SOLVED. Late 70's(?) fantasy - A guy is transported into another person's body and is on a quest or mission of some sort. There is an annoying fly that is frequently buzzing around his head. [s]

[Joe]

Genre: Fantasy
Read: Very early 80's, but not sure how old the book was at the time.
Setting: Lord of the Rings - esque . . . castles, zombie-like beings, etc.
Plot: I don't remember much about the overall plot, just bits and pieces -
1. A guy is transported into another person's body and is on a quest or mission of some sort. I think the guy is a modern day person transported to this other person/location/time.
2. There is an annoying fly that is frequently buzzing around his head.
3. There is a forest (I think) where if you pass through it, you can't remember anything about it. Only people who live there have built up the ability to remember things in it.
4. There is a scene where zombie-like beings are attacking a castle. They basically just throw themselves at the walls, and as they 'die', the pile of bodies just slowly build up until they reach the top of the walls.
5. There is a magical tapestry that maps where people are.
6. (view spoiler)[The fly is the man whose body he took over (hide spoiler)]

[Kris]

In this very large group, it's mandatory to include genre and plot details in your topic header. We will close threads that don't adhere to this requirement. Please read the Group Rules.

Use the small "edit" link after the header to update it. This only works on the full Desktop website - not the Mobile website or app. (On the Mobile website, there's a "Desktop version" link at the bottom of the page.) Then we can re-open the thread.

[Kris]

Joe, thanks for the updating the topic header. This will help moderators and searchers. Re-opening thread.

[Banjomike]

This sounds very much like Castle Roogna by Piers Anthony

[Andy]

Banjomike wrote: "This sounds very much like Castle Roogna by Piers Anthony"

I was thinking it sounded Xanthish.

[Joe]

Thanks for the responses Banjomike and Andy. Reading through several of the comments on that book, I don't think this is it. I don't recall any ghosts or a young boy involved.

Given that this is the only fantasy book I've ever read, and 40 yrs ago at that, I have no idea if it was part of a series. However, as I recall it had a definite beginning and end.

[Banjomike]

Joe wrote: "Thanks for the responses Banjomike and Andy. Reading through several of the comments on that book, I don't think this is it. I don't recall any ghosts or a young boy involved.

Given that this is the only fantasy book I've ever read, and 40 yrs ago at that, I have no idea if it was part of a series. However, as I recall it had a definite beginning and end. "

Castle Roogna has all of the items you listed in your OP.

The young boy is transported via a magic tapestry into the past and into the body of a powerful barbarian warrior.

The buzzing fly is the original "soul" of the warrior which has been displaced by the hero. "The golem hastily translated: "I am a barbarian, recently disenchanted. I was transformed, or driven, into the body of a flea, while an alien shade governed my body."
"The flea!" Dor exclaimed. "The one that hid in my hair and kept biting me! That was the Mundane!"

The place that is hard to remember is called the Gap. "Most citizens of Xanth did not know of the Gap's existence, because it had been enchanted into anonymity, but Dor had lived all his life in this neighborhood and visited the chasm several times."

The zombie-like beings (apart from actual zombies) are goblins who are attacking a castle wall. "The goblins did not stop. The hordes behind kept shoving forward, refusing to recognize the nature of the barrier. As the first ones got trampled down, the next ones got higher against the wall. Then the third layer formed, and the forth. The wall here was not complete, yet there were some thirty feet from moat to top even at this lowest point; did the foolish creatures think they could surmount that by trampling the bodies of their comrades? It would take thirty layers of crushed goblins! Amazingly, those layers formed. Each layer required a greater number of bodies, because it sloped farther back across the moat. But the creatures kept coming. Five layers, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,--already they were a third of the way up, building an earthwork of their own dead and dying."

[Joe]

Well ok then. That does sound exactly what I’m thinking of. I guess I didn’t look far enough into it. I had thought of that book off and on over the last 40 years and just never looked into until the other day. Many thanks for following up on this!

[Kris]

Here's the Wikipedia plot summary (with Spoilers) of Castle Roogna by Piers Anthony - Banjomike's suggestion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_...

Here's the Google Books preview: https://books.google.com/books?id=Wl8... There are different cover images.

Should we mark your request as Solved?

[Joe]

Kris wrote: "Here's the Wikipedia plot summary (with Spoilers) of Castle Roogna by Piers Anthony - Banjomike's suggestion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_...

Here's the Goog..."

Kris - Yes, this can be marked as solved. Thanks.

[Kris]

Great. Thanks for the update, Joe.