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Myth-ing Persons | Rating | |
| B | |||
| Robert Asprin | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| MythAdventures | Another Fine Myth, Myth Conceptions, Myth Directions, Hit or Myth, Myth-ing Persons, Little Myth Marker, M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link, Myth-Nomers and Im-Pervections, M.Y.T.H. Inc. In Action, Sweet Myth-tery of Life, Myth-Ion Improbable, Something M.Y.T.H. Inc., Myth-Told Tales, Myth Alliances, Myth-Taken Identity, Class Dis-Mythed, Myth-Gotten Gains | ||
Skeeve may not be much of a wizard, but the world doesn't seem to know that. He's rich, he's famous, and he's employed by the merchants of Deva to protect their interdimensionally famous bazaar from troublemakers. He even got a free castle out of the deal. But when some con artists use his castle as an escape route, the merchants hold him responsible. Skeeve and Aahz will have to bring them back. Unfortunately, they left via the back door, and Aahz went after them - and didn't come back. Now it's up to Skeeve to find Aahz and the criminals in a dimension nobody is familiar with, one where Skeeve's magical abilities will be nearly useless.
As usual, this edition of MythAdventures is short and easy to read, with a very light tone that makes sure readers don't take everything seriously. Unlike the others, this one isn't funny at all. Asprin tries a few twists on old cliches, such as vampires that are afraid of humans, and the werewolf writing couple is obviously based on real people, even if I have no idea exactly whom. But they're not actually funny, and the light banter that typifies the series is largely missing.
And while the story isn't bad, it does nothing for the greater story arc. Not that there is much of one, really - Skeeve doesn't have a big goal to kill the evil baddie, or to find his father, or whatever else you might think of. But The books to date have always added a little something, even if it's a few new associates for him to count on in times of trouble. Even Myth Directions helped further his education by letting him wander the dimensions a bit. But the situation at the end of Myth-ing Persons is virtually unchanged from that at the start.
The redeeming factor is that the book isn't actually bad, either. It's short, as all the books in this series are, and it is kind of fun to see Skeeve flailing about in this strange dimension. If this was only funny, it'd stand up just fine. It'd do this story a disservice to say it's not worth buying at all, but I'm a bit hard-pressed to say why you should. Given that it's only moderately fun and not at all funny, and that nothing actually changes over the course of the adventure, the only reason to buy this book is to own the entire series and see all Skeeve's adventures. Given the light tone and short length, though, you're not exactly wasting anything if you give this a look, though.
It's a wishy-washy review, I know, and I apologize for that. But frankly, it's a wishy-washy book.
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