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Book Review, © Copyright 1997 etc., Jim Loy
I was going to call this series a "trilogy", just to see if people actually read my book reviews. Anyway, here (as far as I know) are all of the Xanth novels, to date (a couple are not out yet):
These books are part of the rapidly expanding genre of humorous fantasy. These books, in particular, are filled with outrageous and silly puns. For example, you may meet an Ice Queen Clone. And the worst place you can be is between a roc and a hard place. And you may want to utter the magical name of that magical place, Isle of View, to your true love.
Xanth is a magical land, shaped like Florida. We, who read these books, live in Mundania, and of course we dream of living in Xanth. Xanth is populated by humans (many of whom have magic talents), centaurs, dragons, harpies, flying horses, ghosts, zombies, moat monsters, night mares, tangle trees, goblins, ogres, nicklepedes (bigger and more dangerous than centipedes), rocs, demons, bed monsters (monsters who hide under the beds of children), and many other creatures.
Each book is the story of a quest, by a different character each time. We see quests to save Xanth, to save a life, to find true love, find something or someone who is lost, to gain a soul, or to achieve happiness or fulfillment.
I feel compelled to mention one of the above titles, The Color of Her Panties. It seems that, in Xanth, a woman's (or girl's) panties are among the most profound of all possible mysteries, and they cause a catatonic state called "freaking out." Also, in Geis of the Gargoyle, we find a pun (Ein Stein: if you drink from this, you become the most intelligent person in Xanth) which I submitted to Mr. Anthony.
A few people may not like all those silly puns. But, these are very entertaining stories. And they are best-sellers. See Hi Piers (Home page of Piers Anthony and Xanth).
To order any of these book from Amazon.com (goes directly to the book that you click on):
There have also been books with three Xanth novels in one book.