"Myth Adventures" by Robert Lynn Asprin (1946-2008)

 

Publisher: Nelson Doubleday

Copyright: 1985

It's been many years since I first began reading this series, and it was a lot of fun to take a break from the more serious books I've been reading and indulge myself in this one. Myth Adventures is a compilation of the first four books in the myth series, namely "Another Fine Myth", "Myth Conceptions", "Myth Directions", and "Hit or Myth". As you can probably appreciate from the title it is humorous (the titles being puns), and from the cover its in a fantasy world. I typically do not read a lot of fantasy, but this series is definitely one of my favorites.

The series begins with "Another Fine Myth" and tells the tale of Skeve, a rather lacklustre apprentice to the magician Garkin. In an offhand demonstration of power Garkin summons a demon named Aahz, and then gets himself killed by an assassin. This has the unfortunate result of trapping Aahz with Skeve in the dimension he was summoned to.

Because it seems assassins typically travel in groups to ensure the success of their missions Aahz and Skeve are now on the run, as Garkin had been able to kill his assassin, who therefore couldn't return to his partners and divide up the loot. Other characters from future novels in the myth series are also introduced.

In the second book "Myth Conceptions" the dynamic duo of Skeeve and Aahz have to defeat a huge invading army, that is camped on the border of their kingdom, and preparing to cross. A project such as this will surely test Steve's limited magical abilities, but with the assistance of a few friends some of whom we met in the first book they concoct a rather interesting response.

"Myth Directions" has Skeve, Tananda, and a number of others trying to find Aahz a birthday present and that was the easy part.

"Hit or Myth" has Skeve's boss King Roderick skipping town in order to avoid getting married, and forcing Skeve to take his place with the use of his trusty disguise spell, and that's just the beginning/

This first four books in this series are extremely funny, and the entire Myth series has acquired a significant following in fandom. The numerous jokes, puns, word play, and odd situations the group find themselves in make the story worth reading.

Highly recommended.