Robert AsprinRezensionen

Robert Asprin dropped out of the University of Michigan to join the Army in 1965. His military career lasted only a year, but the relationship between big money and the military became a recurrent theme in his fiction. His first novel, The Cold Cash War, has mercenaries engaging in laser tag while corporate executives plan assassinations. In Phule’s Company, his protagonist, Willard Phule, is the scion of an arms manufacturer who leads a company in an interstellar version of the foreign legion. He uses his wealth and conman’s ingenuity to build the confidence of a mixed bag of human and alien ne’er-do-wells.
Asprin may have been inspired by 1960s military satires like M.A.S.H. (1968), Catch-22 (1961), and Keith Laumer’s Retief stories. Phule, like his forebears, continues to entertain.

F/SF

F/SF

F/SF

F/SF

Don’t judge a book by its cover. This applies to Phule’s Company. Despite various book covers that are meant to “hmmm” look funny yet merely manage to look infantile / simplistic, Phule’s Company isn’t the slapstick / action SF Novel it appears at first. It more witty than just mindlessly hilarious and there is much less action than there is interaction between the protagonist named Phule, a captain of the space legion, and his butler (you heard me right - a butler). Nicknamed Scaramouch, that space caption and his butler do their best to whip a forlorn and spurned company of space legionnaires into shape. Against expectations , Phule does this rather well by implementing leadership lessons he had learned in his father’s mega company PhuleProof Ammunitions and from various business ventures that became successful corporation under his guidance. Yes, Phule is also incredibly rich - perhaps I forgot to mention that. The said leadership lessons are as practical as they are effective and it is a pleasure to witness how he applies them to the depressed, and often stubborn soldiers of the company. All in all, despite its “phoolish” visual appearance, this is way better than the cover(s) suggests.

I picked this up with fond memories of loving this series as a kid. There are legitimate heavy-hitters who contributed: Joe Haldeman, Poul Anderson, Jon Brunner, Robert Asprin, and Marion Zimmer Bradley. Lots of Nebulas and Hugos there. But this was terrible. The worst '70s fantasy dreck, as if they dashed something off in a an old spiral notebook at a convention after a few drinks at the bar.

Urban fantasy like Terry Pratchett is urban fantasy, set in an urban setting, this is gritty and grim and nasty things happen to nasty and nice people. Dark Fantasy isn't really my thing but some of these stories about a fantasy world where various characters' actions have consequences in other stories. I missed the 5th instalment in this series and I think that was a bit more pivotal than a lot of other sets of stories.
I remember gobbling up some of these when I was younger, my tastes have changed since then.½

the weakest of the series so far½

I really l liked the 1st book in this series ("Another Fine Myth") but they get worse as they go along. This one was still OK½

Not as good as 1st book in the series ("Another Fine Myth") but better than the ones after½

Very good, very funny.

Comic fantasy fun. I never get tired baby talking teddy bear sidekicks and belt buckles with a caustic sense of humor.

Reading Myth-Gotten Gains, one of the later books Robert Asprin wrote with Jody Lynn Nye, I wondered what Terry Pratchett thought of him. We know that Asprin died while reading a Pratchett novel in 2008. As far as I know, they never got together to share a pun or two. Asprin started publishing a few years before Pratchett but had a fallow period in the nineties when Pratchett was reaching his stride. Their fictional worlds share the idea that our muggle dimension bleeds over into the livelier realms of fantasy. Both had fun with interdimensional puns. Discworld had a fad called Music with Rocks In. Asprin gives you a groaner from an old TV ad. When the Shaor Ming nuns tell Aahz that their good works and prayers exempted them from taxes and fees, Aahz quips, “So nobody is supposed to squeeze the Shaor Ming?” The nuns, of course, don’t get it. Pratchett’s humor has depths that Asprin seldom reaches, but as a Catskill comic might say, funny is funny. So enjoy.½

Barely 3 stars. Not nearly as funny as the earlier books. The plot went nowhere and the characters vacillated between smart and ridiculously inept.

Kinda cute quick read, but only for die-hard fans of the series. After the first book, the rest are pretty shoddily written.½

A scattering of short stories- a couple good most just passable- not really gripping, surprising or challenging
That being said I’m not current on the series

And so we come to an ending.
The twelfth and final anthology in the Thieves’ World series includes welcome stories from the regulars:
• Andrew J Offutt about Hanse, also known as Shadowspan, obtaining satisfying revenge for being sold into slavery at the end of Aftermath (the tenth anthology).
• Diana L Paxson featuring Lalo the limner and his apprentice, the trainee mage Darios, continuing to learn the power of his gift.
• C J Cherryh with another story of leave taking, of the remaining Stepsons, Straton, Critias and Randal, and Ischade, with cameos from Haught and Zip. And Shepherd, who says: “Our service is done. Time we were moving on.” An ending, and a beginning, emotional.
After that was just the dust, just the ghosts of buildings in what should have been bright day, the hill lost in haze and dust, yellow sand skirling along the streets.
• Robin Wayne Bailey, who furthers his tale of Chenaya, a Rankean god-ridden (Savankala) fighter, and although there are demons and bloodshed, there is a celebratory conclusion. There is also a lovely reference to the colt produced by a mischievous union of Chenaya’s father’s mare with Tempus’s full-blooded Trôs horse.
• Lynn Abbey, with a story of Walegrin (Illyra’s half-brother) and the changing nature of Sanctuary, as it becomes a trading port. Wedemir (Lalo the Limner’s son) becomes Walegrin’ lieutenant, and Walegrin “accommodates” good fortune after a Seeing by Illyra (half S’danzo seeress).
• Robert Lynn Asprin provides a short introductory story and completes the anthology with a story of Hakiem (the storyteller who introduced us to Thieves’ World and appears as a connecting character in many of the other anthologies), with cameos from Shupansea, Kadakithis and, significantly, Jubal.
There are also stories from other authors, including Jon DeCles who provides another story about the thespians introduced in the previous volume, and a somewhat thin standalone story by Duane McGowen.
Overall, as a conclusion to a wonderful series of “Swords & Sorcery” anthologies, this volume rounds out the ongoing stories in an uplifting and forward looking style.
Let me leave the last words to Hakiem/Asprin:
As, Jubal spoke, the storyteller was looking around the Vulgar Unicorn, trying to permanently brand every detail in his mind. It had suddenly occurred to him that this might be the last time he ever saw the place, the scene of the start and/or ending to so many stories over the past years. Even if he returned to Sanctuary, this tavern, as well as the town itself, would be different. As he knew all too well, each new beginning is also an ending, and on the road of life, there is no turning back.½

The eleventh Thieves’ World anthology, published in 1988, is the fifth I have read consecutively and although the stories might feel underwhelming compared to the “fireworks” of earlier volumes, I am enjoying these slighter tales, as we know the end is nigh for these anthologies of loosely connected stories based in Sanctuary.
Lynn Abbey’s introduction is a story featuring Hakeim and Shupansea, the Beysa, illustrating their changed circumstances since their beginning in the storyline.
Robert Lynn Asprin’s story surprisingly reintroduces Hanse, also known as Shadowspawn, a character of Andrew Offutt who we saw being taken by slavers at the end of the previous anthology. At that time I mused whether we would see Hanse again before the end of the series, but I needn’t have worried. We also learn that Jubal wishes to meet with Kadakithis, the nominal Prince-Governor of Sanctuary, which potentially indicates storylines being drawn together.
C J Cherryh gives us a story with Straton and Critias as objects of another’s vengeance, and Moria, Stilcho and Ischade being drawn into the story, with Ischade showing more compassion than expected. This is a happy story for Sanctuary.
Jon DeCles, a new author for Thieves’s World, provides an amusing interlude introducing theatrical protagonists into Sanctuary, who unrealistically (I know it’s fictional) haunt The Vulgar Unicorn to study the patrons’ characters, without harm befalling them. The actors are building a theatre and performing a play for Prince Kadakithis.
Chris Morris (husband of Janet) tells a story concerning a couple of new characters, one in the Mageguild and the other in Aphrodisia House on the Street of Red Lanterns, which also involves earlier characters Randal, the Stepsons’ only mage, and the Shepherd, an Ilsigi character (god?). One cannot but feel that this is a filler, linking up to existing storylines (and that it is now politically incorrect in its portrayal of prostitution).
C S Williams, another one-off author in the Thieves’ World anthologies, tells a good story of Chollandur and his glue shop in the Maze, but there are small roles for Markmor (degrading his powers), Ahdio and Strick. It’s a rather simple but pleasant humorous tale.
Robin Wayne Bailey treats us to a gruesome story set in the Promise of Heaven, which has sentimental characters for Sanctuary, including Dayrne, one of Chenaya’s gladiators, with cameo roles for Chenaya, Kadakithis, Shupansea and Molin Torchholder.
Finally, Diana L Paxson gives us a further story of Lalo the Limner.½

The tenth Thieves’ World anthology is a mixed bag, but overall provides some satisfying continuity with previous volumes.
The first story, Cade, is the weakest I recall reading not just in the Thieves’ World series, but also generally, with some very wooden descriptions at the beginning of the story, although it gathers fluidity and has a satisfyingly black ending. This is a one-off story, set in Sanctuary but otherwise independent of the series.
Unlike the second story, Wake of the Riddler by Janet Morris, which features many characters from previous anthologies - Zip, Critias and Kama being the main players, but Straton and Ischade also make appearances together with mention of others. This is a satisfying development in the stories with Tempus away from Sanctuary and introduces a new “character”, Shepherd.
The third story, Inheritor by David Drake, again appears to be a one-off story set in Sanctuary, starting in The Vulgar Unicorn, but otherwise unconnected to other happenings. Looking at Wikipedia I see that the story is part of a novel, Dagger, published in 1988 and it does read as an introduction to larger, but unfinished, and so unsatisfying as there are no further stories by Drake in The Thieves’ World anthologies.
John Brunner then returns (first story since the original Thieves’ World anthology) with a story updating us on the lives of Jarveena, Melilot and Enas Yorl. Although otherwise freestanding, this story offers welcome continuity with an earlier time in Sanctuary.
Lynn Abbey gives us a lovely Illyra and Dubro story, the S’danzo seeress still struggling with the loss of her young children in earlier stories and her half-brother Walegrin’s imposition of an orphan baby upon her to try to raise her spirits.
Finally, Andrew Offutt gives us the (long awaited) return of Shadowspawn/Hanse, who assists the Spellmaster, Strick tiFiraqa (previously encountered by Hanse on the way to Firaqa in the novel, Shadowspawn). And we are left with what could be a cliffhanger, except that this is confidently undermined by the author. Let us hope that we hear of Hanse again in Offutt’s story in the final anthology.½

The ninth Thieves’ World anthology may appear quiet after the violent action in Soul of the City, but I found it a really enjoyable addition to the series. There are eight stories in this collection, which introduce some new characters and say farewell to others, making it more varied and perhaps uneven than its predecessors, but as I say I found it enjoyable developing and rounding out earlier stories.
There is also an afterword from C J Cherryh partially describing how the stories in an anthology are written.

An excellent addition to the series, with three authors contributing two strong stories each make up this eighth Thieves’ World anthology. Probably because the authors had coordinated their stories, this anthology is far more satisfyingly paced, with good “set piece” stories building to a rewarding climax which moves forward several ongoing plot lines.
Well worth the reread after 37 years!

A reread from 1986. Mildly entertaining and enough to keep me interested, but felt like a filler in the series (seventh anthology), involving many of the ongoing characters, but moving the overall plot forward only very incrementally.

Was interested to read Andrew Offutt’s afterword mentioning the upcoming (in 1985) standalone novels of Shadowspawn and Beyond Sanctuary which I have read in the last couple of years.

A fun, light read.

Enjoyable to read.