I read about the first 30 pages and could go no further. The Myth series and the Phule series are both excellent, and hopefully Mr. Asprin's next book will be equal to his past works. Unfortunately "License Invoked" falls far short of expectations.

I'm glad to see Asprin back to writing on a regular schedule.

These two authors 'invoke' a good story with personable chemistry between the protagonists. So why only two stars?

The beginning, so important to hooking a reader, is a jumble of mixed messages, and doesn't do justice to the plot or characters assembled.

Never confuse a reader as to whether you are going to "romp" or deliver careful characters. When the material starts out slyly poking fun with odd government agencies like "O.O.P.S.I.E.", you expect you are going to read "screwball comedy", which is a place the authors have creative gifts.

But this is actually a murder and black magic story -- a pretty good one.

If you can roll past the first thirty pages of mixed signals, you might find a nice story here.

Having been a fan of Robert Asprin for a number of years, and having been impressed with prior collaborations of Jody Lynn Nye, I found "License Invoked" a disappointment. Little about this book has the ring of truth necessary for a good fantasy. The characters have an unpleasant, one-dimensional feel to them: a perpetually annoyed, insecure, English government agent; an upper-class Englishwoman masquerading as an Irish 'acid-folk' singer; a French Quarter denizen on the government payroll. Combined with goverment agencies specialising in the paranormal (X-Files anyone), a Satanic version of tele-evangelism, and you are left with a mixture that doesn't jell. There is a certain disconnected air to the story, as if neither Asprin or Nye had any real interest in the tale.