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M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link | 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's name is growing famous throughout the dimensions. It's getting so he can hardly keep up with the requests for his services, and in the meantime his friends are getting the short end of the stick - the same friends that he's relied on over and over to provide those services, increase his fame, and get him out of (and into) trouble. There's only one thing to do: go corporate! So watch as the employees of M.Y.T.H. Inc. (that's "Magical Young Troubleshooting Heroes," if you want to know) tackle their assignments, be it Massha redecorating a hotel with her own inimitable flair or Guido looking into merchandise walking off a factory floor.
This is essentially five short stories loosely tied together by some scenes back at corporate headquarters. Given the brevity of the books in this series, it turns this volume into a collection of bite-sized tales. Interestingly, it's not quite brain candy. Oh, they're nice little bits of fluff that are done and past in a flash, and they're as light and easy to read as all the previous books. But Asprin has managed to do some interesting things with these miniature escapades.
Most notably, each section is written in first-person, just as prior books were, but these are told through the eyes of Skeeve's friends. Readers get an inside look at how some of these people think, a novel experience - especially since one of these tales stars Gleep, Skeeve's monosyllabic dragon. Each asignment, further, is told using the appropriate character's speech patterns and other mannerisms. Each of them has a flavor all their own, and they're all distinct from Skeeve's perspective. It definitely puts a twist on the series.
I also appreciated the attention Asprin devoted to furthering Skeeve's character development. He is a very changed person from the one we me in Another Fine Myth, and he continues to change here. On the downside, thought, as interesting as it may be to see things from his friends' perspective, Skeeve is the main character of the series. It was surprising and a little disappointing just how little space was devoted to him. I found myself just plain wanting more Skeeve, perhaps with sime hijinks on Deva or at headquarters, but no such luck. The one mission he goes along on is less than satisfying.
For that matter, I wasn't too thrilled with the format. I would have made for a more solid book to tell a bit from mission one, then move on to mission two, then three, going between the missions. It would have weaved the stories together nicely, making the book feel less choppy and more like a story in itself instead of an anthology. (Although, I do admit that given the length of the individual stories doing this might have made the reader feel like a ping-pong ball, bouncing around between the stories and never having time to be immersed in any of them. So in this volume, the book's short length really works against it.)
The author admits this was something of an experiment. It was made to focus on those around Skeeve, instead of Skeeve himself. And it certainly manages that. I'm simply not at all sure I like it. This is also the first book to end with a true, honest cliffhanger, something else I'm a bit leery of. The fun of the individual assignments, though, is able to overcome most of the internal problems. Although I can't really bring myself to rave over this book, it is certainly amusing enough to be worth checking out. Especially if you've read any of the previous books.
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