208 pages
English language
Published July 30, 2002 by Ace.
This novel retroactively fit between the third and fourth novels in the series, and that definitely made the stakes feel lower. The promise of vampire cows should have brought wacky hijinx, but most of the book felt a little flat.
A childhood favorite re-visited.
Is the story as good as I remember? – Yes
What ages would I recommend it too? – Twelve and up. While ten to twelve might enjoy it, there are many ideas they will not understand. Though, they will certainly get many of the jokes.
Length? – Most of a day’s read.
Characters? – Memorable, several characters.
Setting? – Fantasy, alternate dimensions.
Written approximately? – 2001.
Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – Ready to read more.
Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.
Short storyline: While this was the 11th book Robert Asprin wrote, it belongs at this place in the series timeline. In this book, Skeeve, Aahz, and Tanda declension hop to follow a treasure map to a golden cow. This unique dimension holds many mysteries, including the locals fear of night, vegetarianism, and those strange …
A childhood favorite re-visited.
Is the story as good as I remember? – Yes
What ages would I recommend it too? – Twelve and up. While ten to twelve might enjoy it, there are many ideas they will not understand. Though, they will certainly get many of the jokes.
Length? – Most of a day’s read.
Characters? – Memorable, several characters.
Setting? – Fantasy, alternate dimensions.
Written approximately? – 2001.
Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – Ready to read more.
Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? No.
Short storyline: While this was the 11th book Robert Asprin wrote, it belongs at this place in the series timeline. In this book, Skeeve, Aahz, and Tanda declension hop to follow a treasure map to a golden cow. This unique dimension holds many mysteries, including the locals fear of night, vegetarianism, and those strange cows, which Skeeve has not only never heard of, but never seen. Adding to the fun, is the hints of the “round up” from the town’s characters, the magical map that changes from place to place, the odd traveling companion they meet up with, and the actual identification of the the “golden cow.”
Notes for the reader: In this story, this author takes the emotions of his characters seriously. The characters don’t just race through the story full of action without emotion. The author realized the importance of the reader connecting to the characters by giving us the emotions, and even the reasons behind those sometimes odd emotions for the situation. While the first few times, it is a shock to the system to actually read of a character having an emotion, soon, it just becomes an enhancement to the story. In fact, when the lack of emotions by the main character becomes apparent in a later story, even that is noted by all the characters, until it is resolved.
