Comments on: RIP Robert Asprin

RIP Robert Asprin

wenat — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:12:41 -0800

Not another fine myth. I've read Robert Asprin's Myth books from the beginning, and still re-read them every couple of years. You may also know him for co-creating the Thieves' World shared universe books. RIP Mr. Asprin, Skeeve, Aahz, Tananda, and the rest of the gang. (Now I have to go and dig up the graphic novels he did with Phil Foglio.)

By: empath

empath — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:20:03 -0800

I read the entire myth series during a weekend in the 9th grade when i had the flu. I thoroughly enjoyed them, though I couldn't even begin to tell you what they were about, 20 years later :)

By: Cathedral

Cathedral — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:22:51 -0800

. Well, damn. I feel like I felt when Heinlein died.

By: gurple

gurple — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:23:45 -0800

By: serazin

serazin — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:37:44 -0800

Woah! In retrospect the books are pretty shitty, but I fucking loved them so fucking much. I remember them better than most of my real life experiences from when I was 10 or 12 - the age I was when I was reading them. Thank you Robert Asprin!

By: CuJoe

CuJoe — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:46:29 -0800

By: vertigo25

vertigo25 — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:49:31 -0800

I was never a huge fan... But this is actually bothering me quite a bit. Apparently he was in perfect health. Someone coming to pick him up for a con he was the guest of honor at, and discovered him slumped in a chair. [source] It doesn't bother me so much that I could die like that... in fact... hell, I can't imagine a better way to go... completely unaware that it was even going to happen and the poof... What bothers me is that it can happen like that at all. Makes me look at my loved ones and think... damn. I couldn't handle losing them like that. My heart realy goes out ot his family and friends.

By: sebastienbailard

sebastienbailard — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:11:25 -0800

By: Dipsomaniac

Dipsomaniac — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:15:14 -0800

hell, I can't imagine a better way to go. When I go, I want my friends to say "He sure owed me a lot of money." .

By: Pater Aletheias

Pater Aletheias — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:20:05 -0800

I enjoyed his books when I was in high school, and it's strange to hear that he's died. I always thought he would disappear and be declared mything in action.

By: The Light Fantastic

The Light Fantastic — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:28:52 -0800

By: Harald74

Harald74 — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:34:35 -0800

Were there short stories set in the Thieve's World universe as well? I seem to remember reading something where a female protagonist had some sort of spring-loaded razor sharp contraption tucked away you-know-where as a sort of rape insurance. It certainly impressed 13-year old me...

By: angeline

angeline — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:43:14 -0800

Robert Asprin was my gateway into sci-fi/fantasy, basically the whole reason I am any kind of geek at all. I loved his books as a kid and as an adult...this is a real shock, so sad.

By: idiotfactory

idiotfactory — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:02:19 -0800

No! This must be a mythtake!

By: moonbiter

moonbiter — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:31:50 -0800

Were there short stories set in the Thieve's World universe as well? Yes, as mentioned in the FPP. Specifically, he was editor for the first four and the co-editor for #5-12. He was also the creator of several of the characters in the books.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:56:33 -0800

He brought a whole lot of joy into my life during my high school years. Here's to you, Mr. Asprin. Thank you for all the time you let me spend in your worlds.

By: Minus215Cee

Minus215Cee — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:22:09 -0800

. He gave me some of the most laughter-filled weekends of my teenaged life. Thanks, Mr. Asprin.

By: sixo33

sixo33 — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:26:08 -0800

By: jtron

jtron — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:35:43 -0800

. I used to devour his books. Great stuff; he'll be missed.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Fri, 23 May 2008 03:34:05 -0800

Damn, damn, damn. Count me in as another fan of the Myth books. The worst of it is that I can't remember if I got to shake his hand once, or if I'm getting him confused with Craig Shaw Gardner.

By: anastasiav

anastasiav — Fri, 23 May 2008 03:59:23 -0800

Mr Asprin was a fairly influential early member of the SCA. I've never read any of his work, but I'm indebted to him for helping craft a group which has added so much to my life. .

By: Shohn

Shohn — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:20:14 -0800

It's been years since I read any of the Myth books, but I remember them fondly. Even though I wasn't just completely into them, to this day if someone calls me a pervert, I'll often correct them with "It's pervect!" RIP, Mr Asprin.

By: Falling_Saint

Falling_Saint — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:35:32 -0800

By: ikkyu2

ikkyu2 — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:46:48 -0800

By: cupcakeninja

cupcakeninja — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:57:42 -0800

He'll be mythed. .

By: bshort

bshort — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:03:43 -0800

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:09:45 -0800

I haven't read most of his work, but ran across The Bug Wars when I was much younger, and it definitely made a tangible difference in my life and in my tastes in science fiction. If I understand correctly, the book was atypical when compared to most of Aspirin's works, as it was not comic in tone at all.

By: smackwich

smackwich — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:41:56 -0800

Goddamn horrible. I've been a myth fan since I was a wee lad. RIP dogg.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:59:09 -0800

By: desuetude

desuetude — Fri, 23 May 2008 06:23:20 -0800

. I used Myth books to be the gateway drug for my friends who didn't think they liked fantasy. I remember them fondly.

By: dwivian

dwivian — Fri, 23 May 2008 06:25:04 -0800

By: substrate

substrate — Fri, 23 May 2008 06:25:36 -0800

. They were really fun books when I was a teenager. I don't know if they'd hold up now or not but I enjoyed them at the time - and that's all that matters.

By: homodigitalis

homodigitalis — Fri, 23 May 2008 06:27:27 -0800

. Damn, Adams dead, Heinlein dead, Clarke dead. All my great heroes are gone. I am feel so old and lonely ...

By: Ber

Ber — Fri, 23 May 2008 06:37:53 -0800

Oh damn. I tore through all those Thieves World books back in my misspent youth. Thanks for the good times Mr. Asprin. RIP

By: oddman

oddman — Fri, 23 May 2008 06:54:58 -0800

Both the Myth and Thieves' World series were touchstones of my early teen years. This is a sad, sad news. No more fine myths. .

By: elfgirl

elfgirl — Fri, 23 May 2008 07:00:23 -0800

By: eriko

eriko — Fri, 23 May 2008 07:09:15 -0800

Fuck. He wasn't the guy who wrote the myth books. He wasn't the guy who made the DI what they are today. He wasn't the filker. He was a fan, and I knew him. We talked, we joked, we were all part of that grandfalloon known as fandom. That's what Bob was. He was a Fan, just like the rest of us. He just did some work on the side. I miss him already. There's another hole in the world, a gaping void where a friend and fellow traveller used to sit. The universe has too many holes already. Last night, I find out an old coworker has terminal cancer, this morning, this. Entropy wins, I know. Some have lost Robert, some have lost Yang the Nauseating, some have lost Bob. We're all crying.

By: anansi

anansi — Fri, 23 May 2008 07:10:58 -0800

Damn. The myth books and Thieves' World were a big part of my imaginary landscape as a kid. Its feels wierd, all of the authors that I read as a kid (who were alive and actively writing then) are dying: Adams, Asimov, Clark, Asprin. . . the list keeps growing. The world is becoming a much more mundane place.

By: jlkr

jlkr — Fri, 23 May 2008 07:12:42 -0800

By: mygothlaundry

mygothlaundry — Fri, 23 May 2008 07:50:15 -0800

Wow. I loved Thieves' World as a teenager; in fact, thanks to jtron, I've just been slowly rereading them. And they kinda, sorta hold up, too - some of the stories are wonderful. Imagine getting that many people to work together for that long: 12 whole books. What a genius for collaboration that man must have had. How sad and how sudden.

By: vporter

vporter — Fri, 23 May 2008 08:40:53 -0800

This man helped me escape from many a cold, boring winter night during my youth. He'll be missed.

By: joelhunt

joelhunt — Fri, 23 May 2008 08:43:34 -0800

Geez, I haven't read those books since I was a teenager... used to love them, though. I think the Myth books (along with the Spellsinger series) were the first fantasy books I read. .

By: elendil71

elendil71 — Fri, 23 May 2008 08:50:34 -0800

Aww shucks, all my geeky influences are passing on. Resquiescat in pace, Mr. Asprin

By: webmutant

webmutant — Fri, 23 May 2008 08:59:49 -0800

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:00:08 -0800

I loved the Theives' World books. They were probably the last fantasy books that I was able to read just straight, without trying to read them too deeply. They scratched the itch that Fritz Lieber created for me by having the sheer gall to not write enough Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser material. Haven't revisited them; I did revisit Lieber and to my deep pleasure and surprise, all of the Fafhrd/Mouser material is so, so, so finely crafted and, for want of a better word, literary, that it was pure sensual and analytic pleasure. Thanks for your stuff, Bob. The shared universe concept for writers was something that your contributors clearly had a total blast with, and so did I.

By: Hactar

Hactar — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:00:45 -0800

. I tore through those books. Read them in middle school and again in high school, getting many more references. I was going to make a myth joke here, but I can't think up any that haven't been used already.

By: nonliteral

nonliteral — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:18:31 -0800

. Damn.

By: djeo

djeo — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:23:48 -0800

. I recently picked up Dragons Wild (sort of his love song to the French Quarter) and wanted to tell him how much I enjoyed knowing about some of the places he was writing about. Now I won't have the chance. Dammit.

By: Dantien

Dantien — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:52:43 -0800

Let me add: . I can happily say I was a huge fan of the Myth series as well as the Thieves World books. I was a huge fan of Aspirin, and he even got Phil Foglio to do the covers! How sad when I heard this early today...I already posted a blog entry at my site but had to add to the memorial here. I was a HUGE fan. Adams, Jordan, and not Aspirin. Who's left who is any good? Martin maybe....

By: Dantien

Dantien — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:53:56 -0800

oh yeah, and Shohn, you arent alone you pervect! I correct everyone too.

By: cybercoitus interruptus

cybercoitus interruptus — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:57:06 -0800

By: Aversion Therapy

Aversion Therapy — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:23:23 -0800

Ils damnit.

By: MUD

MUD — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:45:03 -0800

I liked the Myth books but it's the Phule series that is my comfort read for when I'm laid up in bed with lurgy. I'm extremely glad he wrote them.

By: ZakDaddy

ZakDaddy — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:57:09 -0800

By: phearlez

phearlez — Fri, 23 May 2008 11:01:07 -0800

In retrospect the books are pretty shitty Depends on your metric, I think. They're certainly not Great Literature, but they are exactly what they set out to be: sf/f versions of classic pulp tropes. Judged that way - which I would contend is how they should be judged - they're gems. .

By: cerebus19

cerebus19 — Fri, 23 May 2008 11:36:03 -0800

By: RussHy

RussHy — Fri, 23 May 2008 11:39:15 -0800

By: abulafa

abulafa — Fri, 23 May 2008 11:59:12 -0800

I was about to be first on the Phule train, for as much as I loved the Myth series some themes from Phule are stuck deeper in my brain than those from many greater classics. Go figure, I guess they (and the Myth series) just arrived at the right time in my forming noggin. .

By: zbaco

zbaco — Fri, 23 May 2008 12:09:48 -0800

By: lysdexic

lysdexic — Fri, 23 May 2008 12:31:59 -0800

gleep! >:'-{

By: JaredSeth

JaredSeth — Fri, 23 May 2008 12:44:13 -0800

Shadowspawn > Drizzt Do'Urden That is all. .

By: jkaczor

jkaczor — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:02:50 -0800

. Adams, Asimov, Clark, Gygax, Asprin This really blows - I re-read the Mythadventures every few years. Heck, I even had a treasured 1st edition signed by Bob when I was a teen...

By: FfejL

FfejL — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:28:48 -0800

The early Myth & Phule books are just plain fun. I've read and re-read them dozens of times, whenever I needed a pick me up. And the new Dragon's Wild series was a really interesting premise, just begun. This sucks. .

By: louche mustachio

louche mustachio — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:35:43 -0800

I used to absolutely devour the Myth books when I was a kid. They were funny, fun, fast moving, and comforting. My mother would throw them at me as roadblocks to keep me from stealing her Isaac Asimov magazines and it sometimes worked. I haven't thought about them since then, but I really liked them. .

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Fri, 23 May 2008 21:29:40 -0800

Not a fan but... well, that's not cool. Not cool at all.

By: Vindaloo

Vindaloo — Fri, 23 May 2008 23:56:42 -0800

By: JHarris

JHarris — Sat, 24 May 2008 02:01:28 -0800

!!! I met him at DragonCon in September. Seemed perfectly fine! I got to exchange a couple of words with him after a panel. I said he didn't look as I imagined him. He chuckled and edged away. I read some of the Myth books before, wasn't greatly impressed honestly, but he was wonderful at the panel. This is a tremendous shame. .