Phule's Company

3.5 stars

You cannot go into this expecting anything serious.
Yes, REALLY.
Also - if you don't like people throwing around money to solve problems, you have no business getting into this at all. Just do yourself a favour and turn around right now.

One of the things to keep in mind when starting in : this is a product of its time. Parts of it are somewhat dated, but it holds up surprisingly well. It's definitely not up to modern standards in some ways. But then again, modern standards seem to include "everyone must suffer, suffer a lot and at a great length, and preferably die in the end", so maybe it's for the best.

No use pretending this is a high literature. This is a fun romp with no particular pretensions, IMO.

In case you've missed show more it, here, spelled out : throwing around money is one of the points. It was specifically written this way.

Sure, you can resent Phule for using money as a means to solve problems. There are plenty of people who do if reviews are to be believed.
But think about it!
You have the money (and connections) to outfit your unit with the best you can buy.
Why wouldn't you?
It's an investment that will pay back several times over in the long run - in reputation, if not money.

Also - the only flashy thing of note mentioned is Phule's ownership of 2 portable computers that few people can afford. Except the reasoning behind it is so very valid, like yes, makes sense, and why not? if you can actually afford it.

(I too would throw money at problems if I had the means to do so. Such a convenient way to make them go away. Well, some of them at least.) show less

Reread.
Captain Jester of the Space Legion is assigned to Haskin's Planet to command the Omega Company there, a band of troublemakers and misfits. Jester applies his own brand of psychology (with a healthy dose of cash) and soon has the company running like a well oiled machine, but not without a few hiccups along the way.
I love Willard Phule and revisiting his trademark fearless approach to company management, not to mention his butler Beeker. Lighthearted and fun.

Millionaire Willard Phule is court-martialed and tasked with commanding the Omega Company, a misfit group of Space Legionnaires on a remote mining planet. Using his immense wealth and unorthodox leadership, Phule turns the dysfunctional unit into an elite, albeit unconventional, team, often using bribery and unconventional tactics to secure victory.

I was expecting nonsense. I wasn't expecting to care as much as I did about the nonsense. I am a sucker for a rag-tag, found-family team and somehow this just works.

Don’t judge a book by its cover. This applies to Phule’s Company. Despite various book covers that are meant to “hmmm” look funny yet merely manage to look infantile / simplistic, Phule’s Company isn’t the slapstick / action SF Novel it appears at first. It more witty than just mindlessly hilarious and there is much less action than there is interaction between the protagonist named Phule, a captain of the space legion, and his butler (you heard me right - a butler). Nicknamed Scaramouch, that space caption and his butler do their best to whip a forlorn and spurned company of space legionnaires into shape. Against expectations , Phule does this rather well by implementing leadership lessons he had learned in his father’s show more mega company PhuleProof Ammunitions and from various business ventures that became successful corporation under his guidance. Yes, Phule is also incredibly rich - perhaps I forgot to mention that. The said leadership lessons are as practical as they are effective and it is a pleasure to witness how he applies them to the depressed, and often stubborn soldiers of the company. All in all, despite its “phoolish” visual appearance, this is way better than the cover(s) suggests. show less

A fast comfort read that remains vaguely amusing. A billionaire genius is sentenced to running a grew of misfits in the intergalactic armed services. A significant portion of the book is spent getting to know the major players, all the better to appreciate the transformation they each undergo.

It passed my 80's sniff test, but that's because I went for underlying sensibility over thoughtful characterization. Asprin does like to start from stereotypes and then flesh them out, showing how they all are valuable. As an example, the characters, who chose their career names, are named things like 'Brandy,' 'Do-Wop,' 'Super-Gnat,' and 'Chocolate Harry'--you can probably guess their starting points. Three of the women decide to pose for a nude show more magazine spread for no apparent reason, but when the General of the Army confronts Phule, he note that he couldn't order them not to any more than he could order them to do it. Still, there's a lot of role diversity for the women. There are also actual aliens, which were fun and bring it up a notch.

Although plotting poses as irreverent, it honestly supports familiar idealistic values: the value of the individual effort to the team, teamwork in achieving more, the value and function of law and order, and so on. There's usually a twist with each challenge the crew faces, with a big one at the end of the story. I thought it fun.

Keywords: comfort-read, band-of-misfits, found family, cozy fantasy show less

The Space Legion, much like the French Foreign Legion of old, welcomes with open arms those who want to escape their pasts, hide from the present, or create a new future. Probably the wealthiest Legionnaire is Willard Phule, the heir to lucrative Phule-Proof Munitions and a megamillionaire in his own right. After strafing a peace treaty ceremony, Phule ironically finds himself promoted and given command of the legionnaires on Haskin’s Planet. However, Haskin’s Planet has become the unofficial “Omega Company”, a dumping ground for losers, misfits, and rejects. Phule sets himself the task of turning this ragtag bunch of criminals and deadbeats into an effective and cohesive unit. As told by Beeker, Phule’s gentleman’s show more gentleman, Phule applies his management and leadership skills to convincing each legionnaire to play to his or her strengths and put any individual skills and strengths at the company’s disposal. The screwball and amusing characters partially mask a serious message about the power of confidence while maintaining interest and keeping the action from flagging. With new-found pride in themselves and a strong sense of camaraderie, Phule’s Company discovers they truly can accomplish anything – including stopping an apparent hostile alien invasion. show less