Another Fine Myth

(Myth Adventures 1)
by
Robert Asprin

Ace, January 1978, 200 pp.
ISBN: 0-441-02362-2

Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: Humor
Reviewed: 4/19/2000

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

Walking around the Bazaar in Deva, Skeeve suddenly became aware of the most repulsive odor he had ever smelled. Instead of avoiding it, Aahz followed it until the two were standing in front of the dome-shaped tent.

”That,” Aahz said, “is the smell of Pervish cooking.”

Skeeve asked the demon whether he could go into the tent with him. “I’m not all that weak-stomached, you know,” he said.

”Well, I’ll tell ya, kid,” Aahz answered. “The main problem with Pervish food is keeping the goo from crawling out of the bowl while you’re eating it…”

Synopsis

Skeeve, a young thief, is now the apprentice to the magician Garkin. Over the years, Skeeve has struggled with his lessons and does not appear to be progressing too quickly. Garkin summons a demon to impress Skeeve just as an assassin walks in the door and kills Garkin, who in turn kills the assassin. The summoned demon, who is actually a fellow magician named Aahz, is quite miffed when he finds out that Garkin played a trick on him and took away his powers.

Aahz learns that the assassin was sent by Isstvan, and old foe. Skeeve becomes an apprentice to Aahz, since he is the only one with powers, and learns quickly. Skeeve disguises himself as the dead assassin while he disguises Aahz as Garkin. On the road, they run across Quigley, a demon hunter.

Using his quick wit, Aahz tricks the demon hunter into going after the other two assassins that are following them, which happen to be demons. Suffice it to say, Quigley is turned into a statue by the assassins. Then the assassins catch up to Skeeve and Aahz…

Another Fine Myth is the first book of the Myth Adventures series by Robert Asprin. These books are incredibly funny fantasy tales that revolve around the lives of Skeeve and Aahz. The story moves along at a very fast pace with almost all of it written as dialog between the characters…and the dialog is quick and witty. The main characters are joined by an ever growing group of fellow adventures.

Review

I have at least read the first five or so books in this series before and they have always remained in my memory as some of the funniest stories I have ever read. In fact, my friend and I liked these books and characters so much, we took their names as our nicknames.

Another Fine Myth is not a large book by any means and can easily be finished very quickly. But this is no reason not to pick it up. If you like fantasy tales with a twist of humor, you will find no better read.

To tell the truth, this was my third time to read Another Fine Myth. I have also read the comic book version, which was fantastic. And the ways the comic characters were drawn was right on, unlike the cover of this book. Obviously, the artist never read the story . . . too bad for him.

Overall, Another Fine Myth is an excellent fantasy yarn and one of my favorite books of all time. Love it!

I rated this book a 9½ out of 10.