz and Skeeve again.
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Alias: Recruited by Lynn Mason - This is the first book in a 12 book prequel series to the tv show. It starts with Sydney Bristow in her freshman year at UCLA and she gets recruited to join SD-6. A pretty nice, quick read. I don't know that someone who wasn't a fan of the show would get into it, but I enjoyed it.

Class Dis-Mythed by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye - Skeeve is continuing his sabbatical on Klah and continues to study magic, but he finds himself with 6 students to teach when Aahz, Markie, Chumley and Massha all send students his way. He does his best to give them practical training in the use of magic. Another entertaining adventure and one that shows that Skeeve has progressed quite a bit in his magic.

Alias: A Secret Life by Laura Peyton Roberts - Sydney is sent on a mission to Paris where she will portray the young trophy wife of an American millionaire as they investigate a group of spies based in a fashion house. A decent adventure.
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Old Man's War by John Scalzi - John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. He visited his wife's grave and then he joined the army. This is the premise for Scalzi's novel. Old people on Earth join the Colonial Defense Service to become young again and fight for the colonies against a variety of aliens. They are never allowed to return to Earth once they join uP. I enjoyed the book a lot and look forward to reading the sequels. I read most of it on the plane and finished it this morning.
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The Maker of Universes by Philip Jose Farmer - The first book in the World of Tiers series starts with a 60 something man named Robert Wolff who discovers a gateway to another world and travels through to find a world shaped like a step pyramid with a series of discs and each disc has it's own unique people and cultures that were taken from Earth in the distant past. Wolff soon finds that he has no desire to return to Earth and has a series of adventures in his new world. I hasn't read this book in 20+ years, but I still enjoyed it a lot.

The Gates of Creation by Philip Jose Farmer - The second book in the World of Tiers series introduces us to Wolff's brothers and one of his sisters as they have to escape from a plot hatched by their father to trap them. Another good adventure in the series.
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A Private Cosmos by Philip Jose Farmer - Kickaha and Anana (Wolff's sister) meet and form an alliance when a threat to all the universes shows up in the form of the Bellers. Bellers are artificial beings who can transfer their consciousness into other people. The two are pursued by a variety of forces led by Bellers who have taken over the leaders of different civilizations. They also work to kill as many of their enemy as they can.

Behind the Walls of Terra by Philip Jose Farmer - Kickaha and Anana travel to Earth in pursuit of the last Beller and also have to deal with the secret Lord of Earth, who created the universe 10000 or so years earlier.
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So You Want to be a Wizard by Diane Duane - The first book in the Young Wizards series is still entertaining 30 years after it came out.

The Whole Tooth Part 1: Fire by Leah Cook - A young adult fantasy about a family who lives in an old home out in the woods. There are 3 boys and 2 girls in the family, but the younger girl is only visible to her siblings. When she is taken away to the land of faery, it sets in motion the events to come. Leah graduated from R.U. the year after I did and she asked a number of us to proofread the book for her and give her feedback. I thought it was pretty good overall and hope that she is eventually able to get it published.
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The Planet Thieves by Dan Krokos - A young Academy student named Mason is onboard a space ship along with other cadets for a summer tour to give them experience in space. The ship is attacked and taken over by the Tremists, an alien race that is hostile to humans. Mason and his friends try to find a way to recapture the ship and thwart the alien plans. A pretty entertaining young adult science fiction novel.

Myth-Gotten Gains by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye - The book starts with Aahz deciding that he needs a vacation. He is visiting a small market in a neighboring dimension when his attention is gained by a talking sword, which turns out to be the fabled 5000+ year old Ersatz of the Golden Horde, a group of talking artifacts that have influenced history for millenia. This leads to a quest that Aahz reluctantly partakes in to reunite the members of the Golden Horde in order to rescue the grandfather of a young girl who is trying to collect the various members of the Horde. Overall, a pretty decent Myth Adventures book.
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Myth-Chief by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye - Skeeve decides to return to the Bazaar at Deva and end his sabbatical. He finds the rest of Myth Inc. not quite as enthusiastic for his return as he expected them to be. He sets up a separate business in the bazaar which eventually leads to a contest with Aahz to decide who will be the President of Myth Inc. There are plenty of good puns and lots of humor in the book, but I didn't really like the set up and how the characters were portrayed here with Skeeve and Aahz in particular. It all ends well enough, though, and seems to set things up for future books.

Infinity Ring 4: Curse of the Ancients by Matt de la Pena - This book takes Sera, Dak and Riq to the Mayan village of Izamal in 638 where they have to deal with Mayans from a neighboring village with a greedy king and later to the same village in 1562 where they have to deal with Franciscan monks and their attempts to suppress the Maya. I didn't care for the portray of Dak, who is really a clueless jerk for most of the book, but overall the book wasn't too bad with an appropriate mix of drama and adventure.
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Myth Fortunes by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye - Aahz gets involved in a pyramid scheme wherein a slightly shady entrepeneur is trying to build a giant pyramid on a desert world and sell pieces of it to people to engrave as memorials. Skeeve comes along to help and there is plenty of magic and mayhem to be had. This was a fun adventure, much more so than Myth Chief, the previous book. Lots of Egyptian stuff serves as the basis for the humor here.

Myth-Quoted by Jody Lynn Nye - Nye's first solo novel after the death of Asprin does a nice job of continuing the series. This book focuses on politics and the Myth Inc. team is hired to oversee an election for governor that has been dragging on for 5 years with both sides accusing the other of misdeeds. The book is pretty funny and has a nice resolution.
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