Xanth: The Quest for Magic

Xanth #1-3

by Piers Anthony

Twenty-five years ago, Piers Anthony fascinated us with the creation of Xanth–a wondrous land where magic rules supreme. Since then, the dazzling world of Xanth has delighted millions of readers. Now, here are the first three novels of this classic series to enthrall a whole new generation. . . .

A SPELL FOR CHAMELEON
Winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel of the Year
Though every citizen of Xanth has a special spell only he or she can cast, Bink of North Village has no magic. But the Good Magician Humphrey and Beauregard the genie insist that Bink indeed is capable of enchantment– magic more powerful than the King himself, or even the evil magician Trent. Now if only Bink can find his magic . . . before he is forced into exile.

THE SOURCE OF MAGIC
Curious about the source of Xanth’s magic, the King sends Bink on a daring quest for truth. From the beginning, Bink and his companions are harried by an unseen creature determined to thwart them. But when some allies become enemies, it will take all Bink’s ingenuity and luck to prevail on his mission, which takes an unexpectedly defiant turn.

CASTLE ROOGNA
Millie had been a ghost for eight hundred years. But now, restored by the magic of Xanth, she is again a beautiful living woman. She can have any man she desires . . . except one: Jonathan the zombie. To help Millie, young Magician Dor embarks on a journey for the elixir that will restore Jonathan to full life–an adventure that will take him to the past, where his intentions are thwarted by a surprising encounter.

Discover a magical world of dazzling imagination!

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Humor, Magic, Science Fiction, Comedy

784 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Though he spent the first four years of his life in England, Piers never returned to live in his country of birth after moving to Spain and immigrated to America at age six. After graduating with a B.A. from Goddard College, he married one of his fellow students and and spent fifteen years in an assortment of professions before he began writing fiction full-time.

Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.

Reviews

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains the first 3 books of the Xanth series. I enjoyed the first two stories the best. The last book, Castle Roogna, with Dor as the main character bothered me. He was way too innocent for someone pretty curious about what Anthony refers to as the adult conspiracy. He stayed way too innocent until suddenly he knew a lot about it. Anthony can write great characters....Bink, Dor's Dad and the main character in the first two books, was a believable character. But I don't get the feeling that Anthony can do young adult characters all that well. However, Anthony made a great fantasy land with the potential, obviously, for many stories over the years. It definitely doesn't seem like great literature, but they are great escapes from the real or should I say, mundane world. I'm going to go ahead and reserve book 4 of the series. Hopefully I'll get through other books I have checked out faster than I did this one! Although it really should count as 3 books but I can't think of a way to convince Goodreads software of that! The stories are good solid stories. If I wasn't so bugged by Dor's character flaws, I'd have been inclined to give it 5 stars. Added to which, one of the really important characters in the last book is a spider magnified to human size. I just don't care for spiders even if this was one of the good guys. Real good guys. Err, bugs. Err....oh never mind.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED this book!! This book is what made me fall in love with Piers Anthony. Unfortunately, lost "custody" of my treasured hardback copy and have yet to find another :-(

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wrote an individual review for the 1st two stories, so I'll just focus on the overall book and 3rd story...
I pulled this collection from the mountain of books left to me after my dad died, and read it specifically in order to remember my dad...
For that purpose, it was an excellent choice - a fun easy read that reminded me of some of my earliest memories of my dad, as that is unlikely to help other people decide to read this book, I'll move on...
The stories are light and straight forward, they are a mix of Dahl, Braum, Lewis, and Homer - fun, but a bit juvenile.
The biggest knock against the stories is the perceived sexism, which is hard to deny (though I do address it in my other reviews) but does seem to TRY to course correct in the 3rd story of the collection.
...sorta.

[Zinz Vandermeer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Xanth was a world I felt an immediate affinity for. The creative application of puns into a fantasy setting was one of the greatest finds a young girl could stumble upon.

Out of the three stories in the collection Castle Roogna was the first Xanth novel I ever read, and the one that sent me spinning into his world. The concept of the Adult Conspiracy was both mysterious and fascinating. As I got older and more mature I appreciated different aspects of the novels. I liked that Xanth was a world with layers that appealed to different age groups.

[Nicholas Lizardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly loved how Anthony created an entire world. He created an elaborate world with magic and characters. The setting was dynamic and descriptive. He helped me to see some more creative means to writing. And appreciate those writers who can create an entire world separate from reality. The way he combines his unique world with exciting action packed writing showed me how to write stories which were more action inclined.

[MB Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first three Xanth books are the best, and the first, A Spell for Chameleon is excellent. Unfortunately, IMO, the series went downhill from there (Vale of the Vole is the last one I read).

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are for young adult maybe younger and adults wanting a quick escape. They are fun, fast and full of puns As I recall, there is some adult themes, but PG. I stopped reading the series at I think Crewel Lye. Anthoney did over 20! Eek.
IF you or anyone you know have learning disabilites (like the author) you will enjoy the beginnings of Castle Roogna. Hint: he has to write an essay and has a little trouble.....

[Shannon Vyff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read all the Xanth series as a pre-teen, early teen (all hundred? ;-) ). I loved the puns, and the bantering between characters that would probably make me groan today. I rated it as 4 stars for kids :-), so many adventures--so many hours away from ones 'regular life'.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books were a constant fixture of my late childhood. I read and reread them, usually finding a joke or pun that I hadn't understood previously now made clear. A must-read as far as I'm concerned.

[Gregory Selgrath · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this when I was probably 13 or 14 and it was a great young adult fantasy. It is a creative use of idiosyncrasies in the English language to create a whole world of comedic adventure. I recommend the series to anyone just discovering the world of fantasy.

[Annemarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

so far very gookd

[Julene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, funny, intriguing fantasy!

[Spike Spikey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although many would make a face at these books as being for children I probably would still enjoy them at the age of 36. (but I'm no weirdo who read the whole series)

[Linda Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another favorite of mine. I read this series back in the '80's. I love the puns Piers Anthony used in the story. It was not only an enjoyable fantasy to read, but it was funny and witty.

[Charm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the first 10 or so of these when I was in junior high; loved these books - wonder if they would hold up now, 25 years later? I bet I'd still enjoy reading them.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished the first book, now I need to read the other two. And now all books are read.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young adult 10-15

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the very first Piers Anthony book, 3 in 1 book that leads me to be looking all Xanth books in every bookstore here in our place. How I wish I could compile every book of the series..

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

* - failed to finish it
** -finished it, but it was a struggle
*** -perfectly readable
**** -enjoyable read
***** -very enjoyable, would (or have) read multiple times

[Lorie Meacham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Total escape! A wonderful book to introduce young teens to the world of fantasy!

[Linda Lassman]

I hated these books. I didn't not rate them; I rated them 0 stars. Anthony's books are so filled with misogyny that they make me sick to read them. In these books, women are objects, are not to be trusted. They are stupid, beautiful sluts, reasonably attractive but only moderately intelligent and boring, or brilliant, bad-tempered creatures too hideous to be around others (read "men"). Rape and sexual violence is commonplace and no big deal; there is no such thing as "consent" because women really aren't asked what they want because the men don't actually care.

This series is hugely popular with children and young adults--they're very wittily written and full of puns, and children don't actually notice the misogyny. This is both good and bad. It's good because they don't realize what's going on. It's bad because since they don't realize what's going on, they're absorbing this as being normal and acceptable.

While I think if a child wants to read this series, they should be allowed to. I also think that if they do, the parents should talk about how women are portrayed and treated in the books (without necessarily bringing the sexual attitudes into it) and how this is not right.

[Lana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. I've heard the name Piers Anthony for many years, but I struggled to get through it. The writing style was very basic & simple. That's ok, I read many YA novels and many of them are also simplistic, but in this one, the characters just were not that developed for my taste. We heard a lot of their thoughts, with much repetition, and it got a little old. The treatment of the female in general was really what turned me off. This was a YA novel but there was much sexual interest of the male characters toward the female characters, centering almost exclusively around their physical female attributes. The characters purported to be innocent & unknowing about sex appeal, but were constantly "discovering" things that interested them and every female description included "curves" or "bouncy parts" or whatever. There just was not much more depth to any of the female characters, not to mention the unapologetically patriarchal society. And I kid you not, a description of nymphs as being created solely to cater to males, but otherwise vapid and shallow beings. Sorry, I won't be reading the rest of the series. The puns were somewhat cute.

[Claire Binkley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was made a little more OK with this unpublished draft due to the one character being named "Bink" (my surname is "Binkley"), so I heard something close to my name regularly throughout the book.

The name Sabrina, of course, makes one think of the hit series Sabrina the Teenage Witch that my sister and I were so obsessed with throughout our youth. We watched the TV series. I didn't know there was an Archie comic series. The Wikipedia article reveals that it went from 96 through 03.

In this book, there are magicians, harpies, and people like Chester and Grundy.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

Piers Anthony's writing is misogyny at its finest. The story itself is ok, there are some clever pieces, but over all some very disturbing themes. Not a huge fan. I won't be reading any more of his stuff.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rather simple tale with a surprisingly subtle treatment of power and value.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this series. Jumper is my hero!!

[Dayna Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first three novels of the classic Xanth series. Very enjoyable.

[Em Reece · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have only read the first book but it was p good!!!

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I disliked this series, and I remember when it "arrived" and a lot of people liked it. I have liked a couple of Anthony's books but I can't say I'm anything like a fan. If you like this, enjoy. It's not "to my taste" as they say.

I kept the book on my shelf for a very long time occasionally going back, but never getting involved. I know a lot of people who snatched up everything "Xanth" as soon as it appeared, but it just never appealed to me. Instead of whimsy I find in the humor silliness, the story just isn't there for me so, I finally let the book go and move on.

Should I make a "spelling bee" joke about my typos? Oh well, for the fans of these I'm happy for you, to each his/her own.

[Armis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Xanth series, it is funny and engaging and a fine journey to take! The puns are funny and smart and never regrettable and the characters range from endearing to irritating to entertaining and even frightening at moments, but I'd say, all in all, a wonderful read for young adults on up!