A Phule and His Money

Rating:
Summary: Long Overdue - No Phuling!
Review: Great to see this series picked up again.

Unsure of how much that has to do with companion author.

Phule and his Omega Company are "thrown away" members of the Space Legion. Misfits and maladjusted, they have the "wrong" approach to everything.

Asprin juggles a large cast, that naturally gets bigger in every book as new recruits join the unit. Rather than gloss over this, this book makes it a feature. How to bring new into old, how veterans deal with green members, and how the Top Brass try to take credit for Phule's successes.

Not as bright and fresh as the first two books, but many members of the Company are maturing. That means less 'wacky' stuff is in the plot. But Asprin manages to deliver as the story gets broader with the "trail of baggage" and plot threads building each time.

The next book may tell the story as to whether the series realizes it's potential. Good fun, good read, and an author who appreciates his characters, even if the main purpose here is to bring a smile.

Rating:
Summary: Absolute Garbage
Review: I enjoyed the first two books in this series enough to read them a second time, but this collaboration was absolutely atrocious.

Every indication seems to be that Asprin wrote an outline which Peter J. Heck attempted to flesh out into a book: Unfortunately, Peter J. Heck has no sense of character or comedy. I only got a few dozen pages into the book before throwing it against the wall in total disgust, but time and time again I saw scenes which -- if the old Robert Asprin had been executing them -- would have been hilarious. Here, however, they fell flat and lifeless to the pavement.

There are no laughs here. The characters and the scenes are forced. All sense of a point is missing.

No matter how much you loved the first two books, avoid this installment at all costs. Indeed, the closer the first two books are to your heart, the deeper this book will thrust the knife.

Rating:
Summary: I wish such a sequel had not been forcedly published
Review: I loved Book 1 "Phule's Company" and Book 2 "Phule's Paradise", but I hesitated to read this Book 3 because of these negative reviews. But finally I did read it, because I wanted to find out by my own eyes why this book was so badly reputed and how it was different from the previous two books.

Now I do know why. I expected it not so good as the previous books but so-so enjoyable, but I am disappointed. It's still tolerable that the nice mixture of humor, wit and warmth has changed to a noisy slapstick comedy. But I can't help feeling something is wrong; the characters's behavior and/or speech have delicately deviated from those in the previous books. Especially, Beeker has been deprived of his flavor. For example, Beeker calls the big brass "enemies". They are enemies indeed, but it is very unlikely for Beeker to use such a straight expression.

It might have been very difficult for any writers except the creator to reproduce the charm of this series. Or Asprin's memory and/or affection for this series might have faded in the long gap. Anyway, I wish such a sequel had not been forcedly published.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, Fun, and a Quick, Easy Read -- Really!
Review: The "Phule" books -- all of them -- are meant to be tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted reads, and "A Phule and His Money" fits the bill, following in the entertaining footsteps of its predecessors. All of the characters are there -- the butler (who plays a major role despite what a previous reviewer claimed), Chocolate Henry, Mother, Sgt. Brandy, et al -- and Phule's escapades as he outwits his superiors in rank while accomplishing his mission's goals are as humorous as ever. There's mystery, organized crime, abductions, even romance! Note: you must read the two previous books in order to understand this one. Also, don't expect in-depth plots or character exposes. This book is meant to be fun, not something on the book-club list.

Rating:
Summary: I wish such a sequel had not been forcedly published
Review: I loved Book 1 "Phule's Company" and Book 2 "Phule's Paradise", but I hesitated to read this Book 3 because of these negative reviews. But finally I did read it, because I wanted to find out by my own eyes why this book was so badly reputed and how it was different from the previous two books.

Now I do know why. I expected it not so good as the previous books but so-so enjoyable, but I am disappointed. It's still tolerable that the nice mixture of humor, wit and warmth has changed to a noisy slapstick comedy. But I can't help feeling something is wrong; the characters's behavior and/or speech have delicately deviated from those in the previous books. Especially, Beeker has been deprived of his flavor. For example, Beeker calls the big brass "enemies". They are enemies indeed, but it is very unlikely for Beeker to use such a straight expression.

It might have been very difficult for any writers except the creator to reproduce the charm of this series. Or Asprin's memory and/or affection for this series might have faded in the long gap. Anyway, I wish such a sequel had not been forcedly published.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: As a long time fan of Robert Asprin ( going back to Thieves World ) I was very disappointed in this installment of such a fun series. It's pretty obvious right from the start that somebody else basically wrote the book. The character's voices, mannerisms and speech patterns all changed. Sushi no long speaks with an accent in broken english, and the other characters also lose that individualism that the first two books had. You could pull dialog from the first two books and pretty much know who was speaking by the way it was written but that was lost in this book. All in all it read more like an attempt to make money on a hit series than a real effort at continuing, what had been, a great bunch or books.

Rating:
Summary: A Phule and his What?
Review: If you are loking for a fun and entertaining science fiction book you've come to the right place.
This book's main character is Captain Willard Phule, a commander of the Space Legion, which is the security branch at a casino called Fat Chance. Phule whips his troops into shape, and their abilities are soon recognized by General Blitzkrieg, who deploys them to the struggling planet Landoor. As they investigate the new planet, they find out that the goverenment is secretly planning to build a theme park. With this information, the Space Legion starts their own park for competition. In the end, they have created the biggest combined theme park in the galaxy.
The characters in Aspirin's books have very unique and witty personalities.Although the character may seem a little unreal, it is almost scary realizing how similar they are to everyday people.
A Phule and His Money is a book targeted towards the young teen age group. The book may seem a little confusing at the start, but, like most books, it develops soon after. I don't think anyone over 15 would like this book, because the main idea wouldn't seem to interesting and it doesn't have a big revealing ending that sums the whole book up. I don't think this book would win an award, but if you're a sci-fi lover, this is your book.

Rating:
Summary: A series with nowhere to go...
Review: It is unfortunate that this series has fallen into a repetition of the same old gag. The premise, perhaps, was doomed from the start. Wacky bunch of military misfits are foisted off on equally misfit commander(promising, but here's the fatal flaw), wacky misfit commander is rich as Croesus. Therefore, instead of interestingly thinking or fighting its way out of trouble, the unit simply BUYS its way out. Perhaps this is a bit of wish fullfillment on Asprin's part considering his recent financial troubles, but it is a disappointing come-down from the thoroughly charming (if a bit formulaic) "Myth" books.

Rating:
Summary: Waste of money
Review: If I could give the book less than 1 star, I would. I love the MYTH series and the Phule books previous to this one, but if you're looking for the same sense of easy-to-identify characters and fun, look elsewhere. I have some doubt as to whether Aspirin had anything to do with writing the book at all; maybe he just provided the story idea. In any case, the characters completely lose their established personalities, becoming both boring and unbelievable, and the interesting plot ideas crash and burn horribly - which can't be a great surprise since the Phule series is character driven. Whoever Peter Heck is, I hope Aspirin comes to his senses and doesn't let him near another of his books.

Rating:
Summary: Tarnished Asprin
Review: I have read all of the books in the Myth series and I have enjoyed every page. I was very impressed with "Phule's Company" and follow-up: "Phule's Paradise". "A Phule And His Money" had a good idea, but the story will bore you. It seems like accomplishing the HORRIBLE task given by the General was no challenge at all. There is no excuse for this book...other than Asprin was too busy working on the next Myth novel. Wishful thinking....