Myth Conceptions

Myth-Conceptions (1980) is the second Fantasy novel in the Myth series, following Another Fine Myth. In the previous volume, Quigley gave Buttercup to Skeeve. Isstvan took Tananda, Quigley, Higgins, Brockhurst and Frumple to another dimension with a sabotaged D-hopper. Aahz remained behind to mentor Skeeve. In this novel, Skeeve is now the apprentice of Aahz. Of course, Aahz doesn't have any powers at the moment, but he does know his stuff. Aahz is a green scaly creature with four inch pointed teeth from the dimension of Perv. He had been a master magician, but lost his magical powers due to a practical joke by Garkin. Now he has Skeeve as his apprentice. Tananda is a Trollop, a native of the Trollia dimension. Tanda is also green, but a lighter shade than Aahz and much prettier. She is an Assassin and has certain powers of her own. Brockhurst is an Imp from the Imper dimension. He had been working for Isstvan, but now he is unemployable after that fiasco. Ajax is an Archer from the Archiah dimension. He is very old, but still exceedingly proficient with his bow and arrows. Gus is a Gargoyle. He has been working at a Yellow Crescent Inn and is ready to move elsewhere. So is Berfert, his salamander friend. The Gremlin does not exist, according to common belief. Yet he is blue and moves quickly. Hugh Badaxe is the Commander of the Royal Armies of Possiltum. He has a mean temper. J. R. Grimble is the Chancellor of Possiltum. He is a bean counter, always looking for a way to save money. Naturally, he does not get along well with Badaxe. Gleep is a young dragon, only about ten feet long. He had eaten part of Skeeve's sleeve in the Bazaar and is now attached to him. Buttercup was Quigley's war unicorn. Now he belongs to Skeeve. In this story, an army messenger brings an invitation to Skeeve to apply for the position of Court Magician of Possiltum. Skeeve doesn't think that he knows enough for such a position. Aahz soon convinces him that the job is a sinecure. When they arrive at the castle, Skeeve and Aahz position themselves at the front gates and wait to be noticed. A guard advances toward them and Skeeve levitates his spear. The guard tells them that the hiring is being done at the back of the castle. So Skeeve, Aahz, Gleep, Buttercup and the spear go around back and join the line of applicants. Skeeve and Aahz observe the fierce competition between Badaxe and Grimble. Then Skeeve notices that Badaxe in looking at the spear. Badaxe calls them over and asks if the spear belongs to one of his guards. When told that such is the case, Badaxe gets angry. But Grimble is pleased that Skeeve is finally there. So Skeeve is hired and then learns that a huge army is approaching Possiltum. The King expects them to prevent this army from invading Possiltum. After Aahz negotiates a salary for Skeeve, they head north to reconnoiter the enemy forces. Skeeve and Aahz find that the opposing forces are even greater than e

In this tale of myth-adventure, Skeeve gets a job, with the aide of his mentor Aahz, as a court magician . Unfortunately, they get more than they bargained for; part of their job is to protect the kingdom's northern border from the invading Empire. When all hope is nearly lost, they return to the Bazaar at Deva and hire their own rag-tag army. This is the second book in Asprin's Myth series; the first is Another Fine Myth. Each book in the series can be read as a stand-alone, but onch you read one you'll be hooked. The only thing I have to complain about is Asprin's over-use of details from the previous book in order to "catch-up" a new reader to the series. If you have already read the previous book, it can be a bit tedious. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone, whether or not you read fantasy. Asprin puts forth a great deal of effort to concentrate on character development and their relationships, and succeeds in writing an enjoyable and light-hearted story that just happens to have creatures from different dimensions.

When Aahz gets his student a jon as court magician he is quite please with himself. After all, court magicans have cussy jobs and no real work to do. Then a bomb is dropped, the onlt reason they were ever hired was to stop an invading army. Now what they have to is simple Stop the army doing so by using a combination of solidery and magic so Skeeve can keep his job(and his life)Overall-Just a quick, fun little read very good

Yet again, Asprin has shown us how to look beyond our borders in trough a easy reading adventure of soon going to be Master Skeeve and his teacher, 'gentle' Aahz and their old and new friends - Tanda, Gus, Brockhurst, Ajax and others. Of course, their is also a baby dragon Gleep who with each day grows to a loving personality... An interested mixture of fantasy and reality which you shouldn't miss....

Out of the 10 "Myth" books that Robert Asprin has so far given us MYTH CONCEPTIONS is definetely one of the BEST. This book continues with the humor and mystery that the first one began. Follow Skeeve along on one of his greatest adventures, watch as he further develops his kind nature and see how Aahz and the new characters influence Skeeve to become an effective, courageous, and noble leader. The humor, action, and characters will keep you on the edge of your book (parden the pun).