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Insanely funny, well researched book . . . . . . and did I mention that it's hilarious yet? In "Pyramid Scheme," the plot is mostly a MacGuffin; a pyramid has been dropped on the University of Chicago by forces unknown, and it's causing trouble -- major, big time trouble. As in, it's killing people. Our heroes, led by Jerry Lukacs (not sure I spelled his name right), a highly intellectual man without much personal physical strength, go to check out the pyramid, and instead get dropped into a series of adventures with real gods, real heroes -- and mostly, they find out that they'd rather be back home, thanks. But they're not, so they have to fight through the adventures, and do their best to win back to our time -- and hope they've gotten back in time to stop the pyramids from causing more trouble. You'd not think this is a great set up for a work of humor, and it is very unconventional -- but it does work, as throughout the rest of the book, you keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. What's up with this whole pyramid bit? Why are the heroes being constantly dropped into this situation and then into the next one? Who's going to pair up, and why? (Some of it is sexist, I grant, but the two authors make fun of sexism at the same time, and it is very, very funny.) It's character-driven fantasy, it's historically accurate, and it's incredibly, insanely funny. What more do you want? Well, if you want a cohesive, logical plotline from beginning to end, you probably won't find it here. This is a sprawling plot, instead, which works to play up the humor and lighten up the violence. Because really, without the humor, this story would be unrelentingly grim; instead, we get a satirical, riotously funny view of what would happen if some people from today's world got transported into the past (and different milieus of same) and then interacted with heroes and gods. What I like best about this book is that the authors, Eric Flint and Dave Freer, did a great job writing an intensely hilarious, laugh out loud book. If you're an intellectual, or if you like the Greek myths, or even if you just like low comedy, this book is for you. Four stars, recommended.(...) Warning! Exposure to this book may lead to one or more of the following symptoms: Mania uncontrollable groaning abdominal pain blurred vision weepy eyes shortness of breath Symptoms will probably persist for the duration of the novel, and for several hours or days after completion. Symptoms may spontaneously reappear, usually at inappropriate moments. While there is no cure, further reading of Freer has been known to lessen withdrawal symptoms. More seriously, this book is truly a wonderfully written book, look out for falling puns low jokes, and ticked off god's. Anyone who enjoys a good laugh will love this. If you are a mythology buff, or loved the old 'Fractured Faire Tales" cartoons you'll be right at home in the pages of this book. A Hilarious Romp A small pyramidal alien object crashes to earth in the midst of the library of the University of Chicago and strange things begin to happen. It periodically grows larger and selected people disappear. Of those who disappear, only the dead and dying manage to return, often with hideous wounds. The political situation is clear: something must be done. Unfortunately, everything that is tried seems to make the problems worse. Those who disappear find themselves in a strange world that seems to be based upon Homeric legend with bits and pieces of Egyptian mythology thrown in for leavening. The Olympian gods seem bent on their personal destruction, the "heroes" of legend seem less than heroic and the only allies are those usually portrayed as the villains. It is up to an academic specializing in mythology, a maintenance man, a marine biologist and a couple of soldiers to figure out what is going on without getting themselves killed. This is a hilarious book full of unexpected comedy. It was lots of fun. Not Free SF Reader Mythology fun and pun. I am not sure if it is possible to make fun of everything in a book, but Freer and Flint give it a fair shake. This writing combination seems more than able in producing amusement. Right from the introduction of the first absent-minded professor they start skewering in the kitchen, you have some idea of what you are in for. A presumably alien pyramid lands in the USA, rather perturbing the military and spook agencies, who can't do anything about it, and when they do, it actualy makes it bigger, and things get worse. People also disappear, and end up in odd recreated mythological worlds. In this case, Greece and Egypt. The disappeared, including the prof from before, cops, soldiers, and others get to try and use what modern nouse they have to try and get back home. Everything talks it seems, hydras, sphinxes, dwarves, except maybe the odd big Egyptian crocodile monster. The gods are real, and don't take too kindly to upsetting their alien-dominated applecart. Plenty of fun, this one. 3.5 out of 5 Gods-awful Oh, my; where to begin? With the plot, perhaps. A big black pyramid appears out of nowhere in Chicago, and begins sucking in a seemingly random assortment of people, all but a few (our eventual protagonists) of whom return dead. The group who survives find themselves traveling through an approximation of Greek and Egyptian mythology. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the army throws increasingly powerful weaponry at the pyramid, which absorbs it all; its ultimate goal (apparently, as far as I can decipher) is to goad us into using a nuclear weapon, which will breach some threshold and allow it to conquer us. I guess. Yes, it's a spoiler, but I can't bring myself to care. Or maybe the characters. These fall into two categories; the first group are straightforward stereotypes. The Frenchman loves food and considers the Americans to be uncultured boors; the black woman works at a menial job, is loud and overbearing, and has a low threshold for disagreement. The second group are characters who are deliberately and heavy-handedly shown not to be stereotypes. The female biologist, in the name of avoiding a weak or passive female character, is instead large of frame, loud, and overly assertive and argumentative. The token black guy, though a janitor, takes a detailed interest in classical mythology and reads the journal Science on his breaks. This latter characterization irks me the most, I think. Having a janitor along in a group of academics and military types for variety is fine; allowing him to be intelligent, adaptable, and able to comport himself well in an alien world is fine as well, and in fact would prove the point I think the authors were trying to make. But this is an atypical janitor, with atypical interests, and it's precisely because of this "special knowledge" that he fits in so well. The implication is that an ordinary janitor wouldn't have been up to it, and I don't think this is what the authors meant to convey. (This is why even the most unrealistic novels should still contain real people.) Or everything else. The setting: are the gods and mythical creatures real? How real? They seem to think that they're genuine, and mention is made of a bargain between the aliens and the gods (as opposed to the aliens' having themselves created the gods), implying that the gods existed prior to the novel. But those gods didn't exist, right? I give up. The characterizations: people don't talk like this. You could attend Society for Creative Anachronism meetings and Piers Anthony discussion groups until the rapture and not hear as many puns as there are in this novel. They also don't behave like this. Every situation has three possible courses of action: the right way, the wrong way, and the silly way. Guess which one the characters usually choose? In short, it's an utter mess, without even the benefit of a clear explanation of the situation. Read my other reviews: I can find the good in almost anything. There isn't any in this book. The title is the zenith of the cleverness and wit displayed therein; in fact, it almost seems as though one of the authors thought of the title on a whim and decided to write a novel to accompany it. But that's not possible. Is it? Compare prices:
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