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In Memoriam : Robert Asprin; (June 28, 1946 – May 22, 2008)
Topic Started: May 27 2008, 11:21 PM (86 Views)
Jolie Rouge
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Robert Lynn Asprin (June 28, 1946 – May 22, 2008) was an American science fiction and fantasy author best known for his humorous MythAdventures series.

Robert Asprin was born in St. Johns, Michigan, and attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan from 1964 through 1965. From 1965 through 1966 he served in the United States Army. He was active in the early years of the Society for Creative Anachronism under the name "Yang the Nauseating" and co-founded the Great Dark Horde in 1971. He was also an influential member of the Dorsai Irregulars.

Asprin's first novel, The Cold Cash War, an expansion of an earlier short story of the same title, was published in 1977.

Over the next few years, he created and edited (with his then-wife, Lynn Abbey) the Thieves' World series of shared world anthologies, perhaps one of the first projects of its type. As this series progressed, the Asprins lost control over many of the authors and the series ended in anarchy.[citation needed] A series of graphic novels was published in the mid-1980s, and several of the authors, notably Andrew J. Offutt, Janet Morris, and David Drake published novels about their characters. In 2002, Lynn Abbey resurrected the series with the novel Sanctuary.

Also in 1979, Asprin began to chronicle the comic adventures of Skeeve and Aahz in the "MythAdventures" series. Originally illustrated by Frank Kelly Freas, and later by Phil Foglio, the highly pun-driven books follow a "demon" magician who has lost his powers and his inexperienced human apprentice as they travel through a variety of worlds in pursuit of wealth and glory. Some of the early "Myth" novels were later adapted as comic books by Foglio and others. The Myth books have passed through three publishing companies over the years: Donning Starblaze, Meisha Merlin and as of 2008, Wildside Press.

In the 1990s, Asprin's "Phule" novels followed the humorous science-fiction exploits of a rag-tag company of the "Space Legion" and its wealthy and iconoclastic leader Willard Phule.

Due to a series of personal and financial problems, Asprin stopped writing in the 1990s. Eventually, these problems were somewhat resolved, and in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he wrote several novels in collaboration with authors Peter Heck, Jody Lynn Nye, and Linda Evans: as a result of the conditions of his agreement with the IRS, it would receive all income earned from books for which he was credited as sole author, making it in his own best interest to reduce his role to co-author. These novels included continuations of the "Myth" series and the "Phule" series as well as works in original series.

Asprin passed away 22 May 2008.

Bibliography

Tambu (1979)
The Bug Wars (1979)
Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe (1979) (with George Takei)
Catwoman (1992) (with Lynn Abbey)
License Invoked (February 2001)
For King and Country (July 2002)
E.Godz (March 2005)
Dragons Wild (April 2008)

Series

MythAdventures
Another Fine Myth (1978)
Myth Conceptions (1980)
Myth Directions (1982)
Hit or Myth (1983)
Myth-ing Persons (1984)
Little Myth Marker (1985)
M.Y.T.H. inc. Link (1986)
Myth-Nomers and Im-Pervections (1987)
M.Y.T.H. inc. in Action (1990)
Sweet Myth-tery of Life (1993)
Myth-Ion Improbable (2001)
Something M. Y. T. H. Inc. (2002)
Myth-told Tales (2003) with Jody Lynn Nye
Myth Alliances (2003) with Jody Lynn Nye
Myth-taken Identity (2004) with Jody Lynn Nye
Class Dis-Mythed (2005) with Jody Lynn Nye
Myth-Gotten Gains (2006) with Jody Lynn Nye
Myth-Chief (2008) with Jody Lynn Nye
Myth-Fortune (forthcoming) with Jody Lynn Nye

Omnibus editions

MYTH Adventures (1984)
Myth Adventures One (1985)
Myth Alliances (Myth-ing Persons, Little Myth Marker, M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link) (1986)
The MYTH-ing Omnibus (1992)
The Second MYTH-ing Omnibus (1992)
M.Y.T.H. Inc. in Action / Sweet Myth-Tery of Life (2002)
M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link / Myth-Nomers and Im-Pervections (2002)
Myth Adventures Three (2002)
Myth-ing Persons / Little Myth Marker (2002)
Duncan and Mallory (with Mel White)
Duncan and Mallory (1986)
The Bar None Ranch (1987)
The Raiders (1988)
Phule's Company
Phule's Company (1990)
Phule's Paradise (1992)
A Phule and His Money (1999) with Peter J. Heck.
Phule Me Twice (2000) with Peter J. Heck.
No Phule Like an Old Phule (2004) with Peter J. Heck.
Phule's Errand (2006) with Peter J. Heck.
Time Scout (with Linda Evans)
Time Scout (1995)
Wagers of Sin (1995)
Ripping Time (2000)
The House that Jack Built (2000)
Cold Cash
The Cold Cash War (1977)
Cold Cash Warrior (1989) (with Bill Fawcett)
Wartorn (with Eric Del Carlo)
Resurrection (2004)
Obliteration (2006)

Other short fiction

"The Ex-Khan" in Angels in Hell (1987), part of the Heroes in Hell series
"Two Gentlemen of the Trade" in Festival Moon (1987), part of the Merovingen Nights series
"A Harmless Excursion" in Smugglers Gold (1988), also from Merovingen Nights
"Mything in Dreamland" with Jody Lynn Nye in Masters of Fantasy (2004), part of the Myth series

Editor

Thieves' World
Thieves' World (1979)
Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn (1980)
Shadows of Sanctuary (1981)
Storm Season (1982)
The Face of Chaos (1983)
Wings of Omen (1984)
The Dead of Winter (1985)
Soul of the City (1986)
Blood Ties (1986)
Aftermath (1987)
Uneasy Alliances (1988)
Stealers' Sky (1989)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Asprin

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Robert Asprin (1946-2008)

On May 22, 2008, Bob passed away quietly in his home in New Orleans, LA. He had been in good spirits and working on several new projects, and was set to be the Guest of Honor at a major science fiction convention that very weekend. He is survived by his mother, his sister, his daughter and his son, and his cat, Princess, not to mention countless friends and fans and numerous legendary fictional characters.

He will be greatly missed.

If you wish to send a note to me or Bob’s family, please write to Jodynye @ yahoo.com

---

I just got off the phone with Bill Fawcett. He says what I thought - that this was totally unexpected. Bob seemed in great shape physically. His last checkup had been fine - no known problems.

Bill said that SFWA member Darlene Bolesny had come to pick Bob up to drive him to be Guest of Honor at MarCon. She found him slumped on the sofa with an sf book in his hand. She called 911 and the paramedics worked a long time trying to revive him but he was gone.

The sad part is that Bob was writing again. He'd finished a couple of books recently and had a number of contracts. Everything was looking up for him. He'll be missed very much.

http://webnews.sff.net/read?cmd=read&artid=<48363434.0@news.sff.net>
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