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MythAdventures: Difference between revisions
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'''The title of each novel contains some sort of wordplay on "miss" or "mis-" or "mess" (in the first novel), The "first" series contains twelve novels:'''
* ''Another Fine Myth'' (1978)
* ''Myth Conceptions'' (1980)
* ''Myth Directions'' (1982)
* ''Hit or Myth'' (1983)
* ''Myth-ing Persons'' (1984)
* ''Little Myth Marker'' (1985)
* ''M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link'' (1986)
* ''Myth-Nomers and Im-Pervections'' (1987)
* ''M.Y.T.H. Inc. in Action'' (1990)
* ''Sweet Myth-Tery of Life'' (1993)
* ''Myth-Ion Improbable'' (2001)
* ''Something M.Y.T.H. Inc.'' (2002)
'''The "new" [[Myth Adventures]] series, co-authored with Jody Lynn Nye (who intends to continue the series after [[Author Existence Failure|Asprin's death]]), currently contains the following novels:'''
* ''Myth-Told Tales'' (2003)
* ''Myth Alliances'' (2003)
* ''Myth-Taken Identity'' (2004)
* ''Class Dis-Mythed'' (2005)
* ''Myth-Gotten Gains'' (2006)
* ''Myth-Chief'' (2008)
* ''Myth-Fortunes'' (2009)
Additionally, the first novel was adapted into an eight-part graphic novel by [[Wa RP Graphics]] in the mid-80s, illustrated and heavily rewritten by [[Phil Foglio]], who also supplied illustrations for many of the novels. Four more issues followed, attempting to bridge the action between the first and second novels. The second novel was later adapted into another eight-part comic series by Ken and Beth Mitchroney and published by Apple from 1987 through 1989. Foglio's comics are slowly going online, three pages a week, at [http://www.airshipentertainment.com/mythcomic.php his website].
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=== This series contains examples of: ===
* [[Aggressive Negotiations]]: Skeeve is parleying with the head of the opposing army when suddenly he realises the opposing army has been moving into position to attack him while he's distracted by the peace talk. He complains that this is a breach of protocol, and is informed that yes, it is, but it also works extremely well.
* [[Ambition Is Evil]]: Subverted. The main characters tend to use their functional magic to make money and wind up even richer than they started.
* [[Another Dimension]]: A whole plethora of them, more than any individual can visit in one lifetime.
* [[Arbitrary Skepticism]]: Played for laughs. Magic? Fine. Demons? Fine. Dragons? Fine. Interdimensional travel? Fine. Blue gremlins? NO WAY!
* [[Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?]]: Fortunately for Skeeve, logic is not high on the priority list of requisite skills for Mob bosses.
* [[Author Filibuster]]: Asprin and (evidently) Nye both have the bad habit of dropping into lecture mode.
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* [[Brick Joke]]: In "M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link", the brick needed several chapters to land. Briefly, it's about a worker's union in a factory.
* [[Call a Rabbit a Smeerp]]: Skeeve's native world has such combination animals as spider-bears or fox-squirrels, but Skeeve is baffled by such mundane animals as cows.
* [[Cats Are Magic]]: Lampshaded in one of the books: "Cats and computers can work through dimensions."
* [[Chain of Deals]]: This is how Deveels make their fortunes.
* [[Character Development]]: The whole series is that for Skeeve, in a way. His views and opinions about the world really evolve throughout the books. This goes for some of his friends/allies too.
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* [[Encyclopedia Exposita]]: Each chapter has a fictitious quote. An example might be something like, "Violence is never the right thing to do" - Attila the Hun. This is dropped in later novels; Asprin commented at one point that thinking up the quotes had become the hardest part of the writing.
* [[Epigraph]]: Parodied. Most of the quotes are fictitious, but some are genuine quotes that are made funny in the context of the associated chapter.
* [[ET Gave Us Wi
* [[Evil Chancellor]]: Although Grimble frequently engages in power struggles with General Badaxe, he has no desire to rule.
* [[Explosive Breeder]]: There is a [[Running Gag]] in one of Foglio's comic adaptations involving small dragons that [http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070204 reproduce on contact with water] (The Myth Adventures sequence can be read starting [http://www.airshipentertainment.com/mythcomic.php?date=20101002 HERE]) One of them happens to get into a market stall demonstrating umbrellas, and after that they keep showing up everywhere, until at the end of the scene the original owners are forced to round them all up.
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* [[Lost Him in a Card Game]]: {{spoiler|Subverted. This was deliberately done on the orders of the "child" in question so as to infiltrate the hero's household.}}
* [[The Magic Poker Equation]]: Justified in ''Little Myth Marker'', as Skeeve has no skill or knowledge of the game in question, betting everything on the first hand without even looking at the cards. By reducing the game to what amounts to a coin flip, he renders skill irrelevant.
* [[Masochist's Meal]]: ''All'' of Pervian food. According to Aahz: "The biggest problem with Pervian food is to keep it from crawling away from your dish while you are eating it..."
* [[Master Apprentice Chain]]: Garkin & Aahz > Skeeve > Massha
* [[Mildly Military]]: The Possiltum military is under funded and underfed, so it's justified that they're insubordinate and incompetent.
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** Not entirely. The Djinni explains to Skeeve {{spoiler|(but only AFTER he had already technically fulfilled his contractual obligation and was about to leave at Skeeve's insistance) that he had been deliberately underselling his abilities so that Skeeve would be more impressed when he finally DID perform his single service.}} He gives Skeeve a Self Reliance [[Aesop]] Speech before leaving.
* [[Parody Magic Spell]]: All incantations are fake trappings meant to impress [[Muggles]]. Quite a lot of them fall under the trope, including "Alakazam-shazam" and the perennial favourite "Walla Walla, Washington".
* [[Please Put Some Clothes On]]: Skeeve has this problem with Queen Hemlock and Bunny. The fact that he's embarrassed tips off Hemlock that he's not who he's magically disguised as.
* [[Proud Merchant Race]]: The Deveels.
* [[Psmith Psyndrome]]: Go ahead. Call him "Oz the Pervert". We'll wait.
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* [[Virgin Power]]: Embarrassingly, Skeeve is the only one in the group that does not elicit a negative reaction from a <s>stolen</s> borrowed war unicorn.
** Considering he almost killed himself by attending too many drunken parties at one point, that's quite a feat.
** Well, they never did [[Did They or Didn't They?|actually figure out whether he had or not]], and by that time he had already owned that unicorn for years. Long enough for it to overlook if he did or didn't.
*** The again, it seems to put up with Aahz too, who almost certainly has, so it may just be very well-trained.
* [[Vocal Dissonance]]: Nunzio's a big man described with a tiny voice.
* [[Watering Down]]: The book ''M.Y.T.H. Inc. In Action'' features Mob enforcer Guido discussing this phenomena, noting it's a way for the bar owner to make more money off less product, and his customers don't mind because less alcohol per glass makes the drink "healthier".
* [[We Are as Mayflies]]: Skeeve's human lifespan is occasionally mentioned as being very short by Aahz's standards.
* [[We Sell Everything]]: The Deva Bazaar... which, by the way, consists of the ''entire planet''.
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