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In the days of Sinbad, the handsome young merchant Hasan quests forth from Bassorah, seeking great wealth. But Lo! The hand of Allah sets the youth upon a rare journey--into the heart of deadly adventure, unearthly peril...and magic.Enslaved by the alchemist Bahram, bound into a camel's corpse and left on the Mountain of Clouds to be devoured by a roc--such is the beginning of Hasan's destiny. For he has entered a world of mighty jinns and hideous ifrits, amazon empires and bejeweled jungle palaces, enigmatic wizards and cloistered virgin princesses. And to know his life's desire, Hasan must twice capture the love of the bird-maiden Sana--the world's most beautiful woman, child of the vengeful king of jinns on the dreaded Isles of Wak!Harken ye now to a tale of exotic mystery, sensuous beauty, and strange sorcery-

I first read this book when I was in 3rd grade, on loan from my neighbor Rolf Mueller. I remember thinking it a hoot, and though many years have passed since 3rd grade, I remembered the book fondly.A few years back, while looking through a closing used book store, I found a paperback copy for $.50. I bought it, fully intending to read it again at some point. And, so I have done. And it was still a hoot.It's a simple read, very punny, that tells the story of an ogre much more engaging than Shrek. This ogre, Smash, who is quite cunning and vegetarian for an ogre, is on a search to find out what he is missing in his life. The Good Magician Humphrey sends him out on a quest across Xanth to find it, and along the way Smash befriends seven individual lovely lasses of varying backgrounds and species. Various pun-loaded antics ensue.Like I said, not a complicated read, but fun enough to keep one interested.The neatest thing about it, to me, is that the book happens in the magical world of Xanth. Anthony supplies a map of the magical land at the beginning of the book, and Xanth is, very clearly, Florida. I happened to finish the last 5 chapters of this book while riding through Florida on a train. The environment closely resembled that in the book, and in the afterward about the author, I learned that Anthony himself lives on his tree farm in Florida and drew inspiration from the scenery around him, including the train tracks at the back of his property.It provided a glorious end to my second read through.

This books is a tricky one - its a large format black and white guide to the series - it is dated for many reasons no least of which is that it is over 20 years old and more books have been added to the series and the world of Xanth has grown and developed. So the book - at first glance its really nothing new- it could even be seen as a bit of an ego boost to the authors as there is quite an in-depth introduction that really goes on about where inspirations came from who looks like what and why and how names and creatures came in to being. This gets a little heavy at times and can put you off. However once you are past that there is the same fun and (word) games you would expect from the works of Xanth - ok there is little new here since if you have read the series you already know what is going on, but this book collects all that together and lays it out in short easy chapters. In short for a fan there is little here that is new (if you have read the series) the charm is that you get to visit the world and characters all over again.

My experience of reading this novel (many years ago):Stage 1: Wow, what a very strange 1950s America. I'll bet something's up!Stage 2: Cool, teenagers race against vast conspiracy of adults breeding them for nefarious purposes!Stage 3: How strange. The pinnacle of "white" culture is 1950s America, while the pinnacle of "Asian" culture is ancient China, and the pinnacle of "African" culture is a tribe on the savannah. Not, like, 1950s America vs. 1950s Shanghai and 1950s Nairobi. Hmm. And is it really just white/black/asian here? Is every other race on planet earth close enough to "standard brown" that they don't merit bringing back? And why is there only one of each? If this is worth the resources wouldn't you want to have a spare or two on hand in cases of accidents, injury, illness, infertility, death, whatever? What about inbreeding in generation two? Or are they going to build in some redundancies and clone spares for that generation?Stage 4: Lots of happy interracial love stories between these kids when they meet up. How sweet!Stage 5: What?...No....So the happy ending of the story is that all of the kids agree that restoring racial purity is a goal so worthy that they're going to go back to their fake homes and their fake lives and marry their racial counterpart so they can successfully breed racially pure babies?That is the most revoltingly racist thing I have ever read in fiction form.I need to scrub my brain out with bleach.~~~~~After reading Race Against Time, I was never able to read another Piers Anthony book. I don't think I've ever even tagged them on here as 'read.' I can't bring myself to admit that I ever brought my mind in close contact to the products of a mind able to construct such a narrative.I'm shocked that anyone could give this thing more than a 1-star rating. It's the 21st century, people. Whatever excuses people had for praising this novel's "layered messages" in 1973 don't exist anymore. (The excuses were no good then either, but we like to praise ourselves for making progress on race relations--no?--and this novel is as close to a manual for white supremacy as I have ever had the displeasure of reading.) If I could give this book negative stars, I would.

Youth is Wasted on the Young Being grown up is a drag . . . or so thinks Lacuna, one of the mischievous Castle Zombie twins. So she makes the Good Magician Grey an offer he can't refuse. Thirsty for a taste of the Elixir of Youth, she'll help him outwit the evil Com-Pewter if he'll send her to Hell (in a handbasket, no less) to find Humfrey, the missing sorcerer. And while there, she'll learn the True History of Xanth (simplified) and help rescue a blushing Rose from the demon X(A/N)th . . . with the help of a gorgon or two.

Serpent's silver is a fiction book. With a main idea of watch you back because you never know what's going to happen next.The story reads from the standpoint of a series a series win which 2 brothers set out to conquer/ free different realms whilst encountering serpents and magical beings. Their father is from a distant realm himself, which is called earth. Earth harbors new technologies vs medieval more barbaric fighting tools. One brother is a charmer and goes on the inside of the enemy's territory. The other brother is the heroic glory seeking brother. Both brothers are blond hair blue eyes and both have a blood lust. Wow! This book is one of the most interesting and action packed books I have read. The book in this series seems appropriate because the boys dad was talking of distant lands and magical beings. In the first book there were dragons, now there's serpents. Whats next? This series makes me want to read all of Piers Anthony’s books.

A Spot of TroubleAn innocent piece of Mundane Snail Mail has provoked the dreaded Demon Jupiter to hurl his Red Spot at the magical land of Xanth. As the dire Dot draws closer, the unwelcome ordeal of saving the enchanted realm falls to Umlaut, an unlikely lad with an unknown past and an uncertain future. With a handful of colorful companions at his side, Umlaut must unravel a high-stakes intergalactic puzzle, uncover the secret of his mysterious past, and learn to understand the urgings of his own heart.It might have been the merest chance that brought Umlaut to Castle Zombie that morning and launched him on a harrowing adventure. But in the magical land of Xanth, things are seldom left to chance, and adventures lurk around every corner.An unassuming young man with a uncanny knack for attracting lovely young ladies and an uncommon talent for emulating anyone he wished, Umlaut was forced to flee a flock of overly friendly females by disguising himself as a Zombie girl. In his haste to find a hiding place, he found himself face-to-face with a dreadful dragon and feared he would soon meet his end. But in Xanth, things are seldom exactly as they seem, and he soon discovered that the dragon was really a sinuous female sea serpent named Sesame, with a gift similar to his own, who had become accidentally entrapped in the Castle's dungeon.When the two happen upon a packet of mail from Earth delivered by mischance to the Zombie King, they inadvertently set in motion a sinister scheme that could spell the end of Xanth. A letter they forward to the Demon Jupiter unexpectedly enrages him, causing him to send his own Red Spot hurtling toward Xanth. Soon everything is up in a heaval, for no one knows how to avert this interplanetary peril. Even the Good Magician Humfrey is baffled, for some strange force has obscured the future. In desperation, he instructs Umlaut and Sesame to deliver the remaining letters to their far-flung recipients, in the faint hope that this may somehow stop the Spot.As they set out on their appointed rounds, Umlaut and Sesame are soon joined by two feline friends, Jenny Elf's companion, Sammy Cat, and a lovely, prescient creature named Claire Voyant who can sometimes see the future. Beguiled and bedeviled by the delicious Demoness Metria, who uses her shapely assets to distract him from his goal, Umlaut leads his allies on an unforgettable odyssey to the farthest reaches of the enchanted realm, from the submicroscopic Nth Moon of Ida, and the home of all dreams and nightmares, to the unmagical land of Euphoria, where he meets a sweet and sprightly young girl named Surprise who captures his heart. But before Umlaut can complete his quest and return to his beloved, he must unravel the unfathomable puzzle of his own existence, which is somehow inextricably entwined with the fate of Xanth.A satisfyingly suspenseful tale filled with mystery, magic, and merriment, Up in a Heaval is exciting and entertaining fantasy adventure from the pen of a master storyteller.

THE WOMAN WHO WANTED REVENGEWhen the man Niobe loved was shot, she learned that she had been the target, in a devious plot of the Devil's. Hoping for revenge, Niobe accepted a position as one of the three Aspects of Fate, only to find that Satan's plots were tangled into the very Tapestry of Fate. Now the Evil One was laying a trap to ruin Niobe's granddaughter Luna, who threatened his plans—and he had tricked her son into Hell.Niobe's only chance to save her son and Luna was to accept a challenge by the Prince of Deceit—a challenge to be decided in Hell and in a maze of Satan's devising.

\ \ 4.0 stars. Piers Anthony is a MIND-NUMBING ENIGMA to me. He is capable of writing extremely thought-provoking, imaginative stories that are both original and speak to fundamental aspects of the human condition. The mystery is that he does so infrequently, despite being one of the most prolific authors in the speculative fiction. Wait....on second thought, maybe that is the answer. Quantity of production slamming right into the proverbial nuts of quality. Well this first novel in the Incarnations of Immortality series is certainly one that resides in the relatively exclusive group of high quality Piers Anthony books. Along with Macroscope (which I need to re-read soon), it is my favorite of his novels and I found myself impressed by both the general concept of the story as well as his execution of it. The Incarnations series is founded on the premise that humans assume the roles of 5 of the 7 major supernatural offices called "Incarnations" (i.e., Death, War, Fate, Time and Nature). The other 2 Incarnations, Good and Evil, are permanently held by the Big G and the man downstairs who are engaged in a perpetual fight for the souls of all mankind. All of this takes place in a world similar (though advanced) to ours, except that both science and magic exist side by side (e.g., flying cars and flying carpets, organ transplants and healing elixirs). As you can guess based on the title, this first book in the series focuses on the Incarnation of Death...DUH!! Zane is a lonely, suicidal man who, while contemplating taking his own life, accidentally kills Death (I know, ironical). Zane is then tasked with assuming the role of Death. I know this may sound cheesy, but it is actually handled pretty well in the story and has some very humorous moments. Death's role is to send the souls of the deceased to either heaven or hell (or purgatory) depending on the balance between the good and evil present in the soul at the time of death. (QUICK NOTE: yep...turns out a person's religion has NOTHING to do with it and heaven or hell is solely (no pun intended) a matter of doing more good than harm during your life.). Kinda comforting isn't it. Anyway, good deeds are extremely light. In fact, they are lighter than air and actually float. On the otehr hand, evil deeds have substantial weight and weigh a soul down. So a good person's soul will float up towards heaven whereas a bad person’s will....you get the idea. Finally, when a soul is in extremely fine balance between good and evil, Death is the final arbiter of the soul’s final destination. That's about all you need for set up. The rest of this very interesting novel involves Zane learning about how the universe is run and coming into conflict with Satan over the soul of a particular person. It seems their is an ancient prophecy that says that this individual will foil Satan’s plans for the world, so naturally ole horn head wants the person dead. In addition to being very entertaining, there are some very neat discussions about the nature of good and evil. This is Piers Anthony at his best. Taking a “big picture” concept and making an entertaining yet thoughtful examination of it in the context of a terrific story. I have read the next two books in this series and while not as good as this one, they are generally entertaining with “flashes of brilliance.” Highly Recommended!!

The Prophecy: A Roundear there Shall Surely be; Born to be Strong, Raised to be Free; Fighting Dragons in his Youth; Leading Armies, Nothing Loth; Ridding his Country of a Sore; Joining Two, then uniting Four; Until from Seven there be One; Only then will his Task be Done. When Kelvin was a child, his mother read to him from the Book of Prophecy and he asked what the poem meant. Now he was about to learn. The Kingdom of Rud languishes under the heel of a usurper; an evil sorcerer has taken the throne in the name of his wicked daughter. Even deep in the forest, away from all power, the people tremble and await the day of prophecy's fulfillment. It cannot come too soon: Charlain and her children are soon to lose their home to the tax collector. But Kelvin and Jon have other plans. they have found a dragon's territory, where scales of purest gold, shed by the dragon, lie free on the ground for anyone with courage, or innocence, to take. And the words of Mouvar the prophet echo across Rud.

Wira is wild with worry. Her beloved husband, Hugo, has suddenly disappeared—and on the same night that they had planned to start a family. Could he have gotten cold feet—or has something more sinister happened to him? And what is worse, there is a strange, seemingly lifeless body in his place!To unravel the riddle of Hugo’s vanishment, Wira asks her father-in-law, the Good Magician Humfrey, to seek the solution in the fabled Book of Answers, only to discover that the pages of that magical tome are hopelessly scrambled, leaving only a few vague clues behind.Though gifted with the magical talent of Sensitivity, Wira is also sightless, making it difficult for her to search for her mate alone. Desperate, she enlists the services of a young girl named Debra, who has come as a querent to the Magician’s castle seeking a cure for an annoying curse that causes men to have unworthy thoughts about her. In exchange for Wira’s help in lifting the bane, Debra agrees to be transformed into the shape of a buxom, winged centaur, acting as Wira’s escort and her eyes.Meanwhile, far across the enchanted land of Xanth, Hugo is having troubles of his own, suddenly finding himself imprisoned in the dungeon of Castle Maidragon. The renegade rogue known as the Random Factor has used his mysterious powers to swap places with Hugo and gain his freedom. Hugo’s only hope of escape lies in the claws of a lovesick fruit bat named Bathos who can change bodies with others at will.As these two star-crossed soul mates set out to find each other, their separate quests become curiously intertwined with several of Xanth’s most unusual denizens, including Nimbus, a numinous boy with a mysterious heritage; Happy and Fray, two tempestuous cloud creatures from a rarified realm; and Ilene, the youngest daughter of the Magician Trent and the Sorceress Iris, whose magical gift is the power to make illusions real.Their journeys lead them through realms of danger and desire, intrigue and astonishment—from the High Castle of the Air King and the Hidden Village of the voracious vixens known as Vila to an infinitesimal planetoid at the farthest end of space and time—only to discover they are players in a much greater game older even than Xanth itself.

For a bored, young princess of Xanth, there's nothing more exciting than a Quest. Especially when all you do is sit around Castle Roogna. But when Ivy uses the Heaven Cent, it takes her not to the top of Mount Rushmost, where the winged monsters gather, not to the sea where the merfolk swim--but to Mundania, a world much like our own (that is, boring). It is here that she meets a young college student so dull that he doesn't even believe in magic, or princesses, or Xanth!Does he have a lot to learn.The thrilling climax to the trilogy started in Vale of the Vole and continued in Heaven Cent.

Although the Nextwave of barbarian warriors was invading Xanth, Mare Imbrium discovered that ever since she had gained the half soul, the night mare had begun to mishandle her job of delivering bad dreams. Exiled to the day world with a message for King Trent, Mare met the relentless, unforgiving Horseman. For the night mare, it began to be all a horrible nightmare!From the Paperback edition.

When Esk, a young ogre-nymph-human, began his pilgrimage to the Good Magician Humfrey to rid himself of a seductive demoness, little did he know it would become a mission of mercy. A running river paradise and its harmless inhabitants were perishing in the wrathful wake of a greedy demon horde. Now it is up to Esk and his companions--a beautiful winged centaur named Chex and a brave burrower Called Volney--to search Xanth's treacherous reaches, gathering together a mind-boggling company of creatures to defend the precious Vale of the Vole.

This is the very first book I ever read. Other than "See Spot Run" that is. I am mildly dyslexic. Not enough to get the special classes in school, or beneficial status in college, but enough to have made learning how to read a truly traumatic experience. Then one summer my father gave me his copy of this book. I was about 8 or 9-years-old. It took me several months, and a lot of help, but I finished this book, and never looked back. As a young girl I didn't understand a lot of the puns Anthony uses, but I did know this was a story about a little girl, and a dragon, and a wonderful world where anything could happen. I have never lost the love I felt for Xanth at that moment. And I often reach for one of these books when this mundane world becomes to overwhelming. And while my husband's puns make me groan in pain, Anthony's always make me laugh, chuckle or smile. I will always cherish this book and I recommend it to anyone.

Chaos Mode is the exciting new novel in the Mode series, which began with Virtual Mode and continued with Fractal Mode. Praised by Publishers Weekly as "fresh, imaginative...skillful, enjoyable, " and by Kirkus Reviews as "an interesting mix of SF and fantasy, " this new series has been welcomed with delight by Piers Anthony's millions of fans. The world of the Mode series is one of Anthony's most fascinating achievements. One universe is stacked on another, and an unlikely band of heroes has learned how to pass from one into the next - frequently with danger at their heels. Colene, a young woman from Earth, has learned to fight back against the suicidal depressions that torment her. Darius, the king from another planet who won her love, finds that his feelings are ever deeper for this lonely human. And Seqiro, the telepathic horse who shares their journeys, knows that his instinctive desire to travel through multiple universes with Colene was the best choice he could have made. Together in Chaos Mode, they face their most dangerous adventures. They are joined by an extremely unusual traveling companion: Burgess, a tentacled creature from a universe where evolution progressed along a very different path from that on Earth. By the end of Chaos Mode, their travels will take them to a place that in some ways is the strangest of all: a place called Earth, where Colene can at last make some sort of peace with her parents and with the events of her early life that made her the person she is. Piers Anthony's great strengths - a fearless imagination, a colorful sense of humor, and a raging desire for social justice - have never been more evident than in this newest masterwork.

This book falls far short of the others in the series that preceded it, and was a one-star read for the most part. From my perspective, the last chapter redeemed the book to at least a three-star read, and I'd recommmend sticking with it if you've started already and are thus far disappointed.Beyond a few mildly amusing puns, the boxes and lines challenges (both of them) were appealing, but my favorite thing about this book is quite simply the "tough but fair" strategy that appears in the final chapter.Worth a look, mainly because it's such a fast read, but don't start here if you're new to Xanth.

I've really only got myself to blame. Like Piers Anthony himself, I really struggle to let a series go. Unicorn Point is the sixth book of seven, in what was supposed to be a trilogy. I'm not necessarily expecting to love these anymore, but I am determined to finish the series. As the previous novels have dealt with Stile and Blue, then their sons Mach and Bane. This one switches to the grandchildren: Flach and Nepe. Their parents (who we remember have promised to work for the bad citizens and adepts because their parents wouldn't bless their unions with a jelly-like alien and a unicorn) believe them to be borderline retarded as they aren't developing as expected.However, at the ripe old age of four, they are actually convinced by their grandparents (Stile and Blue) to go into hiding so that their powers (oh yes, they have secret powers, they can communicate with each other across the two realms whenever they want – nobody else has noticed though) can develop without being used by the bad citizens and adepts. At the age of four! At that tender age they are able to form complex political opinions, keep secrets from their own parents about their abilities, are smart enough to have always done so without getting noticed up until then, and to top it all are able to create and action their own, totally self-sufficient, escape plans and stay undetected for a number of years.As is the style these days (1989?) the chapters rotate through a number of PoV characters. Each taking turns to narrate the story. This would be fine if Anthony could just shake this habit of having each character reminisce extensively about the events of the previous chapters and books. It's massively annoying and he needs to stop it. This book could easily have been about half the size if Anthony just cut out all the repetition. And the weirdly creepy bestiality and rape obsessions.Finally, the book just stops. It doesn't really end. Although one side has technically won, (view spoiler)[the baddies (hide spoiler)]