From archive (archive) Path: sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic!mcsun!uunet!sco!seanf From: seanf@sco.COM (Sean Fagan) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-lovers Subject: _M.Y.T.H. Inc. In Action_ (no spoilers) Message-ID: <6701@scolex.sco.COM> Date: 20 Jun 90 07:04:51 GMT Sender: news@sco.COM Reply-To: seanf@sco.COM (Sean Fagan) Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. Lines: 23 This is the 9th book in the series, and, unfortunately, is not quite as good as the original books were. My major gripes with it have, actually, little to do with the plot. The most noticible one is that this book is typeset *horribly*! The open-quotes and close-quotes are the same character (like a terminal!), which makes it seem..., I don't know, *less*. Also, there are far, far too many typo's. I can easily find at least 20 missing quotation marks in the book, which *does* detract from it. The other major problem I had with it was the writing style. The story is told by Guido, the Mob Bodyguard, and, while the style is certainly interesting for the first chapter or two, 230+ pages of it is *annoying*! Anyway, I'd give this book a +2.5 on the IMMLSoMFtPF. I'm really starting to hope that the next one (another Skeeve book) will be *lots* better! -- -----------------+ Sean Eric Fagan | "Just think, IBM and DEC in the same room, seanf@sco.COM | and we did it." uunet!sco!seanf | -- Ken Thompson, quoted by Dennis Ritchie (408) 458-1422 | Any opinions expressed are my own, not my employers'. From archive (archive) Path: sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic!mcsun!uunet!sco!seanf From: seanf@sco.COM (Sean Fagan) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-lovers Subject: _Phule's Company_ review Message-ID: <6783@scolex.sco.COM> Date: 24 Jun 90 06:56:23 GMT Sender: news@sco.COM Reply-To: seanf@sco.COM (Sean Fagan) Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. Lines: 35 In _M.Y.T.H. Inc., In Action_, Asprin gave a small plug for an upcoming book called _Phule's Company_ ("First in the All-New, All-Hilarious Series," according to the book cover). Well, this is a *much* better book that MIIA. It *is* funny in places, but rarely goes out of its way to introduce something soley for humor's sake. More than that, though, it happens to be a pretty good sf book. Oh, there are some problems with it, but they are, if you accept the major premise (which wasn't that difficult, actually), then most of it is easy to swallow. A non-spoiler plot summary: Will Phule, "megamillionaire," is an officer in the "Space Legion," a future-day equivalent of the Foreign Legion. After getting into some trouble, he gets command of a post filled with misfits and losers, all rejects from other commanders who didn't want them. He starts building their confidence and turning them into a well-tuned corp, accompanied by his butler. My main problems with it are the butler and his wealth. The first one I had, at times, a hard time accepting, and the latter was sometimes used as a deus ex machina (or should that be deus ex walleta? 8-)) concept. Fortunately, the use of wealth *was* kept to a minimum, for the most part. Other than that, though, I'm worried that the concept will worsen in the next novel(s), as did the SSR, but that's a matter for later books, not this one. All in all, it read a lot like the original Stainless Steel Rat novel. I did enjoy it quite a bit. I'd give it a +3.5 in the IMMLSoMFtPF. A recommended light read. -- -----------------+ Sean Eric Fagan | "Just think, IBM and DEC in the same room, seanf@sco.COM | and we did it." uunet!sco!seanf | -- Ken Thompson, quoted by Dennis Ritchie (408) 458-1422 | Any opinions expressed are my own, not my employers'.