...wherein Skeeve lands a job as court magician for the King of Possiltum. Very soon he and Aahz find out that their first task is to stop the huge army about to invade Possiltum, and whether or not they succeed their lives are on the line. But things are not always as hopeless as they seem — sometimes they are even worse.

Inconsequential but funny and fluffy fantasy. I rather liked the way Asprin hints, without saying it in so many words, that using magic is largely a question of psychology — not unlike Pratchett's witches, in other words. ( )

Magic not always overrated.

In the second book of Robert Asprin's Myth series, our hapless heroes decide that a nice office job would be a good idea. Court magician is not actually clerking, though. Generally you don't have to do much, until someone attacks you, then people will expect all sorts of tricks. The problem being that a demon-no-longer-magician and an apprentice-know-nothing don't have a lot, at least not of the magical variety.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/07... ( )

Myth Conceptions, the follow up to Another Fine Myth finds Aahz talking Skeeve into trying out for a court magician’s post in the tiny kingdom of Possiltum. Those civil service jobs are a magicians dream!

As usual there’s more than meets the eye and the next thing you know Skeeve is caught up in a power struggle between a general and a chancellor. Did I mention he also has to single-handedly defend Possiltum from an invading roamin' empire?

As in the first book, Robert Asprin gleefully piles the complications on Skeeve and Aahz who solve their troubles with wit and magic rather than brute strength.

I’d say this book is more humorous than the first book. Aahz can always be counted on to throw out a bad pun, usually one with a reference to Earth culture that the other characters don’t get but we do. Old friends return for another go and new guys are introduced. I hope we see more of Gus the gargoyle. But again with all this going on, Asprin doesn’t lose sight of the story. The story never felt like a framework to hang jokes on. I was always interested in what was going to happen next.

Overall, I am very much enjoying this series and plan to read all twelve of the original Asprin books. I hope they are as entertaining as these first two have been. ( )

"Fake it until you make it" would seem to be Aahz’s new motto for Skeeve. Skeeve has been trying to hide from everyone looking for "Skeeve The Great,"e; but a royal summons can not be ignored. Next thing he knows, Skeeve is the official Magician to the Court of Possiltum, a kingdom under attack by the well-armed Empire’s forces led by a brilliant tactician. All Skeeve must do is stop an army, without spending any money or involving Possiltum’s own army. Too add a touch more insanity, the fairy godfather of the Mob is soon displeased by Skeeve’s solution. Only Skeeve can get into this much trouble, remain completely loyal to his friends, and make a situation even worse as he solve the original problem. As with all the MYTH series, Asprin delivers a riotous romp with fun and enjoyable characters. Fans of Monty Python will take pleasure in kicking back for a good bit of twisted logic and a lot of laughs along the way.

http://home.comcast.net/~ktoonen/summ... ( )

Magic not always overrated.

In the second book of Robert Asprin's Myth series, our hapless heroes decide that a nice office job would be a good idea. Court magician is not actually clerking, though. Generally you don't have to do much, until someone attacks you, then people will expect all sorts of tricks. The problem being that a demon-no-longer-magician and an apprentice-know-nothing don't have a lot, at least not of the magical variety.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/07...
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