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Love is in the air... and it might just turn deadly for our hero! Skeeve is a powerful magician, and he always means well... but he is more than a bit naive when it comes to romance. And suddenly, he's drowning in a sea of romance! There's Bunny, the brilliant mob moll, Cassandra the friendly neighborhood vampire night club queen... and of course, there's the sexy but dangerously twisted Queen Hemlock. Only one of his nubile suitors can assure his future-and maybe even keep him alive! DEAR show more DRAGON, I have a problem... "And so, to recap, the situation is this..." I ticked the points off on my fingers, giving my audience a visual image to reinforce my words. "First, Queen Hemlock wants me to be her consort. Second, she's given me a month to think it over before I reach my decision. Third..." I tapped the appropriate finger for emphasis. "If I decide not to marry her, she says she'll abdicate, naming me her successor and sticking me with the whole mess. Got that?" I was proud of my ability to address the problem head on, summarizing and analyzing it as I sought a solution. There was a time in the not too distant past when I simply would have lapsed into blind panic. If nothing else, my adventures over the years had done wonders for my confidence in my abilities to handle nearly any crisis. "Gleep!" my audience responded. Okay... so I wasn't all that confident. show lessTags
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I was concerned when the frequency of the Myth book releases started to wane, and four years had passed since M.Y.T.H. Inc. in Action was published (and the next would not be released for another seven!). Part of what I like about this series is how down-to-earth Skeeve is as a naive protagonist, who suffers from a bit of imposter syndrome, but this time around it's about women and a possible marriage of convenience. Ultimately, I felt this book delivered and I felt a bit relieved that this series hasn't lost its touch, so I'll likely continue the series.
Though I was getting a minorly bit annoyed of the parade of women that the plot seemingly afforded, it turned around a bit when Chumley started talking a bit unorthodoxly about marriage show more and why people shouldn't go into it lightly, or even stay together in a bad marriage, which is a bit of a sore spot for me having been once divorced. Asprin's words made me stop and think, and no, love doesn't conquer all, but a good partnership with similar goals will mean a better marriage. Regardless, as he does in all the books, Skeeve matures, and I'll be curious to see what happens in the next one. show less
Though I was getting a minorly bit annoyed of the parade of women that the plot seemingly afforded, it turned around a bit when Chumley started talking a bit unorthodoxly about marriage show more and why people shouldn't go into it lightly, or even stay together in a bad marriage, which is a bit of a sore spot for me having been once divorced. Asprin's words made me stop and think, and no, love doesn't conquer all, but a good partnership with similar goals will mean a better marriage. Regardless, as he does in all the books, Skeeve matures, and I'll be curious to see what happens in the next one. show less
While I enjoyed the earliest books in the Myth series more, this one still entertained me. The plot, such as it is, has Skeeve the Great hired as a consultant to fix Possiltum's finances. Queen Hemlock is also wanting to hire Skeeve for the role of Royal Consort. She threatens to abdicate the kingdom to Skeeve if he turns her down. If Skeeve weren't such a responsible sort, he could just abdicate himself and walk away.
Otherwise, naive Skeeve gets to play the 'straight stupid' who gets to learn the various lessons that the author is teaching. Readers who know better can wince in advance as Skeeve does some pretty foolish stuff in his desire to learn more about women as potential mates instead of friends. (I'm wondering how much was put show more on his credit card on that blind date.) Of all the characters who give Skeeve advice in this book, I salute General Badaxe.
By the way, if you're looking for Tananda, the Trollop Assassin, sister of Chumley the Troll, she's mentioned several times, but not really present.
The hook for the next book was not pleasant. Also, I'm hoping, probably in vain, that Queen Hemlock doesn't find her old ring.
Walter Velez is the artist for the white cover with a dreamy-eyed, lounging Gleep sniffing what appears to be a deep pink daisy. show less
Otherwise, naive Skeeve gets to play the 'straight stupid' who gets to learn the various lessons that the author is teaching. Readers who know better can wince in advance as Skeeve does some pretty foolish stuff in his desire to learn more about women as potential mates instead of friends. (I'm wondering how much was put show more on his credit card on that blind date.) Of all the characters who give Skeeve advice in this book, I salute General Badaxe.
By the way, if you're looking for Tananda, the Trollop Assassin, sister of Chumley the Troll, she's mentioned several times, but not really present.
The hook for the next book was not pleasant. Also, I'm hoping, probably in vain, that Queen Hemlock doesn't find her old ring.
Walter Velez is the artist for the white cover with a dreamy-eyed, lounging Gleep sniffing what appears to be a deep pink daisy. show less
Okay, that does it. I'm looking for this series IN ORDER. This is the second Myth book I've read, both of them from somewhere in the middle of the series, and they're hilarious, and well-written enough that I wasn't lost at all, but I really want to see how it all started and read them in order now. In this one, Skeeve's caught between a rock and a hard place: either marry Queen Hemlock, or she'll abdicate, leaving him her throne. In the meantime, he's been hired to balance the kingdom's budget. The puns are relentless, and yet there's a bunch of serious stuff in there about love, marriage, and accounting.
Master-magician Skeeve is caught in a whirlwind of romantic chaos when Queen Hemlock forces him into a marriage ultimatum. Skeeve must navigate unwanted suitors, including Bunny and Cassandra the vampire, while trying to escape the wedding bells.
This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer. Title: Sweet Myth-tery of Life Series: Myth Adventures Author: Robert Asprin Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Pages: 136 Synopsis: Skeeve must decide whether to marry the Queen of Possilton or take over the Kingdom. Goes on several dates to find out about women, brings the kingdom's finances up to snuff [with Bunny's help] and is generally very Skeeve-like. My Thoughts: Not as amusing as I'd hoped. Skeeve is show more really an idiot and sometimes that translates into "Hilarious" but other times it translates into "Skeeve is an idiot". This was one of those Idiot times. Skeeve is a great apprentice archetype, but he doesn't do well as the Leader. It is obvious that Bunny has a thing for him and somewhere in that tiny brain of his it seems that Skeeve has a thing for Bunny. But to drag the series out, nothing gets resolved, of course. Skeeve keeps getting limited by the choices presented to him. He forgets, doesn't realize, etc just how powerful he is and that he can make his own mold instead of conforming to the mold others have cast for him. He needs a stiffer backbone and some self-confidence. Asprin does write a funny story and parts of this were pretty good [the date with a vampire for one] and the whole thing with Gleep is good as long as you don't mind getting smacked across the chops with a foreshadowing glove [and for the most part, I don't. Smack away, sir, smack away]. I will be reading the next book very soon, as this one ends with Gleep apparently dead or dying with an arrow in him. Spoilered! [kind of like 'Arrowed!!!', for you Homestar Runner fans] " show less
I gave up halfway. I found the writing to be boring, the stereotypes, over the top, and the story itself to be stupid.
Generally, I don't think of Skeeve as a sexual person. The story of him being setup was rather annoying - and didn't really work.
I did like the bit about economics- I found it interesting, and can see it being used an introduction to managing money.
Generally, I don't think of Skeeve as a sexual person. The story of him being setup was rather annoying - and didn't really work.
I did like the bit about economics- I found it interesting, and can see it being used an introduction to managing money.
Not the best in the series. Next to nothing happens and it just feels like each chapter is an excuse for someone else to give Skeeve a lecture or have a discussion about the purpose of marriage or...
urgh...
And then at the end it previews the next book by saying "find out all the interesting stuff that was going on while all this boring stuff was happening!"
urgh...
And then at the end it previews the next book by saying "find out all the interesting stuff that was going on while all this boring stuff was happening!"
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Robert Lynn Asprin was born June 28, 1946 in St. Johns, Michigan to Daniel and Lorraine Asprin. Asprin attended the University of Michigan from 1964-65. In 1965, Robert served in the U.S. Army until mid-1966. Asprin then began a career as an accountant, moving up to cost accountant in a small subsidiary of the Xerox Corporation in Ann Arbor in show more 1976. In 1975, Asprin began working upon a science-fiction novel called Cold Cash War. Asprin sold this idea to St. Martin's Press and soon found himself a published writer. When other publishers approached him for a second novel, Asprin revealed that he had written up a draft of a comedy-fantasy work originally entitled The Demon and I, but they felt that he shouldn't stray far from the science-fiction of his first work. So Asprin began work on The Bug Wars. While working on The Bug Wars, Asprin was approached by Donning Publishing, and asked if he had a submission for their new publishing house, Starblaze. Asprin showed them The Demon and I, which Donning quickly accepted. At the last minute the title was changed to the familiar Another Fine Myth, which became quite popular. With that, Asprin quit his job and started his career as a fulltime freelance writer. Asprin wrote and edited over 50 books. He died of a myocardial infarction at home in his bed on May 22, 2008. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Sweet Myth-tery of Life
- Original title
- Sweet Myth-tery of Life
- Original publication date
- 1994-02
- People/Characters
- Skeeve (Klahd, Possiltum Court Magician); Gleep (Skeeve's young dragon); Aahz (Pervect, Skeeve's partner); Pookie (Pervect, Skeeve's bodyguard, Aahz's cousin); Hemlock (Queen of Possiltum); Guido (Skeeve's bodyguard from Don Bruce) (show all 18); Nunzio (Guido's cousin, Skeeve's 3rd bodyguard); J. R. Grimble (Possiltum's Chancellor of the Exchequer); Bunny (Don Bruce's niece, Skeeve's admin. asst.); Massha (Skeeve's plus-size apprentice magician); Chumley (troll, Tananda's brother); Luanna (a lovely from Limbo); Vic (a vampire from Limbo); General Hugh Badaxe (head, Possiltum army); (Cassandra, another vampire from Limbo); Buttercup (Skeeve's war unicorn); Daphnie (a Djeanie from Djinger); Kalvin (a Djin from Djinger)
- Important places
- Possiltum, Klah (fictional); Limbo Dimension (fictional)
- First words
- "...And so, to recap, the situation is this..."
- Quotations
- [Grimble to Skeeve] I was referring to an economic depression, he said tersely. If we dump that many ex-soldiers on the job market at the same time we're cutting back on military spending, it would create massive unemployment... (show all). Broke, hungry people, particularly those with prior military training, have a nasty tendency to revolt against those in power... which, in this case, happens to be us. (chapter 3)
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall take flack from both sides.
Unofficial UN motto (chapter 15) - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"All right," I said. "I want to know what's been going on here... and I want to know now!!"
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