Robert Asprin

The Myth Adventures Series

Another Fine Myth, Myth Conceptions, Myth Directions, Hit or Myth, Mything Persons, Little Myth Marker, M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link, Mythnomers and Impervections, M.Y.T.H. Inc. In Action, Sweet Mythtery of Life
This series will always hold a very dear place in my heart, if for no other reason than I have always identified very closely with Skeeve (actually, Sven and I concluded a long time ago that we map rather nicely onto the characters of Aahz and Skeeve, respectively, in many ways, which is actually rather frightening when you get right down to it...).
Anyway, this series is excellent. It reads sort of like literary popcorn - as a fast reader, I can blow through most if not all of the series in a day, and have on many occasions. The books are very humorous, and it is practically impossible not to fall in love with the characters. Skeeve, Aahz, Tanda, Chumley, Gus, and the host of other characters who wander through from time to time come together to form an extremely funny crew, and the world that Mr. Asprin has created is interesting and highly entertaining.
However, if all that was appealing about this book was the humor, it wouldn't make the Best list, as there are several books/series that are significantly funnier (Terry Pratchett's Discworld Saga, to name one on the list). No, what makes this series brilliant (and one that I would name at the top of my list) is the fact that throughout the books, between the humor, one can find some of the most insightful and poignant commentary on our everyday lives that exists anywhere within the books that we have listed here. Asprin creates characters that are very real and then adds to those by adding very real relationships between them, something that is rare even in the best literature. The characters hurt each other, love each other, support each other, and need each other in the same way that we all do with the people in our own lives. Asprin explores these relationships even as he entertains us, giving us insight into ourselves even though we may be laughing to hard to notice it.
There is no fantasy series on this list I would recommend higher, just for the sheer fun of reading.

The comic series, written by Mr. Asprin and Phil Foglio, is excellent in its own right. Foglio's art combined with the hysterical story generate an excellent comic series, and some of the story and random interjections (presumably added by Phil) are even funnier than in book form - a real rarity in any sort of translation like this. I would highly recommend those, on top of and separately from the series itself.

The Cold Cash War

The best thing about this book is the cool cover on the copy that I found at Stars. It's got this really cool Samurai dude in this powered armor, in this really cool art style...
The story is alright.

General Comments

Sven and I have developed a sort of love/hate relationship with Robert Asprin. We love his books with a passion, and hate the fact that he takes forever to write them. Moreover, he ended the last book (Sweet Mythtery of Life) on a huge cliffhanger, and the last time I heard, he had gone off to be a street musician with no known intention of continuing the series.
Now as cool as I think going and being a street musician may be, and as much as I strongly believe that a person should choose their own path in life, if he doesn't write the next book soon, I may start frothing at the mouth and becoming very generally violent. These books are great but he drives me nuts.
Robert Asprin has also written two books in the Phule's Company series, which is okay but is in many ways a poor man's Miles Vorkosigan series, and he was the editor on the very popular Thieves World series, which I have not read, and wrote two other books whose names escape me at the moment, and that I have also not read.

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