Neonjade

Following my failed foray back into fantasy genre reading, where I spent over an hour painstakingly searching for the “perfect” book and found Havemercy instead, I let my husband select my next attempt. He lent me his book club collection edition of Robert Lynn Asprin’s Myth Adventures. This book contains the first four books of Asprin’s Myth series: Another Fine Myth, Myth Conceptions, Myth Directions, and Hit or Myth. I should have let him pick from the beginning.

Genre: Fantasy

My Rating: 8 out of 10

I realize that most fantasy genre readers need no introduction to the Myth series of books. When I tried logging in my “currently reading” selection at Goodreads.com, I had to scan pages of various editions that have been published since Another Fine Myth was first released in 1978. However, I made it 42 years without experiencing “the Myth,” so there might be at least one more poor soul out there that needs to be clued in.

Another Fine Myth provides a fun romp through dimensions filled with magicians, deveels, imps, assassins, dragons and more. Skeeve, the Kahl thief, becomes Skeeve the Kahl magician’s apprentice in his search for a better life. That chance at a better life is threatened early in the book as Skeeve’s master, Garkin, is assassinated by an imp from another dimension while in the process of summoning a demon. Garkin takes out the imp, but Skeeve is left to face the demon.

The demon, Aahz, turns out to be an old buddy of Garkin’s. Much adventure and comedy ensues as he leads Skeeve on a path to both avenge Garkin’s death and to recover Aahz’s magical powers. It seems that Aahz and Garkin were forever playing practical jokes on each other; only Garkin was no longer available to fix this one.

Robert Lynn Asprin loves puns and corny turns of phrase. He applies them to the story in a manner that may inspire an eye roll and a smile, but never a groan. After absorbing a few of them, Asprin even had me cackling at each new chapter’s introductory “quote,” such as, “The only thing more reliable than magik is one’s friends!” ~ Macbeth.

Overall, I feel that anyone looking for a good time reading light escapist fantasy will enjoy Another Fine Myth. I’m starting in on Myth Conceptions next, and I have full confidence Robert Lynn Asprin will keep me entertained for the entire Myth Adventures anthology.

Here’s a search results page for Robert Lynn Asprin at Barnes & Noble. 64 results of mostly Myth titles!

Have you read any of the Myth series of books? Let me know what you thought of it. Have similar fantasy fiction book recommendations? Please share!