Very different in tone from later books in the series.

** spoiler alert ** I'm not in love with this book, obviously. They spend the first third of the book whining about their spouses, the next third lusting over women and being conflicted, and the final third being ever so grateful to be home to their love interests. I love the world, but I found the all male cast exceptionally aggravating. Seriously, I don't care if he is the king - who the hell leaves their wife behind to go on a frivolous quest to the center of the earth essentially when their wife is nine months pregnant. It deserves one star, honestly. I initially gave it two stars because I still enjoyed the world and the concepts expressed by the magic of the world, but the sexism and the overall shitty perspective of the three main male leads just beat me back down to one. I enjoyed Grundy and Humphrey quite a bit. Just seriously, they spend so much time ragging on their ladies at the beginning of the book and lusting over other women for another third that I just got really fed up. Like good grief, can you maybe not lust over EVERY woman you see on the way to this place? Literally, the griffon/man was described repeatedly as a woman hater. Is this what passed for good fiction back in the day? Five boys go on a quest only to discover they're complete morons and didn't know how good they had it back home? I think it's time I go reread Castle Roogna to make sure I still enjoy that one. I'm hoping that my enjoyment of it when I was younger will not have failed me. It was the first of his books I had read.