Recent Reads: Pyramid Scheme & Pyramid Power

First off, let me tell you these books have absolutely nothing to do with Bernie Madoff, finance in general, or just about anything else anchored in reality (though to be fair neither Madoff nor the investment banks were anchored in reality either.) Pyramid Scheme and the sequel Pyramid Power are jointly written by Eric Flint and Dave Freer.
Quick synopsis of the first book. Weird alien device shaped like a black 5 sided pyramid lands in the middle of the U. of Chicago campus and starts sucking up people who have a lot of gullibility or anger. Like the blob it grows with every snatch. It also grabs anyone in contact with the person it was trying to snatch. (This is where it gets weird and really, really funny.) Those that are snatched are thrown into the middle of the Greek myths -though a few get sidetracked into the Egyptian myth. The characters we follow are dropped on Odysseus ship in the middle of his trek home. A biologist, a not very bright policeman, a mythography professor, and two soldiers match wits with Odysseus, Circe, Medea, Arachne, and the pantheon of Olympus in a very funny twist.... sort of Connecticut Yankee in Zeus' court. This book is light, quick, funny and has it's own take on the Greek Myth - for example, why does Odysseus get to go down in history when he was one of the least successful leaders ever. To misquote, he lost 1100 men while spending 20 years travelling only 500 miles and having his men ignore nearly every order he gave. If you like myths and/or fantasy and/or clever writing this is a good book.
Pyramid Power revisits the pyramid with many of the same characters, only this time we are in the Norse myths. While dealings with Odin, and especially Loki and Thor are entertaining this book is a little too familiar. It is fun but doesn't quite capture the spirit of the first book. While fun it just doesn't flow as well as the first book.