M.Y.T.H. Inc. in Action

This book was told entirely in Guido's voice. I would have expected this book to jump from one character POV to another instead, but it works. Guido is, ahem, linguini-istically challenged, to say the least, and so that makes for a fun read. It helps to remember the cliche when reading these books: the point is the journey, not the destination. Once I let go that what the book says it is going to be about, stopping Queen Hemlock, is not really what the book is about at all, I was able to relax and enjoy it more. Now I realize that has been true for most of the books in the series.

Bumbling but loyal bodyguards Guido and Nunzio join the army of Possiltum on behalf of Skeeve the Great. As the duo navigates military life, they face confusion over whose side they are actually on, while Skeeve deals with romantic complications in a humorous fantasy tale of love and war.

Author: Robert Asprin   3.5 Stars of 5   Synopsis Guido and Nunzio must somehow stop Possiltum's army from invading everybody. So they join the army to destroy it from within. And hijinks ensue.     My Thoughts   The whole book is written from Guido's point of view, along with his language. So instead of Skeeve blundering through the narration, we get Guido skillfully informing us of the events.   It was a refreshing change at first, but then started getting a little old after nothing was happening. You can only take so much 'mob talk' with loquacious asides for so long.  Thankfully, there was a bar fight between the soldiers, the town police, the bar patrons and the military police. I was crying I was laughing so hard. But show more ymmv.   Overall, I found this a refreshing change from Skeeve's fake it and make it approach to life, and the bickering between him and Ahzz, I didn't miss that either. A good addition to the Myth books.     crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.wordpress.blogspot.com " show less

I've not been a huge fan of this series, but I consider this entry to be a very big missed opportunity. I was hoping to see the cast of characters in action, but instead this book focuses on only two of them; two of the least interesting ones.

Whereas I thought the first four in the series were pretty solid, other than the sixth I've given the rest all only 3-star OK ratings. Fortunately, this one was better, though admittedly I have a soft spot for Guido. Admittedly, at the beginning of this book Robert Aspirin said he thought he'd be cranking out books but then hit a bit of writer's block. This was the first Myth book to come out in three years and it was a bit bitter than some of the previous ones. Looks like #10 came out in 1994. I'm not going to unduly blame him for it, but as I younger me I certainly missed books coming out on a more frequent basis.

The saga continues actually overlapping the last book but with different characters. I was probably smiling a lot when I read this but I don't think I laughed out loud once. That's bad for a book I would put in the category of comic or funny fantasy. But it was still fairly entertaining. It is interesting how Asprin decided to write some books with Skeeve and and some without but I think it's the combination of Skeeve and the other characters that makes his books good/funny. I did like this one better than the last book.

A childhood favorite re-visited.

Is the story as good as I remember? – Yes

What ages would I recommend it too? – Twelve and up. While ten to twelve might enjoy it, there are many ideas they will not understand. Though, they will certainly get many of the jokes.

Length? – Most of a day’s read.

Characters? – Memorable, several characters.

Setting? – Fantasy, alternate dimensions.

Written approximately? – 1990.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – Ready to read more.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.

Short storyline: Aahz, frustrated with the loss of Skeeve’s emotions has skipped town to return home. Skeeve finally sees the error of his ways, and feels he must go and try to make show more amends with his long time friend and partner. In the meantime, a serious assignment has come up, that he leaves for the rest of the crew. They must return to Possiltum, the kingdom Skeeve originally worked in, to stop the impending war. Problem is, this goes against his contract with the mob (though he likely never thought about it), and everything the team does seems to backfire, and make the army more efficient instead of less so. (This story is actually resolved in the next volume, which I do not currently have.)

Notes for the reader: In this story, this author takes the emotions of his characters seriously. The characters don’t just race through the story full of action without emotion. The author realized the importance of the reader connecting to the characters by giving us the emotions, and even the reasons behind those sometimes odd emotions for the situation. While the first few times, it is a shock to the system to actually read of a character having an emotion, soon, it just becomes an enhancement to the story. In fact, when the lack of emotions by the main character becomes apparent in a later story, even that is noted by all the characters, until it is resolved. show less