This is topic Asprin (and Nye) and the Myth series in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
 
I started reading Robert Asprin's "Myth" series when I was, oh, about ten. I gleefully devoured every book that came out, from "Another Fine Myth" to "Sweet Mythtery of Life", though the pauses between books grew longer and longer.

And then they stopped altogether for nearly a decade.

Then came "Mythion Improbable", a story allegedly taking place earlier in the series to give Asprin a chance to get back into his old series. Though not god-awful, it was significantly darker than most of the rest of the series, missed the tone significantly on main characters in several instances, and failed to recognize that if what had happened in it occurred when it was said to, certain things in later books would likely have been very different. It was the kind of book that made one wonder if the author's bitterness regarding his stated problems with the I.R.S. were boiling through into his writing.

The promised "Something M.Y.T.H. Inc." came out, and it was 'eh'. A threat that would genuinely try the abilities of Skeeve (the hero) and his cohorts had been promised, but what materialized instead was a limp and jokey play on the Robin Hood legends, intercut with lame "Lord of the Rings" references that were probably thought to be hip at the time.

Then Jody Lynn Nye signed on as co-author of the series, either (depending on who you ask) to help, to keep Asprin on schedule, to take advantage of a loophole in Asprin's settlement with the IRS, or some combination of the above. While I don't want to lay all the blame at Nye's feet, things have steadily declined from there. Jokes and puns are limp, scenes that should sparkle fall flat, enormous amounts of what we've been shown about the characters in previous books has been shoved aside or forgotten, even short novels are overstuffed with gratuitous padding (I'm looking at you, Myth-Taken Identity!), and newly introduced characters are shrill and annoying to the point of teeth-grinding (Myth-Gotten Gains.)

I went into the bookstore a while back, and "Class Dis-Mythed" was on the shelves, the newest book I haven't picked up (though I understand not the latest chronologically.) It's probably about six bucks in paperback, and yet I just can't make myself do it. It makes me sad; losing a series I grew up with is a little like losing a friend. I'm tempted to belittle the series as a whole, to suggest that it was probably never that good, and nostalgia and youth glossed over where it was lacking, but I don't know that it was.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Was it good, or was it always dross? Do you see any signs that Asprin and Nye are actually re-learning how to write the beast, or are we doomed to suffer through a struggling writer and his ghost slapping together a yearly sacrificial lamb to keep the cash rolling in?

I have to note that I picked up one of the new "Phule" books by Asprin and his other co-writer several years back, but a single one of those was enough for me to put the series aside. "Myth" has been the harder habit to cull.
 

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Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
 
I haven't read any of the later ones yet. I liked the first ones quite a bit, but as Skeeve got more powerful and "cool" the series lost a lot of its spark. Not really Asprin's fault, I didn't think - most every series dependent on the growth of the main character will gradually get less interesting as the character develops.

I liked the first Phule book, kinda liked the second, haven't read the rest. I really liked the Time Scout series, though.
 

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Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
I heard great things about the first two or three Phule books, but I never get into them. I liked the Myth series for what they were....fluff.
 

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Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
 
I enjoyed the earlier Phule books as brain candy.

Jody Lynn Nye's books "co-written" with (i.e., ghostwritten for) Anne McCaffrey are awful.
 

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Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
 
I read Something M.Y.T.H. Inc. to tie up the series, since I too had read the previous ones in my early teens. It tied up the series adequately, which after close to a decade is about all I really expected.

I haven't read any of the other new ones, and have no plans to do so.
 

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Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
....what does it say about me that I thought this thread title was referring to Bill Nye the Science Guy?

-pH
 

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Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
Bill Nye and Julia Childs had a love child, you know....


His name is Alton Brown.


 

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Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
 
*SHUDDER*
 

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Posted by Earendil18 (Member # 3180) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Kwea:
Bill Nye and Julia Childs had a love child, you know....


His name is Alton Brown.

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Funnilee!

Yeah, I was introduced to the series with the Phil Foglio illustrated comic of the first book. I loved the humorous way the characters were drawn, and laughed out loud more times than I could remember. That was the only comic produced, but it was still fun.
 

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Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
 
There were several comics produced. The first novel, serialized by Foglio, an original story by Asprin and Jim Valentino, and the second novel serialized by Ken and Beth Mitchroney.

(The second two weren't as good as Foglio's, in my opinion, but Ken used to be a local artist so I got to give the shoutout )
 

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Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 

quote:

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Does anyone have any thoughts? Was it good, or was it always dross? Do you see any signs that Asprin and Nye are actually re-learning how to write the beast, or are we doomed to suffer through a struggling writer and his ghost slapping together a yearly sacrificial lamb to keep the cash rolling in?

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Yeah, this is going to make someone who likes the books respond.
 

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Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
 
I liked the first comics adaptation by Aspirin and Foglio, but could never get into the novels themselves -- always found them too thin, it was Foglio's drawings that really gave the series life for me.
 

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Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I always thought they were silly, but fun. I never expected much from them, so they didn't disappoint. I think some of your disappointment may come from growing up in the meantime, and becoming more discerning. It's possible, though, that I just read them long ago and quit reading them before the downturn in quality. When an author has a series that he or she knows is going to sell, it's hard not to keep going with it even when the ideas run dry.
 

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Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by rivka:

quote:

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Does anyone have any thoughts? Was it good, or was it always dross? Do you see any signs that Asprin and Nye are actually re-learning how to write the beast, or are we doomed to suffer through a struggling writer and his ghost slapping together a yearly sacrificial lamb to keep the cash rolling in?

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Yeah, this is going to make someone who likes the books respond.

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