Robert L. Asprin | Biography

With both science fiction and fantasy novels, as well as the script of several graphic novels to his credit, author Robert L. Asprin commands a loyal following of both teen and adult readers. Getting his start as an author of science fiction during the mid-1970s, Asprin quickly began a move toward the fantasy genre with such novels as Another Fine Myth, Myth Conceptions, and 1985's Little Myth Marker. As the titles alone should make clear to a reader unfamiliar with his work, Asprin liberally garnishes his writing with a full dose of farce, deliberately leaden puns, and blatant parody. Comparing his work to that of author L. Sprague de Camp, Richard A. Lupoff comments in the St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers on the "typical Asprin characteristics of rapid pace, slapstick action, and broad humor."

The Cold Cash War was Asprin's first published novel. Drawing from his personal background working as a financial analyst in a large U.S. corporation, Asprin wove a futuristic tale about mega-corporations that behave like nations: they wage bloodless "warfare" on each other using war-game simulations. Ignoring the efforts of actual governments to stop them, these moneyed superpowers eventually lose control of the game when real weapons enter the picture and the hits become lethal. Calling it a "very good treatment of a SF concept popular in the 50s," a Publishers Weekly reviewer praised The Cold Cash War's "satire, action, and character."

Asprin's second novel found him mapping terrain in a different genre: fantasy. Another Fine Myth, published in 1978, was inspired by such heroic characters as Kane and Conan the Barbarian, and Asprin leapt into the project with relish. Basing his two main characters--an apprentice wizard named Skeeve (who also serves as narrator) and his shifty-eyed cohort, Aahz--on the relationship between Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in their classic screwball "Road" films of the 1940s, Asprin developed a winning duo whose antics have fueled an entire series of humorous "Myth" books, in addition to spinoff graphic novels. In 1983's Hit or Myth the two come up against both a gang of criminals with assorted magical powers and the avaricious Queen Hemlock; dragons, demons, and an amazing assortment of fantastic ne'er-do-wells keep Asprin's fumbling heroes on their toes throughout other "Myth" books. While the series provides little in the way of the high-tech hijinks that appeal to some sci-fi followers, its lighthearted tone and steady barrage of puns, jokes, and bumbling antics have made it an entertaining read. "Asprin isn't trying to be profound," Tom Easton noted in a review in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact. "He's having fun."

Writer and Editor

In his continuing effort to keep the job of writing fun, Asprin has strived to keep his subject matter from becoming stale. As he once noted, "my first three books are intentionally dissimilar. The Cold Cash War is speculative near-future fiction involving corporate takeover of world government. Another Fine Myth is a sword-and-sorcery farce full of dragons, stranded demons, and very bad puns. The Bug Wars does not have a human in the entire book. It was written 'first-person alien, reptile to be specific' and has been one of my greatest writing challenges to date." In addition to novel-writing, Asprin also branched out into editing, collaborating with fellow editor and writer Lynn Abbey to produce the popular series "Thieves' World." Called "the toughest, seamiest backwater in the realm of fantasy" by Voice of Youth Advocates reviewer Carolyn Caywood, the highly acclaimed "Thieves' World" anthology series brings together a collection of original short fiction written by a host of predominately women writers, including Abbey, Janet Morris, and C. J. Cherryh. Each book in the series centers around the ongoing struggle between the evil Queen Roxanne and her nemesis, a blood-sucking enchantress named Ischade. The continuing battle between these two powerful witches continues through such collections as Soul of the City and Blood Ties, each of which takes place in a mythic city called Sanctuary.

Asprin has characterized the overall message behind his writing as "the case for Everyman. Like all science fiction writers, I promote space travel and development. I feel, however, that we will never see it until the average guy on the street can see a place for himself in space. We will have to have the support of the common man, not just the scientists and test pilots." In 1979's Tambu, for example, Asprin assembles what he believes is a realistic crew for a spaceship. A renegade spaceworker who starts a kind of intra-stellar mafia, Tambu and this rough and ready crew use their collective street smarts to protect client planets from space pirates. Calling Tambu an "action-filled tale of how power corrupts," Claudia Morner notes in School Library Journal that Asprin's unusual sci-fi adventure yarn holds a great appeal for YA readers. "It is not only co-educational," the author explained of Tambu; "there are several racial types, ages ranging from teens to old-timers, and a wide cross-section of educational backgrounds. That is what life on Earth is all about, and that is what it is going to be like in space." Reflecting aspects of human reality within his fantasy has always been Asprin's goal; he maintains that the science fiction writer can be instrumental in changing the public's awareness of the amazing possibilities presented by travel to other worlds. "We are going to need grease monkeys as well as computer programmers," he once noted. "Few people see themselves as Superman, and as long as science fiction writers portray space travelers in that light, the taxpayers and voters could not care less about getting off the planet."

In 1990 Asprin added a new hero to his catalogue of space adventurers with Phule's Company. Willard Phule is a captain in the Space Legion, but his devil-may-care attitude soon finds him exiled to a remote command, where he is put in charge of a rag-tag band of fellow miscreants. Undaunted, the savvy Phule eventually shapes his troops into a highly effective--and profitable--military outfit. "This lighthearted tale is part science fiction, part spoof, part heart-warmer," noted a Publishers Weekly critic of the novel, which would be followed in 1992 by the sequel, Phule's Paradise.

Another novel leaning more towards sci-fi than fantasy is Asprin's Time Scout, which he co-wrote with Linda Evans. Taking place in the near future, the 1995 novel features a world where time travel has become a common vacation pastime. Kit Carson, a retired "time scout"--one of the daring explorers who enter new passages through time in advance of the commonfolk--must train his headstrong granddaughter to survive as the first female time scout. Calling the novel "engaging, fast moving, historically literate," and reflective of Asprin's broad knowledge of the martial arts, Booklist reviewer Roland Green dubbed Time Scout "first-class action sf."

A Variety of Interests

"Philippine-Irish in ancestry, I look like a stereotyped revolutionary (which I'm not)," Asprin once commented. His offbeat "look" is reflective of several of his hobbies, which include a broad study of the martial arts. Fencing and coaching foil-, saber-, and epee-wielding, he has also served as divisional vice-chairman of the Amateur Fencing League of America. "Furthermore, I have studied the Japanese, Okinawan, and Chinese forms of armed and unarmed combat," Asprin added, "and am passable with firearms and archery. To round out the picture, I was active for several years in the Society for Creative Anachronism, which practices full-force combat with mock-ups of swords, spears, axes, and maces. As Yang the Nauseating, I organized and ran a 'household' patterned after a Mongol horde."

Fortunately, Asprin continues to take time away from his many hobbies to settle down and write. His creative side has also found other outlets: the raising and breeding of tropical fish, acting in several amateur stage productions, and playing folk guitar. But "I am first and foremost a storyteller," he will admit. Influenced by a youthful diet of action-adventure novels, Asprin has found the science fiction and fantasy genres to be another excellent outlet for both his interests and his imagination, ensuring that his novels are dependably lighthearted and entertaining. "I find long, drawn-out descriptions of explanations of mathematical theorems to be extremely boring," Asprin explains, "and therefore exclude them from my own stories. You do not have to know how to build a clock to tell time, or understand a jet engine to ride in a plane."