Another Fine Myth: Myth Adventures, Book 1

Another Fine Myth: Myth Adventures, Book 1 by Robert Asprin

The narrator is training with a wizard. He is struggling with some basic magic, but then things get really weird. There are people from various dimensions that are traveling around and participating in a significant conflict. They all seem to come from worlds that would be very "punny" from our point of view. They are "demons" (d-men - from other demensions), perverts (from perv), etc. The humor seems very 1980s. The narrator's mentor suffers an untimely exit, and he ends up being mentored by somebody new who is trying to help fend off a calamity. Story twists and turns, but it is mostly just a vehicle for jokes.

Running with the Pack: Thoughts from the Road on Meaning and Mortality

Running. Aging. Meaning of Life. Dogs. All is woven together in Running with the Pack. The author decides to run a marathon a few years shy of his 50th birthday. He has enjoyed running for most of his life, but his body is more equipped for sprinting than running. Injuries have plagued him. In training for the marathon, he was progressing well so he pushed himself harder. This led to an injury. He kept coming back too strong after trying to heal, thus leading to further problems. (And ironically, he started running because he was afraid he had gout, but he likely had a stress fracture instead.) Despite all this and a lack of training in the weeks leading up to the marathon he decided to do it anyway.

A lot of his running had been done with dogs. These companions experience a basic joy of running and give him reason to continue. 

He sees running as something that has meaning unto itself rather than something that provides alternate benefit. Even from a biological level, running helps clear out thoughts and allows the mind to solve some of the hard problems that were not solvable when "it was the boss". Running also helps our general energy expenditure to catch up with what the body is expecting.

As we age our physical ability declines. This is a genetic trade off that mammals have made. Reptiles and amphibians tend to be fairly equal in their abilities until they die. The decline is inevitable in life. We will not be able to run at age 50 like we did at 20. The regression will continue as we get older.

The book has many nice insights into running and aging. It is great to think of the meaning in what we are doing rather than just expect everything as a means to an end. Even something like happiness is not necessarily an "end". In work it is good to find something that we enjoy doing and then find somebody to pay us for it. Anything can be professionalized. It is up to us to find our meaning.

Myth-Chief

Myth-Chief is a fantasy, detective, comedy work that is deep in a series of books. Perhaps if I started earlier in the series I might have found this more intriguing. Instead I had trouble following what was going on and why I should care about it. Some detectives were having a contest to solve a case and be leaders. They did stuff but cared too much about themselves, so another person became the leader. They seemed to have solved the case and have some funny things happen on the way.

Phule’s Errand: Phule's Company Series, Book 6

In the final Phule's Company book, many of the characters and themes developed all come together. Phule's butler's girlfriend ends up getting stationed with the company and they run off on a short vacation. This causes all sorts of consternation, not the least of which is a "shut down" switch in Phule if there are issues with the computer. They try to trace the butler and go off on a mission to find him. However, right after they leave, the general announces a visit. They get the robot Phule to involve him with golf. However, he gets hit in the head and becomes a strict drill sergeant. The real Phule eventually spoils a rival's casino operation and is rescued through the help of some family members on "old earth" Italy. There are plenty of other humorous bits on the way. Eventually, everything ends up back to normal.

Phule Me Twice: Phule's Company, Book 4

The fourth Phule's Company books continues with many of the same sitcom-esque humorous episodes. The General keeps trying to get Phule's Company to fail. The company has been asked to be military advisors to the Zenobians. This time he sends a major out to whip them into shape. However, he ends up going crazy and leaving. There is a robot Phule who is kidnapped from a casino, but ends up on the base. There are a group of people who join an "Elvis church" and alter their appearance to look like Elvis. Even robot-proof camouflage plays a role. In the end Phule makes peace between the Zenobians and a mysterious other species and the general falls flat on his face, all while many funny things happen in the interim.

A Phule and His Money: Phule's Company Series, Book 3

In A Phule and His Money, Phule's company continues to work on the casino. They face many forces trying to break them down. They also get new recruits. Then they are given a new assignment to help help keep peace is in a civil conflict. This just happened to be the place where Phule caused problems early in his career. The planet was a former mining colony that now is known for roller costers. With Phule's help, they develop two great roller coaster parks and resolve the conflict. It is interesting how the "space future" was viewed in 1999. Simple things that we take for granted (like cell phones) would have made significant changes in how events would have unfolded.

Phule’s Paradise: Phule's Company Series, Book 2

The second Phule's company book has the motley crew being sent on a "punishment" mission to try to protect a casino. The owner is a young heir who is in over his head. He inadvertently leans on the very people that are trying to take over his operation to help him out. Phule hires some actors to help supplant his band, while sending others undercover as hotel employee. A crime boss, Maxine, owns all the other casinos and nearly has control of the this one before Phule outfoxes her. However, she is sneaky as him and sets things up for a longer term battle. It is yet another funny episode in this "sitcom in a book".

Phule's Company: Phule's Company, Book 1

Phule's Company is a band of misfit space legion recruits led by an ultra-wealthy heir to a Phule company munitions fortune. (Though Phule claims to have earned his money himself.) The legion does not know what to do with him. Rather than kick him our, the send him to be in charge of a remote outpost where nobody wants to be. There he manages to build up the esteem of his group and transform them into a viable fighting force. He always seems to know how to use bureaucracy and rules to his advantage. (Though padding things with some money doesn't hurt.) The rise is not perfect, but they are eventually able to use cunning to tie an elite army group in a contest of abilities. At the end, there is an alien visitation on the outpost. They manage to diffuse the conflict, and Phule gets rich through some business negotiations with them. It all seems very similar to a typical rags to riches sitcom.