Editing Robert Asprin (section)

== Early writing ==
Asprin's first novel, ''[[The Cold Cash War]]'', an expansion of an earlier short story of the same title, was published in 1977.

During the next few years, he created and edited (with his then-wife, [[Lynn Abbey]]) the ''[[Thieves' World]]''<ref>[[Thieves' World]]</ref> series of [[shared universe|shared world]] anthologies, credited as the first project of its type. Many of the included authors later produced novels and stories of the theme which were not included in the anthologies, beginning with ''Beyond Sanctuary'' by [[Janet Morris]], the first "authorized" Thieves World novel, published in 1985. Janet Morris and [[Chris Morris (author)|Chris Morris]] later produced two more authorized Thieves' World novels and a series of related novels about their character Tempus and [[the Sacred Band of Stepsons]].<ref>[[The Sacred Band of Stepsons]] saga, [[Janet Morris]] and [[Chris Morris (author)|Chris Morris]] (1985–2010)</ref> A series of [[graphic novel]]s followed during the mid-1980s, and several other authors, including [[Andrew J. Offutt]] and [[David Drake]], published novels about their characters. In 2002, Lynn Abbey revived the series with the novel ''Sanctuary''.

During 1978, Asprin began the "[[MythAdventures]]" series, chronicling the comic adventures of Skeeve and Aahz, with the book ''[[Another Fine Myth]]''. Illustrated originally by [[Frank Kelly Freas]], and later by [[Phil Foglio]], the [[pun]]-rich books concern a "demon" magician who has lost his powers and his inexperienced human apprentice as they travel through a variety of worlds. Some of the early "Myth" novels were adapted later as comic books by [[Phil Foglio|Foglio]] and others. The Myth books have been published by three publishing companies over the years:  [[The Donning Company|Donning Starblaze]], [[Meisha Merlin]] and, as of 2008, [[Wildside Press]].

During the 1990s, Asprin's "Phule" novels concerned the humorous science-fiction exploits of a rag-tag "Space Legion" and its wealthy and iconoclastic commander, Willard Phule.