While the first Myth novel was relatively thin on plot, the second one fully compensated for that. Skeeve goes to become a court magician in a small kingdom, wins the position despite his lack of real magical skills and then confronts the biggest army his world has ever seen. With only six others he solves the crisis, not by might, but with tricks and bureaucratic momentum.
I said before that the Myth series reminded me of Pratchett’s early Discworld novels, but there are some differences. Completely absurd situations and explanations for almost everything, for example the foundation for the gigantic army or the nature of the bazaar dimension, turn out to be actual real. This grounding of the setting in complete hyperbole makes this one a balance act between naturalistic fiction and satire. Sometimes the satirical approach becomes overbearing, but in the end the fun writing always pulls through.
