Reviews

I picked this up at a Half-Priced Books, not knowing what to expect. I haven’t read the first book in the series, but Robert Asprin does a fantastic job of filling the reader in on past events, so I didn’t feel like I was missing anything.

The writing style is easy to follow, humorous, and fun. The characters are simple, but distinct, and the dialogue is so much fun. The plot is fun and had just enough weight to be interesting. Saving the reputation of magic seems like a very reasonable thing to do, and it plays into Skeeve’s learning. And the battle scenes were actually pretty good. I don’t usually like fight scenes, but these were simple and easy to follow. The use of magical illusions was so much fun. Asprin leaves just enough breathing room for character interactions and necessary descriptions, but doesn’t waste any time in moving the plot along. It makes for a very fun and fast-paced story.

The magic system is also simple, but very unique. While other stories have done a painting-based magic system or painting as a metaphoric explanation for magic before, you don’t see it very often. It’s an easy way to describe magic in a fun way. The progression is also very nice. Although I haven’t read the first book, I totally believe that Skeeve is a novice. He knows a few spells pretty well, but he’s learning, and we get to see that. He isn’t overpowered and he isn’t underpowered.

Skeeve is a bumbling, well-meaning, and semi-talented magician who just wants to live a peaceful life of learning magic from his demon mentor with his pet unicorn and dragon. But he gets dragged into an adventure, and while he doesn’t know much about what the right thing to do, he often stumbles into it. On the surface, this may seem like cheap storytelling, but it’s a tried and true trope in the realm of YA fantasy literature, and I quite enjoyed it. At times, he reminded me a lot of Bilbo Baggins, complete with a wise (albeit far more grumpy) wizard companion.

Overall, this was a fantastic fantasy comedy story, I absolutely recommend for fans of either genre!

caitief's review

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adventurous funny relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

mdpenguin's review

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adventurous funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

It's funny, it's been a quarter century since I last read this and I kind of remembered the story as I was reading it. Anyway, it's a fun read and Skeeve is such a likable commander. One of the things that I probably enjoyed but didn't appreciate about these books in my original read was that he manages to make friends out of nearly everyone he meets, whether he wants to or not. I think that may be my favorite thing about it now.