About the Author

Piers Anthony is one of the world's most popular fantasy authors, and a "New York Times" bestseller twenty-one times over. His Xanth novels have been read and loved by millions of readers around the world, and he daily receives hundreds of letters from his devoted fans.
In addition to the Xanth series, Anthony is the author of many other best-selling works. Piers Anthony lives in Inverness, Florida.

Reviews

This latest and weakest Xanth fantasy (after The Color of Her Panties ) starts off in Mundania, the series's term for the world in which the readers live. Playing the new fantasy/adventure computer game Companions of Xanth, teenagers Dug and Kim select companions from among the characters of Xanth, Dug choosing a sultry half-woman/half serpent and Kim a young Elven girl. Soon Dug and Kim find they have entered the actual Land of Xanth. Unknown to them, the demons that provide Xanth's magic are in mystic competition, using Kim, Dug and their companions as pawns. Written in a simplistic style, the novel marks the continued decline of this once-diverting series. The teenage characters are all but lifeless, while the story line, remarkably similar to that of Anthony's recent novel Killobyte , lacks not just tension but consequence. However, the legions of Xanth readers can rest assured that the book contains plenty of the punningly named animals, vegetables, people and things (such as the Ice Queen Crone and the Censor-Ship) that have become the series' raison d'etre. (Feb.)

A computer game becomes the doorway between Mundania and the magical, pun-filled world of Xanth in the 16th installment of one of the genre's most popular series. The switch to hardcover format will guarantee patron demand for library copies.