Rock of Ages

Maijstral #3

by Walter Jon Williams

Jane Austen meets P.G. Wodehouse---- IN SPACE!

After years of struggle, Drake Maijstral has been rated Number One Burglar by the Imperial Sporting Commission. Surely by now he deserves a vacation— and he fully intends to take one, on Earth. But valuable items keep disappearing, and it’s clear that Maijstral, the master thief to end all master thieves, is being preyed upon by another expert burglar. Maijstral would very much like to solve this mystery, but unfortunately people keep challenging him to duels, and he’s become enmeshed in conspiracies laid by two very attractive, very dangerous ladies. And to make things worse, the corpse of Maijstral’s father has been stolen— a corpse that is dead, but still senile.

Rock of Ages is the third hilarious Drake Maijstral adventure by the New York Times best-selling author Walter Jon Williams.

Genres: Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy, Humor

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 1995

About the author

Walter Jon Williams has published twenty novels and short fiction collections. Most are science fiction or fantasy -Hardwired, Voice of the Whirlwind, Aristoi, Metropolitan, City on Fire to name just a few - a few are historical adventures, and the most recent, The Rift, is a disaster novel in which "I just basically pound a part of the planet down to bedrock." And that's just the opening chapters. Walter holds a fourth-degree black belt in Kenpo Karate, and also enjoys sailing and scuba diving. He lives in New Mexico with his wife, Kathy Hedges.

Reviews

[Nicole Luiken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun caper, but this time instead of Maijstral doing a heist, he's been framed and must find out by whom. The first half had a lot of Maijstral reacting to things, but the second half was much better as he turned the tables. I loved the scenes with his departed father and the return of Ronnie Romper--especially the epiphany at the end.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book of a series; I haven't read the previous volumes yet but don't feel that impeded my understanding of this book, and I did enjoy it so I do plan to read the others. It's something of what we used to call a caper story, following as it does the exploits of Drake Maijstral, the top-ranked burglar in the galaxy. He is involved with a cast of unlikely characters (including his dead father), and has to prove his innocence in crimes for which he's been framed, fight some duels, keep one step ahead of the trio of beautiful young women with whom he's dallying, and in general just beat the odds and emerge triumphant in the best James-Bond-in-the-1970's tradition. It reminded me quite a bit of some of the best silly Ron Goulart novels. The cover isn't very good but does project one of the more interesting themes, which was best summed up by psychobilly artist Mojo Nixon with his song "Elvis is Everywhere."

[Jill Muraski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was unsure about diving into a book that’s the third installment for a character, but overall it stood up on its own. It was a fun fantasy but wasn’t my fave. Bonus star for title relevancy.

[Jay S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the future, Maijstral has the profession of "Allowed Burglar". He is a celebrity (of sorts) and is from a noble line. He has titles, and not much else. No lands, not even a house; all his "wealth" is from his "trade".

Now he is being framed; when he is visiting, valuable items are found missing and discovered close to Maijstral's quarters. (He did not do it - stealing from your host is bad manners).

He has been challenged to a duel. Before that can be done, he gets challenged twice more. Someone wants him dead.

This is the third of a series. I liked this enough I will seek out the first two in the series.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably more like 3.5 stars. Quite a change from the LONG and HEAVY books by authors I arguably like better that I have been slogging through lately that just don't live up to their promise.

This was a bit light, but a pleasure to read as it skips from event to event, things keep happening...

3rd book in a series but stands on it's own.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humorous fantasy, that I'm pretty sure I wrote something about. Maybe one of the earlier ones?
Nope. GR must have lost it, the rats! I'll look in my files (and at Amazon) in due time. If I find something, I'll repost. Whether the 5 stars will survive -- who knows?

[Paul Close · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, although somewhat unfocused. Very funny in spots. Good "Elvis" theme.