Rating: 
Summary: Have you been following the series?
Review: ...then this is a great "pick-me-up"! This book does as it promises, backing up (in time and in process) to earlier days within the series to give the author a "running start" at going forward. If other have a problem with this, they should have given up after the review and before buying the book. As an avid Asprin fan, I cheer! Robert, you're back in the groove! Go forward!!!
Jim (the Big)
Rating: 
Summary: T H I S I S N O T A MYTH B O O K !
Review: .
I don't know what it is, but after reading just the excerpt it is clear that this the writing is inconsistent with previous MYTH books. I will not buy it and I refuse to acknowledge this book as part of the real MYTH series. Sorry, Robert, but you should have known better than to try to pass this off on your fans. And what the heck is up with that truly tasteless and highly inaccurate cover art?????
.
Rating: 
Summary: Not MYTH-ing anymore
Review: A welcome return to the great MYTH series, after a long break. When the story takes off, it is hard to put the book down - with its interesting and wacky plot. I would very much recommend this, and it is a good addition to the rest of the great MYTH series. Note: Although this is a new book, it is a 'prequel' fitting in between the plots of two earlier books.
Rating: 
Summary: A rusty return to Skeeve
Review: After nearly a decade, Asprin has FINALLY returned to the Myth series. I greatly enjoyed the other books and was over joyed to see he was returning to finish the series. I presumed he simply burned out on ideas and switched to the Phule and Time Scout series to break the monotony. In his preface he explains the delay and attributes it to tax problems. He then tells us that the book is something like a warm up exercise to get back into the flow and style of the Myth books that made them so enjoyable.
The pace is slow, almost dogged. Instead of reading like a light farce, it carries like a mediocre detective novel. The are numerous "goofs" where the characters are knowing or doing something they didn't do when placed in the Myth timeline between books 3 and 4.
I still recommend the book to those who want a complete set of the series, but as a first look into Skeeve's world it lacks the spring and liveliness of the rest of the series. If this your first look into Myth, I'd recommend Myth Adventures One, then Two and Three and read this last.
Rating:
Summary: A return to the heart of the series
Review: Although this book is #11 in the Myth Adventures series, the story is set in time between books #3 and #4 (Myth Directions and Hit or Myth). In this book, Asprin returns to what is really the heart of the series, "buddy" adventures involving Skeeve and Ahz. This adventure takes them on a treasure hunt following a tricky magical map and the shifty advice of a shape shifter. They end up in Kowtow, a dimension full of spooky (and deadly) cows and some nervous humans. Skeeve and Ahz end up with more gold than you can swing a shovel at, but not everything turns out as expected. This books is a delightful break from the complicated (but interesting) storyline that emerges in Myth-ing Persons and continues over the last five books of the series.
Rating: 
Summary: 2 Stars for Nostalgia -- Aahz and Skeeve aren't back...
Review: As someone who once subscribed to the Myth Adventures Fan Club, I'm a big fan of Skeeve, Aahz (Oz? No relation) and their adventures. So, it is greatly disappointing to have waited so many years for more Myth books to come out, only to pay a lot of money for Myth-Ion Improbably and find out it's nothing more than a poor relic of past glory. The book was a true shadow tale, with many of the elements we grew to love and respect from Asprin, bluntly visible and obviously contrived. Unfortunately, the plot is non-existent, even for a quest-fantasy style novel. And, while I was able to get past the grammatical problems and misspellings inherent in the editing of a Robert Asprin book, I couldn't overlook the logical errors throughout. I will illustrate with one primary element of the story: A Treasure map to find a Golden Cow. Skeeve is immediately bashed on by Aahz (in traditional Aahz-Skeeve banter, we are supposed to believe) for not knowing what a cow is, "Skeeve, where do you think steak comes from?" Later in the book, Skeeve laughs at a joke about "Count Bovine" -- as a reference to cows. Well, since he didn't know what a cow was, I'm quite surprised he can catch the more complex connection between bovine and cow. Anyway, this is just one of the character knowledge discrepancies that fills this book and kills the "suspension of disbelief" that allows one to enjoy a humor-fantasy tale. Asprin's footnote says he needed to start with a simpler book before going on to a more complex and involved Aahz-Skeeve book. Good for him. Too bad he bothered to print it. .... Cheers, BilFish
Rating:
Summary: For a Myth book, it's not much...
Review: Don't get me wrong, please; I'm a HUGE fan of Asprin's Myth series, and I was happier than anyone else to see a new Myth book! Unfortunately, though, it's not MUCH of a Myth book. Many of the characters suffer in this work, but Aahz seems especially flat and unconvincing. Asprin explains in his introduction that he needed to ease himself back into the series after such a long hiatus, and I certainly appreciate his artistic need to do so - but the book just isn't very good. Collectors, die-hard fans, and those with lots of cash could invest in a personal copy, but I would reccomend that the casual reader check a copy out of their local library.
Rating:
Summary: A Satisfying Come-Back
Review: First I was delighted to see a new installment for the MYTH series after such a long wait. I, like others, had given up on the cliffhanger in the last book ever being solved. Then, after reading several of the reviews here at Amazon on this book, I was worried that it was going to be on par with the last two "Phule" books, that is, someone else (with not much talent) wrote them and Asprin only edited them and added his name to the cover. They were not nearly the quality of the first two Phules. Well, I just had to get the book and read it anyway. In his authors note, Asprin explains many of the personal problems he had and why the long delay. I understood his wanting to do a (middle) prequel to get back into the feel of the series. That said, I read the book and I am flabbergasted by some of the reviews here. Did these people read the same book? Gosh people, try to read for enjoyment sometime! I thought this book was a grand addition to the Myth series, and like someone else pointed out, it returned Skeeve to a more innocent, less experienced time. Sure Aahz is grumpy, but show me a book where he is not. We got to see as little deeper into Tanda's character, and learned a lot more about dimension hopping and its limitations (and dangers). The only dings I could find were spelling "Deveels" as "Deevels" and "Possiltum" as "Posseltum." Not a real big deal. I also found no place where Skeeve knew something that he had not learned yet as one other reviewer mentioned. All in all, the story was great. Very imaginative and kept you guessing throughout as to what was going to happen next. I need not have worried that this was not up to Asprin's former writing prowess as it felt just like all the other books, if not a lot more fun than some of the last ones. I highly recommend this book for the fans of the Myth series, and I can't wait for "Something M.Y.T.H. Inc." coming in September 2002.
Rating:
Summary: The more things change, the more they stay the same
Review: First, this was a good, solid book. Enjoyable, thouroughly readable and a pleasant return to the Adventures of the M.Y.T.H. Inc crew. Folks who have never read an MYTH book before are in for a good read. You dont have to have read the other books before to enjoy this one. And Mr Asprin didnt bog the book down with a lot of needless back story to get this one going. I strongly urge any one who hasnt read the original MYTH books to track them down and read them all. Those of us who have read them before may notice a few discrepencies. Aahz never once called Skeeve "Kid" and Tananda didnt stick up for Skeeve enough, she was needling him along with Aahz. But thats not a big thing. The BIG problem is WHERE IS PHIL FOGLIO? The great charm of the original Starblaze editions is Foglios art and how it meshed seamlessly with Asprin's prose. Seeing the Myth gang back without Foglio is like watching "The Wizard of Oz" with the sound off. Its good, but you know it could have been great.
Rating:
Summary: At last my love has come along
Review: For anyone who has read the whole MYTH series this is a FUN and JOYOUS return. God willing, Mr. Asprin will keep on writing these books and entertaining his fans! Aahz and Skeeve are on another adventure and it will bring you back to when you were a kid again with no worries, just fun!
| 
