Myth Conceptions Review

Sophomore slump, we’ve all heard of it in TV & Movies in regard to subsequent seasons and sequels.
You know I dug the First Book in this series, but could the sophomore slump be possible in this specific book series?
What say we dive right on in and find out, gang!

As always, this here is your super fancy and official ***SPOILER ALERT***

A year has passed and Skeeve & Aahz are now running the little inn they inherited when they sent the evil Isstvan’s punk ass packing at the end of the last book.
Skeeve’s training is moving along well, if a wee bit slow, and the pet dragon and unicorn they stumbled into owning are having the time of their lives in that way that rambunctious pets so often do.
When unexpectedly, a traveler shows up and requests, on behalf of a nearby King, Skeeve to appear and try out for the position of Court Magician.

This drags the duo into a world of magic haters, military strategy, and a damned if they do and damned if they don’t scenario as the Kingdom is rapidly about to be overtaken by the largest army the realm has ever seen.
With the help of new friends, old enemies, and other familiar faces, they attempt to defend their new jobs and necks!

Gang, what we have here is a classic Empire Strikes Back scenario.
Empire is the best movie of the Original Star Wars Trilogy, while it is a good movie on it’s own, it’s only as great as it is because it gets to build on what came before and Myth Conceptions is perfectly that.
There is no doubt it’s fun as fuck and could definitely stand on its own, it is most definitely better to read these novels in order.
The little bits of continuity are satisfying and rewarding to catch.

The main draw for me is again the wordplay that I’ve come to expect from Robert Asprin.
His ability and love of punnage and the like is still shining bright.
But something I noticed even more so in this go round would be his subtle world building.
Upon reflection it was present in the first book as well, but through Aahz he makes a shit ton of references to things not present in this backwater dimension known as Klah, things that make it seem as if Aahz has been to our world or some facsimile.
This type of thing is often played for laughs as Skeeve is clueless as to what Aahz is talking about, but it’s a nice subtle touch that takes a great attention to detail on Asprin’s part to make it clear that what is normal to us real life readers may not even exist for some of these characters.

As I bring this in for a landing I have to say that I’m far more interested in the rest of this series now than I was after Book 1, and that book hooked me in fast.
Adding another layer to the onion has really given me a great look at the potential future directions this series could go and I’m ready to explore them.
The length of these is also still a plus, as it makes it so much easier to breeze through them and want more.

If you are looking for something new, different, and interesting, I can’t recommend this series enough.
The hunt is on for the ones beyond what @mattcbert provided for me.
So know this, if you end up sniping me on Ebay I may eat your face, nothing personal.

Let us know what you think of this review in the comments below or share this post on Twitter with the Hashtag #TNBBookReview.

Special thanks to @ACFerrell1976 for her continued editorial assistance.

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And finally, given the state of the world, do what you can to leave it a little bit better than you found it.
As difficult as that may be currently, it can have an impact far greater than you know.
Until next time, stay safe out there, gang.