M.Y.T.H. Inc. in Action

If you have not read earlier volumes in the MYTH series, this book of two volumes will not be as appealing to you. If you are familiar with the series, then read on! This book continues the pattern started in the last book of having two volumes in one book that covers two different stories. The first one "M.Y.T.H. inc. In Action" takes the viewpoint of Guido as the story teller. This book is by far the funniest one in this series! The hilarious mis-adventures of Guido and Nunzio, coupled with the complete inanity of the situations that they find themselves in are absolutely top notch! This story takes place during the time that Skeeve was on Perv trying to find Aahz. The team decides to take care of the Queen Hemlock situation on Klah by themselves! One thing leads to another and the team decides to split up. Guido and Nunzio join the Posilltum army while Tananda, Chumley, Gleep, and Massha get involved in other things. Since this book is told from Guido's point of view, it is not surprising that we do not see much of the other guys. This is a change from the previous M.Y.T.H. Inc. book in which each character essentially told a short story. Anyway, Guido and Nunzio get involved in a group of recruits who happen to have insect names. They meet Bee, Hyram Flie, Shubert Flie, Spyder, etc. A good example of the kind of humor that is all over these books is that Hyram prefers to be called Hy, while his brother Shubert prefers to be called Shu. So, we have Hy Flie and Shu Flie!!! (groan) Guido and Nunzio quickly ascertain that they have to make sure the recruits pass through basic training so they can get going with their mission. To do so, they take over the leadership of the group and as a result, get promoted. Since Guido puts on this fake Italo-Gangster type of talk, we aretreated to lots of "situationals" in which their mob past is helpful. Guido actually manages to get promoted at least three times before he quits in disgust! The descriptions of how this group of misfits tries to screw up the army - which is already screwed up - and how they manage to instead make things altogether better caused immense laughing bouts with this veteran! All's well that end well and the story has Skeeve, Aahz, and Pookie converge on Queen Hemlock just as the rest of the crew does. And that transitions us to the next book. The second book "Sweet Myth-tery of Life" is told from Skeeve's viewpoint. He comes back with Aahz and Pookie to Klah and finds his group but also finds himself in trouble. You see, Queen Hemlock has decided that either Skeeve marries her and becomes her consort and produces heirs, or she will abdicate and make him the King. Since he has already had bad experiences in being the King, he rejects that proposal. But then, he has to decide if he wants to become the Queen's consort or not. Now, Skeeve has had many life-changing experiences, but none of them have prepared him for what to do about all the nubile women throwing themselves at hi

Asprin's Myth series combines traditional fantasy with humor and satire. He gives us multiple characters that are believable and you grow to love very quickly. Many authors couldn't handle juggling this many primary characters (not to mention the whole slew of secondary characters) and this complicated of a series. It's myth-fastic.

I have always loved the Myth series since I first read them 7 or 8 years ago. I've read them all at least twice (with the exception of the newest one), and this one is truly the best. You know a writer is really good when in the same series he can write a book in a first person format from different characters that are completely different. Plus, it really takes the character devolpment to a new level. And not only is the writing style wonderful, the story is probably one of the funniest I've ever read.

These books are great. If you know someone who does't like to read give them one of these. They will never be the same.

I love these books, I first read them when I was about 10 and I didn't even get all the jokes. I re-read them last year (I was 17) and I just loved them. They were funny and insightful, but mostly just funny. A+