I was 90% through this book and was slogging my way through slow, dragged out tedious writing when I realized I just didn't care enough to find out what happened at the end.As this other fellow Peter Heck collaborated on this book, I am surmising that Heck had a lot to do with it and Asprin was behind the scenes saving Heck from a disaster that would have had me laying the book aside much earlier. The book has moment of the old Phule series, but it has a great deal of flat, hackneyed prose that drains the characters of their previous vigor.Stop reading the Phule series until Asprin flies solo at the keyboard.If it still stinks, then we can wish Mr. Asprin well as he rides off into the sunset.