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Xanth #2
The Source of Magic
Ordered by King Trent to determine the source of Xanth's magic, Bink and his companions were harried by an unseen enemy determined to thwart them. When even their protector turned against them, Bink still managed to reach his goal and carry out the King's orders...but the king did not expect Bink's next act--to destroy utterly the magic of Xanth!
326 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1979
About the author
Piers Anthony
366 books4,132 followersThough 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.
Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 488 reviews
April 18, 2024
This story takes up where A Spell for Chameleon left off.
Like the Incarnations of Immortality series, it seemed that Anthony had a great idea to begin with and then the originality, and quality, dropped off exponentially. This book was saved by Anthony's unique gift and talent as a writer, but I never read any more of the series.
For pure fantasy fans.
*** 2024 reread -
I was dismissive of this book the first time I read it and it has been decades since I read more from him.
Last year I discovered that I had read him wrong, reading the fantasy story straight and missing much of the true joy of reading these books, which is in Anthony’s droll word play and wickedly funny tongue in cheek humor. Yes, this is fantasy, but of the Alice in Wonderland variety, in an absurdist comedy fashion.
Good King Trent sends our man Bink to find the source of magic in Xanth and we are on a wild ride as Anthony describes his journey with no end of hidden meanings, puns, double entendres, metaphors, similes and enough pure unadulterated fantasy to choke a wub.
Recommended for fantasy fans, humor fans and those who enjoy word play.
Like the Incarnations of Immortality series, it seemed that Anthony had a great idea to begin with and then the originality, and quality, dropped off exponentially. This book was saved by Anthony's unique gift and talent as a writer, but I never read any more of the series.
For pure fantasy fans.
*** 2024 reread -
I was dismissive of this book the first time I read it and it has been decades since I read more from him.
Last year I discovered that I had read him wrong, reading the fantasy story straight and missing much of the true joy of reading these books, which is in Anthony’s droll word play and wickedly funny tongue in cheek humor. Yes, this is fantasy, but of the Alice in Wonderland variety, in an absurdist comedy fashion.
Good King Trent sends our man Bink to find the source of magic in Xanth and we are on a wild ride as Anthony describes his journey with no end of hidden meanings, puns, double entendres, metaphors, similes and enough pure unadulterated fantasy to choke a wub.
Recommended for fantasy fans, humor fans and those who enjoy word play.
May 28, 2011
I tried, I really tried. The way that my sister was talking about this book, it sounded like so much fun, and there was so much potential. But... I just can't like this book.
First off, I think that it could have been so much shorter. It takes so much time, trying to sound more important than it really is, that it just sucks pages into bizarre explanations.
Secondly, I can only take so much of reading about nymph's pert little butts, their supple arms, and how female they are. And pretty much the whole look on women in this book is pretty insulting. Female characters are shallow, caring only about their looks and how others perceive them and are often put down as being the classic ball-and-chain and at times it seems that women are just meant to be evil beings that are only on Xanth to torture the men and exploit their barbaric weaknesses. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but by the end, it was just too much. And why did females seem to only have talents that would help them look nicer or change their appearance? Really? Why couldn't they have something actually useful? Okay. I'll stop here.
Third, the puns. I liked them at first, the puns about the creatures and plants in Xanth, the shoe tree that provides fresh shoes and such. But eventually, it just got a bit silly. Like the jellyfish. A fish made of jelly... That was a bit... thin, in my opinion.
Overall, I just couldn't get into this book. Perhaps it is because it was written for a different generation, but it just didn't settle with me. The entire book eventually reached an insanity that just wasn't fun anymore, and that just made me want to leave the book right there.
First off, I think that it could have been so much shorter. It takes so much time, trying to sound more important than it really is, that it just sucks pages into bizarre explanations.
Secondly, I can only take so much of reading about nymph's pert little butts, their supple arms, and how female they are. And pretty much the whole look on women in this book is pretty insulting. Female characters are shallow, caring only about their looks and how others perceive them and are often put down as being the classic ball-and-chain and at times it seems that women are just meant to be evil beings that are only on Xanth to torture the men and exploit their barbaric weaknesses. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but by the end, it was just too much. And why did females seem to only have talents that would help them look nicer or change their appearance? Really? Why couldn't they have something actually useful? Okay. I'll stop here.
Third, the puns. I liked them at first, the puns about the creatures and plants in Xanth, the shoe tree that provides fresh shoes and such. But eventually, it just got a bit silly. Like the jellyfish. A fish made of jelly... That was a bit... thin, in my opinion.
Overall, I just couldn't get into this book. Perhaps it is because it was written for a different generation, but it just didn't settle with me. The entire book eventually reached an insanity that just wasn't fun anymore, and that just made me want to leave the book right there.
July 22, 2007
The sexist attitudes prevented me from at all enjoying the whimsy.
November 13, 2020
Will review in a bit!
November 30, 2013
Hmmm... it's a strange thing to read your childhood favourites as an adult - except with Harry Potter, which for me is timeless. I will never stop enjoying them.
I quite enjoyed 'The Source of Magic', though reading it now, a few things strike me. Firstly an obvious one - the prose are not nearly as good as I remember. But that is to be expected - nobody writes like Ian McEwan when they're writing young adult fiction.
Also, this book in particular (I have yet to see whether the others will follow suit, though I expect they will) is overtly sexist. The premise basically centres around a bunch of men of various species (a man, a centaur, a man transformed into a griffin) going on a quest because their wives and partners are either pregnant or have just had a kid, and the men wish to escape the stress of their home life! Yeah, what a great message to send to young readers! The books goes on and the chauvinism gets worse. At the end, the protagonist doles out some male wisdom to the lady centaur, telling her that in order to keep her partner interested, she must pay him more attention instead of focusing too much on her new born baby centaur. Not good, Piers Anthony, not good at all.
One of the main characters is also a self-proclaimed 'woman-hater' who takes any opportunity throughout the narrative to discuss why he despises the opposite sex so much, only to end the book marrying a woman who he doesn't have to see all the time, because that constitutes a perfect relationship for him.
Also, it's got LOADS of sexual undertones that I totally failed to pick up the first time round - not saying that's a bad thing, just picking up on aspects of the book that I didn't get when I was younger.
Overall this book would have been a lovely nostalgic indulgence if it hadn't been for Piers Anthony sending a message to his readers that if your wife/girlfriend/lady centaur is annoying you with her ridiculous female ways or her unforgiving pregnancy hormones - go on a life-threatening quest, it will make you appreciate her a lot more when you get home.
I'm going to carry on reading the series (though I probably shouldn't) because I remember that I loved some of the books later on in the series, and I need the character set ups. Let's hope Anthony's story lines focus more on promoting equality in subsequent books, though to be honest, I do not hold much hope for this happening.
I quite enjoyed 'The Source of Magic', though reading it now, a few things strike me. Firstly an obvious one - the prose are not nearly as good as I remember. But that is to be expected - nobody writes like Ian McEwan when they're writing young adult fiction.
Also, this book in particular (I have yet to see whether the others will follow suit, though I expect they will) is overtly sexist. The premise basically centres around a bunch of men of various species (a man, a centaur, a man transformed into a griffin) going on a quest because their wives and partners are either pregnant or have just had a kid, and the men wish to escape the stress of their home life! Yeah, what a great message to send to young readers! The books goes on and the chauvinism gets worse. At the end, the protagonist doles out some male wisdom to the lady centaur, telling her that in order to keep her partner interested, she must pay him more attention instead of focusing too much on her new born baby centaur. Not good, Piers Anthony, not good at all.
One of the main characters is also a self-proclaimed 'woman-hater' who takes any opportunity throughout the narrative to discuss why he despises the opposite sex so much, only to end the book marrying a woman who he doesn't have to see all the time, because that constitutes a perfect relationship for him.
Also, it's got LOADS of sexual undertones that I totally failed to pick up the first time round - not saying that's a bad thing, just picking up on aspects of the book that I didn't get when I was younger.
Overall this book would have been a lovely nostalgic indulgence if it hadn't been for Piers Anthony sending a message to his readers that if your wife/girlfriend/lady centaur is annoying you with her ridiculous female ways or her unforgiving pregnancy hormones - go on a life-threatening quest, it will make you appreciate her a lot more when you get home.
I'm going to carry on reading the series (though I probably shouldn't) because I remember that I loved some of the books later on in the series, and I need the character set ups. Let's hope Anthony's story lines focus more on promoting equality in subsequent books, though to be honest, I do not hold much hope for this happening.
May 29, 2013
Eh. Nope.
This one is another series of mini adventures in the course of a larger quest undertaken by Bink, Chester, Crombie, Humphrey, and Grundy to find out the source of magic in Xanth. I was really hoping it would be less sexist than the first one, but it's not. I mean, there was no infuriating rape trial here, but otherwise it was just as bad.
Every woman in Xanth is described and, to at least some extent, valued in terms of her attractiveness. You get a description of almost every female character's breasts. Almost every single female character fits into one of three categories: 1) beautiful, innocent, not overly bright but very accommodating; 2) beautiful, seductive, manipulative, and conniving; or 3) ugly. The only exceptions I can think of (from this book AND the previous one) are Chameleon in her average phase, which doesn't appear in this book, and Bianca, Bink's mother, who is barely mentioned at all and, being the protagonist's mother, is naturally never presented as "sexy." Chameleon, the character with so much potential for awesomeness, is barely in this book at all, and when she is you don't see her because she is both in her ugly phase and extremely pregnant and is therefore hiding in her room out of embarrassment. And the usual sexism of women being nagging shrews, ball-and-chain wives, or sexy and tempting nymphomaniacs is sprinkled throughout.
There are two particular examples of sexism that really bothered me:
(minor spoilers)
(a bigger spoiler)
I WANT to like these books, I really do. I expect the constant puns could get tiresome if you read the books too frequently, but there's really a lot that I like here. There are interesting takes on magic and exciting plot developments. There are witticisms and quirky creatures. I hate to throw the baby out with the bathwater here. But you know what? There are a lot of books in the world to be read that offer the good things without the addition of flagrant, nonstop sexism. So I don't really think I should bother to plod through the Xanth series when I could move on to one of those instead. So goodbye Xanth. I really wanted this to work out, but I'm done. Time to clear the rest of the series off my to-read list.
This one is another series of mini adventures in the course of a larger quest undertaken by Bink, Chester, Crombie, Humphrey, and Grundy to find out the source of magic in Xanth. I was really hoping it would be less sexist than the first one, but it's not. I mean, there was no infuriating rape trial here, but otherwise it was just as bad.
Every woman in Xanth is described and, to at least some extent, valued in terms of her attractiveness. You get a description of almost every female character's breasts. Almost every single female character fits into one of three categories: 1) beautiful, innocent, not overly bright but very accommodating; 2) beautiful, seductive, manipulative, and conniving; or 3) ugly. The only exceptions I can think of (from this book AND the previous one) are Chameleon in her average phase, which doesn't appear in this book, and Bianca, Bink's mother, who is barely mentioned at all and, being the protagonist's mother, is naturally never presented as "sexy." Chameleon, the character with so much potential for awesomeness, is barely in this book at all, and when she is you don't see her because she is both in her ugly phase and extremely pregnant and is therefore hiding in her room out of embarrassment. And the usual sexism of women being nagging shrews, ball-and-chain wives, or sexy and tempting nymphomaniacs is sprinkled throughout.
There are two particular examples of sexism that really bothered me:
(minor spoilers)
(a bigger spoiler)
I WANT to like these books, I really do. I expect the constant puns could get tiresome if you read the books too frequently, but there's really a lot that I like here. There are interesting takes on magic and exciting plot developments. There are witticisms and quirky creatures. I hate to throw the baby out with the bathwater here. But you know what? There are a lot of books in the world to be read that offer the good things without the addition of flagrant, nonstop sexism. So I don't really think I should bother to plod through the Xanth series when I could move on to one of those instead. So goodbye Xanth. I really wanted this to work out, but I'm done. Time to clear the rest of the series off my to-read list.
September 13, 2010
The first three novels of Xanth are classic fantasy novels. In A Spell for Chameleon, we are introduced to a world where everyone has a magic Talent. Some can point unerringly at trouble, others can change their appearance. In order to become a citizen of Xanth, a person must display the talent or they are exiled to Mundania (where we live). In Spell, Bink is revealed to have a talent, but the talent itself is reluctant to be revealed – as Bink’s talent, tries to thwart evidence of its existence in order to ensure that no one can harm Bink magically. If people knew what the talent was, its power might be lessened. Moreover, Bink’s talent is Magician Class, capital letters intended. In Spell, some of the permutations of this talent are explored as Bink goes up against Trent, another Magician class talent, who eventually becomes the King of Xanth. There is a wonderful explanation of the power of Bink's talent in Spell that leads to the events captured in the next novel.
In The Source of Magic, King Trent sends Bink on a quest to find out why Xanth has magic. In the process Anthony explores the wonderful terrain of Xanth and further permutations of Bink’s talent are revealed. His quest companion's know he has a talent but they are unaware of what it is. Good Magician Humphrey, whose Magic Talent is the accumulation of knowledge is on the quest and he brings a powerful demon along as well, to answer questions. The interplay between the questors, the inimicable flora and fauna, and the powerful Source of Magic makes this a great fun read, which I have read many times.
Might in fact be time to read it again.
In The Source of Magic, King Trent sends Bink on a quest to find out why Xanth has magic. In the process Anthony explores the wonderful terrain of Xanth and further permutations of Bink’s talent are revealed. His quest companion's know he has a talent but they are unaware of what it is. Good Magician Humphrey, whose Magic Talent is the accumulation of knowledge is on the quest and he brings a powerful demon along as well, to answer questions. The interplay between the questors, the inimicable flora and fauna, and the powerful Source of Magic makes this a great fun read, which I have read many times.
Might in fact be time to read it again.
June 4, 2021
While this can stand alone like most Xanth books, it's really a direct sequel to A Spell for Chameleon. The Xanth formula is in full force here: a group of adventurers go on a quest which is really just an excuse for Anthony to show you all of the weirdness of Xanth (and lots and lots of hypersexualized women because Piers Anthony reasons). It's not very original but it works for this series because the main character is really Xanth itself and the characters are there as a proxy for the reader to explore it.
Much like the previous volume, the main quest is forgotten about (or in this case solved) around the halfway point and the rest of the book rambles on for a bit.
Much like the previous volume, the main quest is forgotten about (or in this case solved) around the halfway point and the rest of the book rambles on for a bit.
March 18, 2023
A journey to find the source of all magic in Xanth takes Bink and friends through all sorts of adventures, quests, dangers and even philosophical situations that again made me laugh out loud.
Any book that makes me laugh is priceless.
Favorite quotes:
“There was nothing like a good bout of cursing to work up an appetite”.
“I understand it is not good to see a female too realistically”.
Any book that makes me laugh is priceless.
Favorite quotes:
“There was nothing like a good bout of cursing to work up an appetite”.
“I understand it is not good to see a female too realistically”.
July 12, 2019
I enjoyed the story in this one in so far as it was entertaining to read about the origins of magic in Xanth. I wanted to know more. I loved how crazy the road they travelled was and how dangerous all the magic became. The only thing that knocked this down a star for me was the depictions of all the female characters in this one. All of the men complaining about their women and how they were being treated just rubbed me the wrong way a little bit. It was one of the few things that felt like it made it clear when this book was written. Because while the women had power, they were still the bane of men's existence and were relegated to nags and bitches. The sorts of creatures men should just run away from for some peace and quiet.
Still I did like the actual adventure part of this book and there's lots of entertainment to be found in the land of Xanth as usual. :)
Still I did like the actual adventure part of this book and there's lots of entertainment to be found in the land of Xanth as usual. :)
June 5, 2024
__________________________
The Source of Magic will pun-ish you.
Yes, this fantasy novel about Bing’s adventures in the magical land of Xanth is very punny. As it opens, the protagonist is picking a pair of ripe new shoes off of the shoe tree, which is an actual tree that grows shoes instead of fruit. As the book goes on, the hero and his friends run into many punny beasts. For instance, fruit flies are apples or oranges that have wings and flit around the country side, dogwood trees bark and bare their teeth-like inner branches, lightning bugs zap passersby with bolts of electricity, jellyfish are made of lime Jello, and I wouldn’t be surprised if tiger woods turned out to be man-eating golf clubs. The pages overflow with such creatures.
Yes, I know. The above description makes it sound as if the Source of Magic is a picture book for elementary school students, but it is NOT. There is a sprinkling of R-Rated adult topics; for instance, when one character suggests where another character should stick his flute and the other opines on how the first character’s wife might enjoy that, but not in the same place.
There have been complaints that Piers Anthony is misogynic, and it’s true that one of his characters could certainly qualify for membership in the 1930s Our Gang comedy’s He-man Woman Haters Club [No gurlz allowed], but having a misogynist as a character certainly seems legitimate. Of course, he is not the only character to comment about the distaff gender. The book's hero, Bing, has gotten frustrated by his wife’s magically-imposed cycle in which she goes from being the most beautiful and loving woman in Xanth to the meanest and most unattractive one every 28 day. His friend, who is a centaur, is irritated because his wife doesn’t want to go out and frolic in the meadow anymore [Wink Wink] now that she has a colt to take care of. Then there are the females in the village that Bing and his crew come to while they are out adventuring and avoiding their wives. There are no men in the village because they all have been lured away by a siren and turned into statues. The women in the village say they are desperate for our heroes to stay with them because––and this important––females need men they can take care of and dote on. See. That’s not misogynic. Letting our wives pick up our dirty socks is how men show women how much we love them.
★★★★ Someone introduced this series to me 40 years ago, and I thought it was fun and entertaining. There are at least 47 books in the series now, but though I have started re-reading the series 2 or 3 times, there is only so much pun one can take in a lifetime––I have never gotten past the 5th or 6th book. If you like goofy adventures, I recommend a trip to Xanth, but you should begin with the first book A Spell for Chameleon.
The Source of Magic will pun-ish you.
Yes, this fantasy novel about Bing’s adventures in the magical land of Xanth is very punny. As it opens, the protagonist is picking a pair of ripe new shoes off of the shoe tree, which is an actual tree that grows shoes instead of fruit. As the book goes on, the hero and his friends run into many punny beasts. For instance, fruit flies are apples or oranges that have wings and flit around the country side, dogwood trees bark and bare their teeth-like inner branches, lightning bugs zap passersby with bolts of electricity, jellyfish are made of lime Jello, and I wouldn’t be surprised if tiger woods turned out to be man-eating golf clubs. The pages overflow with such creatures.
Yes, I know. The above description makes it sound as if the Source of Magic is a picture book for elementary school students, but it is NOT. There is a sprinkling of R-Rated adult topics; for instance, when one character suggests where another character should stick his flute and the other opines on how the first character’s wife might enjoy that, but not in the same place.
There have been complaints that Piers Anthony is misogynic, and it’s true that one of his characters could certainly qualify for membership in the 1930s Our Gang comedy’s He-man Woman Haters Club [No gurlz allowed], but having a misogynist as a character certainly seems legitimate. Of course, he is not the only character to comment about the distaff gender. The book's hero, Bing, has gotten frustrated by his wife’s magically-imposed cycle in which she goes from being the most beautiful and loving woman in Xanth to the meanest and most unattractive one every 28 day. His friend, who is a centaur, is irritated because his wife doesn’t want to go out and frolic in the meadow anymore [Wink Wink] now that she has a colt to take care of. Then there are the females in the village that Bing and his crew come to while they are out adventuring and avoiding their wives. There are no men in the village because they all have been lured away by a siren and turned into statues. The women in the village say they are desperate for our heroes to stay with them because––and this important––females need men they can take care of and dote on. See. That’s not misogynic. Letting our wives pick up our dirty socks is how men show women how much we love them.
★★★★ Someone introduced this series to me 40 years ago, and I thought it was fun and entertaining. There are at least 47 books in the series now, but though I have started re-reading the series 2 or 3 times, there is only so much pun one can take in a lifetime––I have never gotten past the 5th or 6th book. If you like goofy adventures, I recommend a trip to Xanth, but you should begin with the first book A Spell for Chameleon.
July 29, 2012
If you loved the first book you may like this one.
I couldn't ignore the commentary on women because it never stops, ever. I don't know if Piers Anthony was bitter but that makes it not worth reading for me.
Also, the continuous lusting descriptions of the centaurs ass. No one needs to read from the inner mind of a man who seems to think a horse's hind end is the most beautiful thing he sees.
I couldn't ignore the commentary on women because it never stops, ever. I don't know if Piers Anthony was bitter but that makes it not worth reading for me.
Also, the continuous lusting descriptions of the centaurs ass. No one needs to read from the inner mind of a man who seems to think a horse's hind end is the most beautiful thing he sees.
October 15, 2011
My 12 year-old really liked -A Spell for Chameleon- so now we're on to the next book (can't say I'm all that excited).
So my reaction to this book is the same as my reaction to the re-read of A Spell for Chameleon. Too much sexual innuendo for kids. Too much "theory" for kids. Not serious enough for adults. Not funny enough for adults. Every woman is defined by her looks and made to be either a sexual object or basically "not a woman".
So again I ask who are these books written for? If I at age 41 (1000's of books later) was having trouble interpreting the the ethical debate about whether to set the demon free then it can't be for kids right? Then add in the comments about sex, temptation, the descriptions of the women and you think this must be for adults. But the story itself is "lite" and filled with silly puns, the kind of stuff you find in kids books.
Anyway my boy's 13 now and he liked it (I'm assuming because of the sex references). He says he wants to read more and I remember Castle Roogna being my favorite of the first 3 books so I guess we'll move on to that one and hopefully like it more.
So my reaction to this book is the same as my reaction to the re-read of A Spell for Chameleon. Too much sexual innuendo for kids. Too much "theory" for kids. Not serious enough for adults. Not funny enough for adults. Every woman is defined by her looks and made to be either a sexual object or basically "not a woman".
So again I ask who are these books written for? If I at age 41 (1000's of books later) was having trouble interpreting the the ethical debate about whether to set the demon free then it can't be for kids right? Then add in the comments about sex, temptation, the descriptions of the women and you think this must be for adults. But the story itself is "lite" and filled with silly puns, the kind of stuff you find in kids books.
Anyway my boy's 13 now and he liked it (I'm assuming because of the sex references). He says he wants to read more and I remember Castle Roogna being my favorite of the first 3 books so I guess we'll move on to that one and hopefully like it more.
March 16, 2021
How to read this book:
Ignore all the main characters but Grundy. It takes some doing because he doesn’t show up immediately, but if you keep with it, you’ll probably get the hang of it. He’s a good character with actual development and growth, and he has a wonderful amount of snark. Also, sometimes you can imagine him as a cookie!
Ignore everything that appears to be female; they’re actually veiled plot devices.
Enjoy the battle sequences. They are plentiful!
If something has a horrific name, expect greatness. Smelly ogre? A vegetarian poet. Demon? Actually a kind and intelligent being, working on his degree.
Ignore all the main characters but Grundy. It takes some doing because he doesn’t show up immediately, but if you keep with it, you’ll probably get the hang of it. He’s a good character with actual development and growth, and he has a wonderful amount of snark. Also, sometimes you can imagine him as a cookie!
Ignore everything that appears to be female; they’re actually veiled plot devices.
Enjoy the battle sequences. They are plentiful!
If something has a horrific name, expect greatness. Smelly ogre? A vegetarian poet. Demon? Actually a kind and intelligent being, working on his degree.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2021
Another average trek through Xanth, rife with sexism and puns, but with some good characters sprinkled in and some interesting fight scenes and math discussions. Reading this book about 20 years removed from my first reading is making for a pretty different outlook on a lot of the things said and done, and Anthony's writing style that is pervasive throughout most of his books, not just the land of Xanth. I had fun along the way, but not nearly as much as was surely the intent when it was written, nor as much as was probably had in the time it was first published.
The magic and the land itself are fun to experience, but the way you meet and get exposed to characters is problematic to say the least. If you can set that aside and go into it knowing that there are clear issues, you can still (mostly) enjoy the read. Having written that out, I downgraded my rating from a 3 star to a 2 star just from putting my thoughts down in this review, so that's something I need to acknowledge to myself as well.
The magic and the land itself are fun to experience, but the way you meet and get exposed to characters is problematic to say the least. If you can set that aside and go into it knowing that there are clear issues, you can still (mostly) enjoy the read. Having written that out, I downgraded my rating from a 3 star to a 2 star just from putting my thoughts down in this review, so that's something I need to acknowledge to myself as well.
March 30, 2015
Régen volt, mikor utoljára humoros fantasyt olvastam – leszámítva az első részt – és felhőtlenül élveztem is. Régen a Skandar Graun-os könyveket imádtam (gondolom azok még ma is tetszenének), de aztán beleuntam kicsit – a nyíltan főleg humoros írásokat, Herry Kóklert és társait meg hagyjuk is inkább! – és nyilván azokban az időkben a Pratchett-könyvek is nagyon tetszettek, de azokba még hamarabb fáradtam bele.
[...]
Piers Anthony Xanth-sorozata nem ilyen fárasztó. Teli vannak bődületes ökörségekkel ezek a regények is – papucsokat termő bokor és társaik –, végig nevetgélhetnek az olvasók, de alig „poénkodnak” bennük csak úgy egyszerűen. Sokkal többet nevethetünk a szerző szarkasztikus (és sokszor cinikus) beszólásain.
[...]
Talán azért is, mert a szexista humor önmagában azért nem elég ahhoz, hogy teljesen kitöltsön egy egész könyv(sorozatot), és mivel a fantasy amúgy is kéz a kézben jár a kalandregényekkel, ezért szükség volt most is egy (nem annyira hősies) küldetésre, pár mini-kalandra lebontva, amit hőseink – Bink, a főszereplő; egy valódi életre vágyó minigólem; egy kakaskodásra hajlamos kentaur; egy griffé változtatott katona és egy folyton unatkozó, vonakodó birodalmi gnóm-főmágus – útjuk során rendre szállítanak is. Az első részben kiemeltem, hogy akkor a kalandok jórészét intellektusuknak hála sikerült inkább túlélni, mintsem a kardforgatásban való jártasságuknak köszönhetően. Most – vagy akkor is, csak nem vettem észre? – a szerző még tovább ment. Vándorlásuk során – a teljesség igénye nélkül – le kell győzniük sárkányt, ördögöt, démont, szirént, de ezen feladatok SOSEM olyan egyszerűek, mint általában más regényekben szoktak lenni. (Öld le/lopd el/surranj el mellette – aztán jöhet is a következő feladat.) A kalandok most mind ilyen-olyan, de mindig valami komoly erkölcsi dilemmát okoznak a szereplőknek, amikre legritkább esetben megoldás a kard (vagy a mágia), többször is csak a morális paradoxonokra adott – érett – válasszal folytatódhat az utazás és a nyomozás a mágia titokzatos – és halálos – forrása után.
Bővebben a blogon:
http://profunduslibrum.blogspot.hu/20...
[...]
Piers Anthony Xanth-sorozata nem ilyen fárasztó. Teli vannak bődületes ökörségekkel ezek a regények is – papucsokat termő bokor és társaik –, végig nevetgélhetnek az olvasók, de alig „poénkodnak” bennük csak úgy egyszerűen. Sokkal többet nevethetünk a szerző szarkasztikus (és sokszor cinikus) beszólásain.
[...]
Talán azért is, mert a szexista humor önmagában azért nem elég ahhoz, hogy teljesen kitöltsön egy egész könyv(sorozatot), és mivel a fantasy amúgy is kéz a kézben jár a kalandregényekkel, ezért szükség volt most is egy (nem annyira hősies) küldetésre, pár mini-kalandra lebontva, amit hőseink – Bink, a főszereplő; egy valódi életre vágyó minigólem; egy kakaskodásra hajlamos kentaur; egy griffé változtatott katona és egy folyton unatkozó, vonakodó birodalmi gnóm-főmágus – útjuk során rendre szállítanak is. Az első részben kiemeltem, hogy akkor a kalandok jórészét intellektusuknak hála sikerült inkább túlélni, mintsem a kardforgatásban való jártasságuknak köszönhetően. Most – vagy akkor is, csak nem vettem észre? – a szerző még tovább ment. Vándorlásuk során – a teljesség igénye nélkül – le kell győzniük sárkányt, ördögöt, démont, szirént, de ezen feladatok SOSEM olyan egyszerűek, mint általában más regényekben szoktak lenni. (Öld le/lopd el/surranj el mellette – aztán jöhet is a következő feladat.) A kalandok most mind ilyen-olyan, de mindig valami komoly erkölcsi dilemmát okoznak a szereplőknek, amikre legritkább esetben megoldás a kard (vagy a mágia), többször is csak a morális paradoxonokra adott – érett – válasszal folytatódhat az utazás és a nyomozás a mágia titokzatos – és halálos – forrása után.
Bővebben a blogon:
http://profunduslibrum.blogspot.hu/20...
October 1, 2007
The Source of Magic is the second book in Piers Anthony's Xanth series. This series is usually well known for it's heavy use of puns and the resemblance of the land of Xanth to a certain North American peninsula with an oversized rodent infestation (i.e. Florida).
Bink, a Magician class Talent in a society where everyone has magic, is searching for the sourch of magic in the land of Xanth. He is escorted by two of his friends through the dangers and perils of a magical, but not at all friendly wilderness.
This book was written before Piers Anthony really got thick into the puns, and I feel it's the better for it. Bink is a more thoughtful character than some of the leads in later books, and the situation is much more complex, focusing around personal honor and ethics. There's plenty of action to keep ther eader interested, though. From Demons to Dragons, Piers Anthony covers the whole fantasy genre.
Bink, a Magician class Talent in a society where everyone has magic, is searching for the sourch of magic in the land of Xanth. He is escorted by two of his friends through the dangers and perils of a magical, but not at all friendly wilderness.
This book was written before Piers Anthony really got thick into the puns, and I feel it's the better for it. Bink is a more thoughtful character than some of the leads in later books, and the situation is much more complex, focusing around personal honor and ethics. There's plenty of action to keep ther eader interested, though. From Demons to Dragons, Piers Anthony covers the whole fantasy genre.
February 7, 2010
3.5 stars. Just finishing re-reading this one, and found that it's not nearly as memorable as the first book in the series. I had forgotten nearly everything about this book.
It's not as well-written as the first book in the series either, but it's not as bad as some would have you believe. And the sexist attitudes are certainly prevalent everywhere, but perhaps they are intended to be part of the humor.
To me, this novel was Pier Anthony's attempt at worldbuilding. While not necessarily lacking in the first book, this book really spends time dealing with how Xanth differs from Mundania, and gives readers an idea of the variety of ways in which the setting could be used. Yes, it's completely foreign and whimsical, and yes the sexist attitude is childishly simple, but perhaps that's not coincidental.
Favorite line of the book "Dope! Come back and prove yourself worthy of the name!" "Worthy of the name dope?"
It's not as well-written as the first book in the series either, but it's not as bad as some would have you believe. And the sexist attitudes are certainly prevalent everywhere, but perhaps they are intended to be part of the humor.
To me, this novel was Pier Anthony's attempt at worldbuilding. While not necessarily lacking in the first book, this book really spends time dealing with how Xanth differs from Mundania, and gives readers an idea of the variety of ways in which the setting could be used. Yes, it's completely foreign and whimsical, and yes the sexist attitude is childishly simple, but perhaps that's not coincidental.
Favorite line of the book "Dope! Come back and prove yourself worthy of the name!" "Worthy of the name dope?"
May 7, 2014
Plot: C
Writing: F
Vocabulary: D
Level: Easy
Rating: R (sexism, adultery, demons, scatological humor, lascivious descriptions of women as objects only)
Worldview: Do what you want to do.
The first of the Xanth novels was somewhat witty, did a decent job of world-building, and established the protagonist as a upright if slightly immature young man. This second novel is a ridiculous bodice-ripper lacking a cohesive plot. All the characters are one-dimensional, and many are written contrary to their original depiction. There are numerous contradictions in the plotline. Nearly every.single.page explains all over again the protagonist's magical ability and why it makes a certain choice impossible - we only need the explanation maybe twice for the entire book. The puns and jokes in this story are pitiful. Need I go on? Don't waste your time!
Writing: F
Vocabulary: D
Level: Easy
Rating: R (sexism, adultery, demons, scatological humor, lascivious descriptions of women as objects only)
Worldview: Do what you want to do.
The first of the Xanth novels was somewhat witty, did a decent job of world-building, and established the protagonist as a upright if slightly immature young man. This second novel is a ridiculous bodice-ripper lacking a cohesive plot. All the characters are one-dimensional, and many are written contrary to their original depiction. There are numerous contradictions in the plotline. Nearly every.single.page explains all over again the protagonist's magical ability and why it makes a certain choice impossible - we only need the explanation maybe twice for the entire book. The puns and jokes in this story are pitiful. Need I go on? Don't waste your time!
November 24, 2013
The second of the Xanth novels, and the second book to focus on Bink. In this book he discovers the source of magic in Xanth, and learns more about the land he calls home. I love the adventure in the early novels, they aren't the standard boy meets girl formula (although boys do still meet girls, it just isn't the central quest) A fun read, I can't remember even say how many times I've read this one but I always enjoy it. On to the third!
May 4, 2011
Fabulous and innocent fantasy series. Xanth was my first experience into a magical world of fantasy years ago. Anthony uses puns and clever wordplays as part of the magical charm of the land of Xanth. This whole series makes our life here in "Mundania" seem so... well... mundane.
March 9, 2016
The first of The Xanth trilogy. This is where it all began. It's a great start to the series. They are all a quick, fun and funny read. Great starter books for young fantasy readers. There is a ton of them and you can pick up any of them and start. Very recommended
September 18, 2017
THE MEMORY
Everyone has a first book that hooked them on reading and this was it for me. Although my first ever novel read was The Hobbit, Bilbo’s adventures didn’t really engage me to continue with the series and honestly The Lord of the Rings was pretty daunting to me at the age of eight.
Before this novel, my reading was sporadic and mostly revolved around chapter books and comics. My mom gave it to me in 1982. I was twelve and things were extremely difficult time for me then. My grandfather had died the year before, my parents were finalizing their divorce, and my mother and I were living in a small two bedroom apartment on the edges of Chesterfield County, Virginia.
Due to this expected level of stress in my life at that time, I experienced two unfortunate side effects. First, my anxiety was off the charts, I had no idea what was happening in my life and had no methods of coping with the stress. Now, I don’t blame anyone specifically for the state of my pre-teen years, but the adage pertaining to divorce that ‘Children bounce back’ is crap. We fucking don’t. Yes, this is a book review, but I want to set the stage of how I got a hold of this story.
So, the stressed kid starts to have problems at school. I already had issues with learning disabilities in math, so my situation escalated and spiraled out of control. Now that I had stresses at home and school, my health began to decline as a result.
From the age of eleven to twenty-one, I would come down with a case of strep throat at least once a year. In the early years of the divorce, I had it every three or four months.
So, I’m twelve and am at home with my fourth case of strep in the past year. My mom was single and had to leave me at home while she went to work. I guess back then, this was normal? I can’t imagine something like that happening today.
I got the book when she came back from work on the second day, we had been to the doctor’s office earlier and she had left me at home to rest after taking some Tylenol. She came in with a bottle of the pink stuff and a book thicker than anything I’d read before.
“It’s good stuff! The pharmacist said it was bubble gum flavored!”, she said.
No, mom, it fucking wasn’t. But thank you for taking care of me.
After she coaxed and cajoled me into swallowing my medicine, she handed me this book, “I thought you might like to read this, one of the characters is named Trent!”
Honestly, I was in such a daze from the infection, I barely registered her words. I might have thought something like, “Why did they write a book about me?”
I soon passed out and dreamed that little gnomes were coming out of the foot of my bed and they wanted to eat my feet.
I stayed at home for almost the entire week and I think by Thursday, I was so done with watching Phil Donahue and The Price Is Right, that I just picked up the book as something to do.
Honestly, I barely understood what I was reading. The vocabulary was beyond me and I couldn’t pronounce half of the words. But, my mom had shown me how to use a dictionary to look things up and she had gotten that and the full set of the World Encyclopedia from the divorce. So, whenever I came across a hard word that I couldn’t understand from the context of the sentence, I looked it up in the dictionary. And if I still didn’t get it by then, I’d look up things from its description in the encyclopedia.
It took me a month to finish that book, but by the time I finished, my vocabulary had significantly increased and I had learned basic research skills.
THE BOOK
The Source of Magic is the second novel to the Xanth series. Xanth (zanth) is a magical realm that is suspiciously shaped like Florida. It exists as an alternate Florida where magic exists and sentient beings have the ability to do one single type of magic or sometimes a single spell. The protagonist of this story is a magicless twentysomething named Bink who has to find the source of magic that powers the land of Xanth.
THE SERIES
It’s my opinion that you could probably read the first five or so books in the series (if you really wanted to) and get the gist of the FORTY other books in the series. They mostly go like this:
Sexually repressed young adult male/female/gender neutral/pan racial being is sent on a quest by the King or a Magician named Humphrey (?). During their travels they meet another sexually repressed young adult male/female/gender neutral/pan racial being who is lost/outcast/stalking them they journey together and discover The Quest They Are On Has Deeper Meaning & Is More Complex Than They Thought.
They all decide that this new quest is more important than the one they were sent to accomplish and They Make A Great Mistake and Something Terrible Happens. Now either sexually repressed young adult male/female/gender neutral/pan racial being A/B/ or sometimes C is captured/lost/rejected and They Must Get Back Together To Complete The Quest. An Attempt is Made But They Still Fail.
At some point, the King or the Magician named Humphrey (poorly vieled personification of author as savior) swoops in to save our heroes and chastises them.
With Renewed Vigor and sometimes a New Magic Weapon, but definitely, Extra Information The King or The Magician Named Humphrey (?) Failed To Reveal So They Could Fail And Learn A Lesson, our protagonists redress their dilemma and Save The Day.
THE TAKE
The Xanth series was YA Fantasy long before YA Fantasy was remotely a thing. However, it wasn’t intended as such. It was a light hearted bit of fantasy that was a digression for Piers Anthony since most of his previous work was ‘serious Sci-Fi’ or Sci-fi-fantasy-erotica (see his Cluster and Pornucopia series… or not). Still, the Xanth series has a copious amount of gossamer veiled teen angst/sexual frustration on its own.
Should my mom have introduced me to his books at such a young age? Heck neither she or I knew what I was reading until much later. And after a time, I just realized that it was all just too repetitive. Even the author admitted it was simply a cash cow for the publishers (by book nine I think).
So, should you read this series? Maybe, but you need to thicken your head and be able to withstand A LOT of puns. Too many. So many puns, in fact, they, became recurring characters.
If I could recommend one of the books from the series, I’d say go to a public library and randomly pick one, read it, and if you can bear it, try again. See how far you get. Sure, there’s an overall story world arc, but nothing that you haven’t seen before. It really isn’t the point of the series.
If you really like reading, go ahead and give it a try. If your reading time is limited, get something else.
Hey, thanks for reading this far! I'd love to stay in touch with you and share what else I'm doing!
Please subscribe to my newletters. EVERYONE LIKES NEWSLETTERS!
Everyone has a first book that hooked them on reading and this was it for me. Although my first ever novel read was The Hobbit, Bilbo’s adventures didn’t really engage me to continue with the series and honestly The Lord of the Rings was pretty daunting to me at the age of eight.
Before this novel, my reading was sporadic and mostly revolved around chapter books and comics. My mom gave it to me in 1982. I was twelve and things were extremely difficult time for me then. My grandfather had died the year before, my parents were finalizing their divorce, and my mother and I were living in a small two bedroom apartment on the edges of Chesterfield County, Virginia.
Due to this expected level of stress in my life at that time, I experienced two unfortunate side effects. First, my anxiety was off the charts, I had no idea what was happening in my life and had no methods of coping with the stress. Now, I don’t blame anyone specifically for the state of my pre-teen years, but the adage pertaining to divorce that ‘Children bounce back’ is crap. We fucking don’t. Yes, this is a book review, but I want to set the stage of how I got a hold of this story.
So, the stressed kid starts to have problems at school. I already had issues with learning disabilities in math, so my situation escalated and spiraled out of control. Now that I had stresses at home and school, my health began to decline as a result.
From the age of eleven to twenty-one, I would come down with a case of strep throat at least once a year. In the early years of the divorce, I had it every three or four months.
So, I’m twelve and am at home with my fourth case of strep in the past year. My mom was single and had to leave me at home while she went to work. I guess back then, this was normal? I can’t imagine something like that happening today.
I got the book when she came back from work on the second day, we had been to the doctor’s office earlier and she had left me at home to rest after taking some Tylenol. She came in with a bottle of the pink stuff and a book thicker than anything I’d read before.
“It’s good stuff! The pharmacist said it was bubble gum flavored!”, she said.
No, mom, it fucking wasn’t. But thank you for taking care of me.
After she coaxed and cajoled me into swallowing my medicine, she handed me this book, “I thought you might like to read this, one of the characters is named Trent!”
Honestly, I was in such a daze from the infection, I barely registered her words. I might have thought something like, “Why did they write a book about me?”
I soon passed out and dreamed that little gnomes were coming out of the foot of my bed and they wanted to eat my feet.
I stayed at home for almost the entire week and I think by Thursday, I was so done with watching Phil Donahue and The Price Is Right, that I just picked up the book as something to do.
Honestly, I barely understood what I was reading. The vocabulary was beyond me and I couldn’t pronounce half of the words. But, my mom had shown me how to use a dictionary to look things up and she had gotten that and the full set of the World Encyclopedia from the divorce. So, whenever I came across a hard word that I couldn’t understand from the context of the sentence, I looked it up in the dictionary. And if I still didn’t get it by then, I’d look up things from its description in the encyclopedia.
It took me a month to finish that book, but by the time I finished, my vocabulary had significantly increased and I had learned basic research skills.
THE BOOK
The Source of Magic is the second novel to the Xanth series. Xanth (zanth) is a magical realm that is suspiciously shaped like Florida. It exists as an alternate Florida where magic exists and sentient beings have the ability to do one single type of magic or sometimes a single spell. The protagonist of this story is a magicless twentysomething named Bink who has to find the source of magic that powers the land of Xanth.
THE SERIES
It’s my opinion that you could probably read the first five or so books in the series (if you really wanted to) and get the gist of the FORTY other books in the series. They mostly go like this:
Sexually repressed young adult male/female/gender neutral/pan racial being is sent on a quest by the King or a Magician named Humphrey (?). During their travels they meet another sexually repressed young adult male/female/gender neutral/pan racial being who is lost/outcast/stalking them they journey together and discover The Quest They Are On Has Deeper Meaning & Is More Complex Than They Thought.
They all decide that this new quest is more important than the one they were sent to accomplish and They Make A Great Mistake and Something Terrible Happens. Now either sexually repressed young adult male/female/gender neutral/pan racial being A/B/ or sometimes C is captured/lost/rejected and They Must Get Back Together To Complete The Quest. An Attempt is Made But They Still Fail.
At some point, the King or the Magician named Humphrey (poorly vieled personification of author as savior) swoops in to save our heroes and chastises them.
With Renewed Vigor and sometimes a New Magic Weapon, but definitely, Extra Information The King or The Magician Named Humphrey (?) Failed To Reveal So They Could Fail And Learn A Lesson, our protagonists redress their dilemma and Save The Day.
THE TAKE
The Xanth series was YA Fantasy long before YA Fantasy was remotely a thing. However, it wasn’t intended as such. It was a light hearted bit of fantasy that was a digression for Piers Anthony since most of his previous work was ‘serious Sci-Fi’ or Sci-fi-fantasy-erotica (see his Cluster and Pornucopia series… or not). Still, the Xanth series has a copious amount of gossamer veiled teen angst/sexual frustration on its own.
Should my mom have introduced me to his books at such a young age? Heck neither she or I knew what I was reading until much later. And after a time, I just realized that it was all just too repetitive. Even the author admitted it was simply a cash cow for the publishers (by book nine I think).
So, should you read this series? Maybe, but you need to thicken your head and be able to withstand A LOT of puns. Too many. So many puns, in fact, they, became recurring characters.
If I could recommend one of the books from the series, I’d say go to a public library and randomly pick one, read it, and if you can bear it, try again. See how far you get. Sure, there’s an overall story world arc, but nothing that you haven’t seen before. It really isn’t the point of the series.
If you really like reading, go ahead and give it a try. If your reading time is limited, get something else.
Hey, thanks for reading this far! I'd love to stay in touch with you and share what else I'm doing!
Please subscribe to my newletters. EVERYONE LIKES NEWSLETTERS!
March 16, 2021
You know... there are some things I used to like that are really hard to read/watch as an adult who has been following feminist ideas for the past few decades. Xanth has not aged well. The frequency of instances of sexist, often misogynistic, comments from the characters is hard to take. Ultimately, I believe that Xanth becomes an exploration of what it means for men and women to form partnerships, and in the process it explores the many aspects of maleness that make that difficult. I really believe Xanth is an admonition of the male behavior it portrays, not a commendation. However, I fully admit it is hard to see that. I would encourage anyone who struggles with it to look for the many other enjoyable aspects of the world. The strange flora and fauna, the odd ways the many Talents of the people interact and work together, the zany action sequences, the absurd philosophical musings, There’s plenty of other things to like about the world.
February 12, 2024
The misogyny really spoils an otherwise fun story. I should have stopped with the first Xanth novel reread.
November 17, 2016
This is a re-read review. I haven't read this since I was a teen and coming back to it, my feelings are conflicted. On the one hand I still enjoy the whimsy and (fuzzy though it is) worldbuilding of this series in general, and this book in specific. On the other hand, even knowing that this novel was written in a different time when the lines were drawn differently, the amount of male gaze and chauvinism is painful to read.
None of the characters are much more than a single trait or idea, but the female characters aren’t even that. Every female is essentially the same character, defined by her beauty or lack thereof and it is repeated often that this is the thing all women should aspire to, to be desirable, to be beautiful. And that there is no greater thing a woman can do than to hold up her man, and make him better.
**Spoilers below and possible trigger depending**
There is no better example of this than the ending of the book and what happens to Jewel the rock nymph. In Xanth everything is magic or magical, and one of the uncommon things found in the wild are these magical fountains, or springs, or lakes of love. These make the person or being who drinks from them fall in love with the next person or creature of the opposite sex they see.
As part of the denouement one of the characters, a declared woman hater, is granted a wish. He uses this wish to make Jewel drink from the love spring and fall in love with him. This is rape, premeditated, inescapable rape. These are the words used to describe why he asks this.
“I never saw anything so sweet in my life. She was weak and hesitant, just like a nymph. No threat to any man, least of all a soldier. No competition.”
No competition.
These were some of my favorite books when I was young, I skimmed over the parts with girls in them because at the time I was only interested in adventure. But reading this part of the book, I remember my confusion and dismay. Even then personal autonomy was important to me. I was ok when this loss of control was accidental. After all Anthony played it for laughs and whimsy, it was uncomfortable and inconvenient but not evil in the world of the story. But this act was not. A character I was supposed to empathise with agreed that this evil act was ok to do, even laudable. Ho Ho Ho, manly laughs and locker-room slaps on the back.
Tl:dr I am glad I re-read this, the carefree nature of the world of Xanth is still appealing, in a crayon cloud sort of way to me even now, it echoes a nostalgia from my youth. Unfortunately, there is a gruesome and damaging undertone that I wish I had been aware of. A disrespect for people in general, and women in specific, boiling everything down to a few encouraged traits.
I will continue to read through the series for as long as I can stand, to see what else may have been hidden in those pages. To see if he improves in general. To see what, if anything, changes with a female point of view character that I know is coming up in a few books.
None of the characters are much more than a single trait or idea, but the female characters aren’t even that. Every female is essentially the same character, defined by her beauty or lack thereof and it is repeated often that this is the thing all women should aspire to, to be desirable, to be beautiful. And that there is no greater thing a woman can do than to hold up her man, and make him better.
**Spoilers below and possible trigger depending**
There is no better example of this than the ending of the book and what happens to Jewel the rock nymph. In Xanth everything is magic or magical, and one of the uncommon things found in the wild are these magical fountains, or springs, or lakes of love. These make the person or being who drinks from them fall in love with the next person or creature of the opposite sex they see.
As part of the denouement one of the characters, a declared woman hater, is granted a wish. He uses this wish to make Jewel drink from the love spring and fall in love with him. This is rape, premeditated, inescapable rape. These are the words used to describe why he asks this.
“I never saw anything so sweet in my life. She was weak and hesitant, just like a nymph. No threat to any man, least of all a soldier. No competition.”
No competition.
These were some of my favorite books when I was young, I skimmed over the parts with girls in them because at the time I was only interested in adventure. But reading this part of the book, I remember my confusion and dismay. Even then personal autonomy was important to me. I was ok when this loss of control was accidental. After all Anthony played it for laughs and whimsy, it was uncomfortable and inconvenient but not evil in the world of the story. But this act was not. A character I was supposed to empathise with agreed that this evil act was ok to do, even laudable. Ho Ho Ho, manly laughs and locker-room slaps on the back.
Tl:dr I am glad I re-read this, the carefree nature of the world of Xanth is still appealing, in a crayon cloud sort of way to me even now, it echoes a nostalgia from my youth. Unfortunately, there is a gruesome and damaging undertone that I wish I had been aware of. A disrespect for people in general, and women in specific, boiling everything down to a few encouraged traits.
I will continue to read through the series for as long as I can stand, to see what else may have been hidden in those pages. To see if he improves in general. To see what, if anything, changes with a female point of view character that I know is coming up in a few books.
August 14, 2015
Piers does it again!
Bink is a great character and I'm sorry he won't be the main character past this book. I love Piers' creativity and also the moral problems he makes the characters face. This is a much different kind of adventure tale: Bink must grapple with forces on both an elemental and universal scale, and make choices which affect not just him, and not just his friends, but all of Xanth!
I really enjoy Piers' quirky attitudes towards women and all of his descriptions of female physical characteristics and stuff like that...it brings me back to my younger, more immature days and the crassness makes me laugh! Folks are trying so hard to be right these days when it comes to depicting the sexes and gender that I think we're missing how funny it is to be wrong! Part of the thrill of this book and Piers' writing are those moments when you think to yourself, "Wow, I can't believe he wrote that!" Personally, I could go on and on defending his writing and his depictions on multiple levels, but those are my opinions and I won't force that upon anyone.
I think if you don't like the book, you shouldn't read it. I think that if you enjoy some of it, you'll be rewarded for where it ends up and just the sheer imagination of it all. I was struck by how much I want to see these first two Xanth novels onscreen--I think the scenes, the conflicts, the characters, the magic are all so far ahead of all other fantasy adaptations in the marketplace that it's ridiculous. Are folks REALLY choosing between Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and vampires/werewoves?? Ive read books by Piers Anthony which manage to incorporate everything in those series and more! (to be clear LOTR is a great series, but Peter Jackson's adaptations of that and the Hobbit are nothing more than average for me, and a bit below that--I feel they miss a great deal of the spirit of those books and what make them so popular and timeless).
ANyway, check this out if you've read A Spell for Chameleon and are into that sort of thing
Bink is a great character and I'm sorry he won't be the main character past this book. I love Piers' creativity and also the moral problems he makes the characters face. This is a much different kind of adventure tale: Bink must grapple with forces on both an elemental and universal scale, and make choices which affect not just him, and not just his friends, but all of Xanth!
I really enjoy Piers' quirky attitudes towards women and all of his descriptions of female physical characteristics and stuff like that...it brings me back to my younger, more immature days and the crassness makes me laugh! Folks are trying so hard to be right these days when it comes to depicting the sexes and gender that I think we're missing how funny it is to be wrong! Part of the thrill of this book and Piers' writing are those moments when you think to yourself, "Wow, I can't believe he wrote that!" Personally, I could go on and on defending his writing and his depictions on multiple levels, but those are my opinions and I won't force that upon anyone.
I think if you don't like the book, you shouldn't read it. I think that if you enjoy some of it, you'll be rewarded for where it ends up and just the sheer imagination of it all. I was struck by how much I want to see these first two Xanth novels onscreen--I think the scenes, the conflicts, the characters, the magic are all so far ahead of all other fantasy adaptations in the marketplace that it's ridiculous. Are folks REALLY choosing between Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and vampires/werewoves?? Ive read books by Piers Anthony which manage to incorporate everything in those series and more! (to be clear LOTR is a great series, but Peter Jackson's adaptations of that and the Hobbit are nothing more than average for me, and a bit below that--I feel they miss a great deal of the spirit of those books and what make them so popular and timeless).
ANyway, check this out if you've read A Spell for Chameleon and are into that sort of thing
April 7, 2023
Some people might consider it punishment to read the Xanth books but I have enjoyed them since they first came out. I guess I'm just a sucker for puns, and there are lots of them in these books.
This book starts with the first anniversary of King Trent, the ex-evil magician accepting the throne. Bink is at his wit's end because his wife Camileon is 9 months pregnant and very unhappy, she's also in her ugly/smart phase and blaming Bink for the situation she is in.
Bink goes to the party at Castle Roguna without her but runs into a sword that tries to kill him and a small mound of dirt forms near where he fought it.
Later on, during the party, Bink talks with Trent and helps him with his problem with Queen Iris. So Trent helps out Bink by sending him and 2 others who are also having women problems, Chester the centaur, whose wife Cherie just gave birth to their son Chet and isn't paying attention to Chester anymore. And Crombie, the woman-hating soldier who is being chased by Binks's ex-girlfriend to find the source of magic in Xanth.
Their first stop is good magician Humphreys.......let the punishment begin.
These books are good for those from early teens to however old you get to. There's described frontal nudity for those such as centaurs and nymphs and innuendos about sex, but nothing graphic or explicit. I would score the book higher but I think that areas are occasionally dragged out to allow for more puns. Sometimes less is more.
This book starts with the first anniversary of King Trent, the ex-evil magician accepting the throne. Bink is at his wit's end because his wife Camileon is 9 months pregnant and very unhappy, she's also in her ugly/smart phase and blaming Bink for the situation she is in.
Bink goes to the party at Castle Roguna without her but runs into a sword that tries to kill him and a small mound of dirt forms near where he fought it.
Later on, during the party, Bink talks with Trent and helps him with his problem with Queen Iris. So Trent helps out Bink by sending him and 2 others who are also having women problems, Chester the centaur, whose wife Cherie just gave birth to their son Chet and isn't paying attention to Chester anymore. And Crombie, the woman-hating soldier who is being chased by Binks's ex-girlfriend to find the source of magic in Xanth.
Their first stop is good magician Humphreys.......let the punishment begin.
These books are good for those from early teens to however old you get to. There's described frontal nudity for those such as centaurs and nymphs and innuendos about sex, but nothing graphic or explicit. I would score the book higher but I think that areas are occasionally dragged out to allow for more puns. Sometimes less is more.
June 1, 2016
I originally reviewed the Source of Magic on the blog in 2009 here, and wrote a series review about Xanth as well.
I'm re-reading most of the Xanth series as part of my Read all the Books challenge: the reviews will be even shorter and pithier than my usual short pithy reviews :) and will serve more as a reminder and a placeholder for which books I've re-read and when.
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I know I liked this book a lot before, but re-reading it again as an adult it falls way short. It's just too much sexism/constant dirty jokes/lame puns that aren't even trying to be funny/did I mention the constant sexual jokes?
The plot is really thin on this one, too, and the climax of the novel - a debate about setting a demon free - falls really short. I feel like I'm missing the point of the scene or perhaps the entire novel, but I don't think it's me, I think it's how the scene is written.
It's just lacking the something something that makes most of these books so magical and fun to read - even though there's the constant dirty jokes and the women bashing - and this one really just disappointed me.
The only good thing about these books are how ridiciously fast they are to read.
I'm re-reading most of the Xanth series as part of my Read all the Books challenge: the reviews will be even shorter and pithier than my usual short pithy reviews :) and will serve more as a reminder and a placeholder for which books I've re-read and when.
-
I know I liked this book a lot before, but re-reading it again as an adult it falls way short. It's just too much sexism/constant dirty jokes/lame puns that aren't even trying to be funny/did I mention the constant sexual jokes?
The plot is really thin on this one, too, and the climax of the novel - a debate about setting a demon free - falls really short. I feel like I'm missing the point of the scene or perhaps the entire novel, but I don't think it's me, I think it's how the scene is written.
It's just lacking the something something that makes most of these books so magical and fun to read - even though there's the constant dirty jokes and the women bashing - and this one really just disappointed me.
The only good thing about these books are how ridiciously fast they are to read.
June 21, 2017
Like its predecessor, A Spell for Chameleon, this book is a very pleasant diversion from the mediocrity of daily life. Anthony has a special gift for creating characters who in some way go against fantasy stereotypes in the way they act, look, and think. The Xanth books are short enough that you can dive in and get a good sense of the unfolding story within the first chapter. I do wish more attention had been given to the characters of Chameleon and Millie the Ghost, both of whom are largely sidelined, but as Chameleon is a big part of the preceding book and Millie is a big part of the following book, this is a small gripe.
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