I'm a strong believer in the concept of 'fair for its day' and not pillorying a book or artist for not living up to modern standards. The meat of the book was a bit thornier, since I noticed things and was bothered by things that I wouldn't have back when I was much younger and when the world was a bit different. It was a fast read and I looked forward to it, so I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt. I first read this way back in junior high, so it's tough to separate what I like because of merit and what I like because of nostalgia. Keywords: comfort-read, band-of-misfits, found family, cozy fantasy There's usually a twist with each challenge the crew faces, with a big one at the end of the story. There are also actual aliens, which were fun and bring it up a notch.Īlthough plotting poses as irreverent, it honestly supports familiar idealistic values: the value of the individual effort to the team, teamwork in achieving more, the value and function of law and order, and so on. Still, there's a lot of role diversity for the women.

Three of the women decide to pose for a nude magazine spread for no apparent reason, but when the General of the Army confronts Phule, he note that he couldn't order them not to any more than he could order them to do it. As an example, the characters, who chose their career names, are named things like 'Brandy,' 'Do-Wop,' 'Super-Gnat,' and 'Chocolate Harry'-you can probably guess their starting points. Asprin does like to start from stereotypes and then flesh them out, showing how they all are valuable. It passed my 80's sniff test, but that's because I went for underlying sensibility over thoughtful characterization. A significant portion of the book is spent getting to know the major players, all the better to appreciate the transformation they each undergo.

A billionaire genius is sentenced to running a grew of misfits in the intergalactic armed services.

A fast comfort read that remains vaguely amusing.

Phule's Company by Robert Lynn Asprin