PHILOSOPHY: THE HANDS ON APPROACH
Mighty Greyboar, the world's greatest professional strangler, is dissatisfied with his lot in life. The work is steady and the pay is good, but what, he wonders, is the point of it all
But when he learns that there is a Supreme Philosophy of Life*, Greyboar the Strangler is Born Again! Still, just how can a professional man in good standing pay the bills with all this philosophical exploration getting in the way
That's what his hard-headed agent and manager Ignace wants to know! And Ignace's skepticism turns quickly into outright horror when Greyboar's philosophical preoccupation leads to one disaster after another . . .
—simple choke jobs turn into ethical quandaries . . .
—a bizarre artist and a deadly arms-master turn up to complicate their life . . .
—as if their new girlfriends haven't complicated it enough!
Before you know it, Greyboar the strangler and his disgruntled manager find themselves embroiled with an abbess at odds with her deity, heretics on the run, dwarves needing to be rescued, and then—worst of all!
Greyboar's long-estranged sister Gwendolyn, political activist and revolutionary, comes back to town asking Greyboar's help in an insane mission to the underworld. It's purely a noble cause, one which no self-respecting assassin would touch for a moment. But in the pursuit of Enlightenment, anything can happen. . . .
*What You want the details Hint: Entropy. For more on the secret, buy this book!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eric Flint has already demonstrated his talent as a gifted new star of military and alternate history SF and now shows a masterful skill at fantasy adventure. His first novel for Baen, Mother of Demons, was picked by Science Fiction Chronicle as a best novel of the year. His alternate history novel, 1632, sold out its first printing almost immediately and received lavish critical praise. With David Drake he has collaborated on five novels in the acclaimed "Belisarius" series, the next of which will be The Dance of Time. A longtime labor union activist with a degree (Phi Beta Kappa) in African history, he currently resides in northwest Indiana with his wife Lucille.
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EmbarrassingI am 100% sure that it's supposed to be comedy, with an unreliable narrator piling up outlandish half-finished tales, weird juxtapositions of run of the mill fantasy and more mundane suggestion, and unexpected twists.
It doesn't work. Never. It's not funny, there are no twists. It's like someone explained to a writer how Terry Pratchett wrote and he tried to go from there.Posted on
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Product ReviewMy Synopsis: Greyboar is the world's greatest strangler ("Have Thumb, Will Travel") and Ignace is his manager. During the course of this hilariously chaotic book they have such adventures as: visiting Abbess Hildegaard, who regularly corresponds with God (he insists on using the postal service); helping steal a Rap Sheet (a Joe relic) in Prygg; breaking into a high-level cleric's house (after setting him up to be kidnapped); breaking into The Pile (high-level-security prison) to break out Schrodinger's Cat, who is Greyboar's girlfriend; and descending into the Place Worse than Hell and facing Hands Worse Than (the CEO of Hell) to rescue Benvenuti, who is Greyboar's sister's ex-boyfriend. Along the way, in the various courses of their adventures, they meet such characters as: a fallen angel (and learn the differences between a fallen angel and a devil); a troll (and learn the differences between a troll and an ogre); and various types of snarls.
My Thoughts: It is almost impossible to define the plot of this book; it wanders, it rambles, it carries on. But it is WONDERFULLY fun! Eric Flint is one of the best at writing humorous fantasy/science fiction/military science fiction (and if you don't believe me, check out Rats, Bats & Vats and/or The Rats, the Bats & the Ugly (The Rbv Series)) and is sure to keep you coming back for more. I can heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good laugh!Posted on
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Product ReviewThis is an amazingly funny book. It's like the most culturally pretentious game master in the world is running a tabletop RPG, narrated in the first person by an insanely sarcastic midget. If you hate this book just because you don't get the jokes READ MORE.
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Product ReviewIt's a delightful romp. Wryly funny and often touching.
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Product ReviewAs fantasy goes, this is one of the most peculiar bookst I've ever read. It's in a class of it's own, to be sure. No previous knowledge of certain philosophers or their concepts is really needed, but if you do know the concepts, it adds a lot to the fun as with The Cat, and the wise man. I recommend it highly
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