What do you think of Piers Anthony?

[SoulOnIce]

I loved him as a kid. His Xanth series and the series that begins with On A Pale Horse. Does anyone still read him? Does he still write? Heck, is he still alive?

[Karl J Barnes]

Yes, I used to read his stuff as quickly as it came out. From the Xanth series(my favorite beginner fantasy novels are still A Spell For Chameleon and The Source of Magic) to The Blue Adept trilogy to the first four Immortal series novels,plus the assorted one shots.

Here's a site that has the "Compleat"(they explain why it is spelled that way):http://www.piers-anthony.com/


I stopped reading his works,mainly they started to become too formulaic and his "voice" was always the same with no surprises or even fun moments in his later works. I just decided to stop reading him; before I grew to loathe his works and remember the stuff that I did like.

[Expletive Deleted]

He's still pumping out Xanth books, I think.

I dunno. I liked a few books from that "On a Pale Horse" series, but the rest seemed either cheesy or skeevy.

[Donald M.]

I read and enjoyed the first dozen or so Xanth books before losing interest. Apparently he's still writing the damn things even though he ran out of good ideas a few books before where I left off.

Xanth and Discworld seem to be the two longest fantasy series out there. Though the books differ in quality, Discworld is still worth reading. Xanth is just crap and has been for a long time, but it apparently has a core of fans who like reading the same book over and over under different titles.

[Aaron Kashtan]

The earliest Xanth novels are all right, and might be worth reading as an introduction to fantasy, especially if you're very young. Unfortunately, as others have mentioned, he continued to churn them out long after he'd run out of interesting ideas. His creativity fought a battle with his psychosexual hang-ups and his addiction to bad puns, and his creativity quickly lost.

Also, Piers himself seems like an utterly insufferable jerk. If I ever met him in person, I'd want to slap him silly.

[Sanagi]

Seems like somewhere along the line he turned into a weird cliche version of himself, but I liked the early Xanth books and the Phaze series. And the last time I read Macroscope, I still liked it.

[Dreadstar]

Xanth was cute. Cute like the little pre-schooler that brings one of his toys in and dumps it on your lap while visiting.

Somewhere along about the 6th or 14th Power Ranger, you start getting annoyed and wish the kid would stop dropping toys in your lap.

I'd like to tell you at which book in the series that boredom overtook me, but for the life of me, I can't. They all run together. I'm pretty sure I hacked it out past 6, though.

[Shellhead]

I enjoyed the first half dozen Xanth books, and the Incarnations of Immortality series started out strong. But I eventually got bored with the repetitive themes in his writing, and really creeped out by his fascination with underage girls having sex, especially since he has two daughters.

In particular, there was a creepy rape scene early in the God book in that Incarnations series involving two underage girls. And then there was that standalone Firefly story (with absolutely no connection to the excellent tv show of the same name), involving an alien shapeshifter, an underage girl, and a pervy older man.

And from the photos I've seen of Piers Anthony, he has a creepy smile that is somehow similar to that King from the Burger King commercials.

[MatthewDiCarlo]

If you've reached The Color of her Panties, you've gone too far.

Someone should read his stuff, about ten books in a row, the summer when they're 16.

And then not really look back. It's light. It's fluffy. It's a good gateway drug to slightly less light and fluffy things of the same nature, whether they be by Peter David or Terry Pratchett or even the Flashman series.

[Agent Helix]

I liked him a lot when I was a kid, but I outgrew his books long, long ago.

[Ryan Day]

If you've reached The Color of her Panties, you've gone too far.


I think that's the first time I've ever heard anyone say that. ;)

[Jonathan Bogart]

I try not to think of Piers Anthony.

[Shady Jack]

I read Bio of a Space Tyrant in 8th or 9th grade and thought it was the bee's knees. I discovered Stephen King and Douglas Adams soon after that and never got around to any of Anthony's other stuff.

[Rob on the Job]

His Jason Striker martial arts series, written in collaboration with Roberto Fuentes, was sensational.

[DrDoomX]

I hate Piers Anthony...and his stuff is just terrible. A Spell for Chameleon is one of the worst books i have ever Read. It just does not have a good appeal...

I think a more appropriate introduction to fantasy would be Le Guins EarthSea books, Harry Potter, and maybe Narnia...but, the true introduction should be LOTR, not Piers Anthonys sad excuse of a fantasy...He is up there with Terry Brooks, and Christopher Paolinil as the worst fantasy Authors of all time...but thats just my opinion...

[Jared H.]

I bailed on Anthony's works the moment I encountered the weird and creepy sex stuff.

[Slam_Bradley]

I read the Phaze books and the early Incarnations books along with a few of the early Xanth novels in high school. I haven't read anything by him in decades.

[Shem the Penman]

I liked as a teen, and still have a soft spot for, the first Phaze trilogy, the first six Xanth books, the first five Incarnations books, and his Tarot trilogy. Still, I have no impulse to ever seek out anything by him again.

[JeffreyWKramer]

After reading FIREFLY, and his defense of pedophilia, I haven't thought much at all of Anthony, and none of what I have thought of him has been good.

[Cayman]

I started reading his Xanth books in middle-school and liked him until I was 15 or so, and then he fell out of favor with me.

[stealthwise]

After reading FIREFLY, and his defense of pedophilia, I haven't thought much at all of Anthony, and none of what I have thought of him has been good.

Ding! Dammit, Jeffrey, I'll come along through a thread, reading what everyone has to say, start formulating my own opinion, and then, bam! you've already said it.

I liked Anthony's works when I was younger, especially the Incarnations and early Xanth books (I read dozens of books of his within a few months), but the rape and sexual stuff in Bio of a Space Tyrant and the Caterpillar's Question (which I believe is the correct title for the Firefly book that you're talking about) was just too much for me.

Apparently he was also acting questionable when he published that half-written book by the deceased fan of his, although I'm not sure how that went down legally.

EDIT: Never mind on that Firefly correction, as there IS a book by that name.

The other book I'm talking about is called The Caterpillar's Question, and it essentially justifies a mental-health worker's molestation and love affair with a "magically enhanced" 11 year old autistic girl.

[GremlinClr]

I've read lots of his stuff when I was younger. Probably the first 12 Xanth books (I stopped enjoying them after 9, Golem in the Gears), 4 Apprentice Adept Series, 3 Incarnation of Immortality Series, that trilogy with the one sylable names plus a weapon (Gar the Ax etc. or something like that) and some stand alones. Rings of Ice is really my favorite of his. I thought it was quite good.

I haven't read anything else by him in probably 20 years or more. But at one time I was a huge fan, I even have the Xanth board game.

[Rob Allen]

My wife and I find the Xanth books good for reading out loud just before falling asleep.

[JeffreyWKramer]

EDIT: Never mind on that Firefly correction, as there IS a book by that name.

The other book I'm talking about is called The Caterpillar's Question, and it essentially justifies a mental-health worker's molestation and love affair with a "magically enhanced" 11 year old autistic girl.

I'd never heard of THE CATERPILLAR'S QUESTION until now, but it sounds like FIREFLY wasn't a one-time only aberration. More the shame.

[Karl J Barnes]

I'd never heard of THE CATERPILLAR'S QUESTION until now, but it sounds like FIREFLY wasn't a one-time only aberration. More the shame.

He did do a short story that was pretty disturbing. It is from his Anthonolgy9I might have spelled the title wrong,but it is a play(pun) of Anthology), a collection of his short stories. In the short story, a normal sized man impregnates a tiny fairy. The story is pretty graphic in its depictions of sex between the two.

[K'Nort]

He did do a short story that was pretty disturbing. It is from his Anthonolgy9I might have spelled the title wrong,but it is a play(pun) of Anthology), a collection of his short stories. In the short story, a normal sized man impregnates a tiny fairy. The story is pretty graphic in its depictions of sex between the two.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was the last thing of his that I read.

I loved the Xanth books in 6th and 7th grade (early 80s) and read the Phase books as they were coming out and the first couple Incarnations books but the sex just got too creepy and that short story -- I was about 15 by then -- was more than enough.

[Rocket13]

I enjoyed the Phaze books, the first trilogy more than the second. Also read several of the Xanth books at a much younger age and enjoyed at least some of them before they became a little too silly for my taste.

Was unaware of Anthony's sexual aberrations until reading about them in a previous thread on this board though.

[Shawn Hopkins]

I read the entire Incarnations of Immortality series when I was a teenager. Some of it was quite good, especially the Death and Time books, but the rest of it was very uneven. Some of the last few books were gawdawful, featuring wooden, sickeningly noble characters doing unconvincing things. I also read the second of three Phaze books but don't remember much about it. Xanth never really interested me.

His weird sex stuff is kind of hard to defend, though. I haven't read any of those stories but from the descriptions they do seem to include an implied acceptance or defense of pedophilia.

[wulfstone]

Ive read the Incarnations of Immortality series about 12 or so Xanth books the ring trilogy? (Sos the Rope was one IIRC) and Bio of a Space Tyrant. I loved them when i was a kid looking back at all the child sex/rape thats in them I'm like WTF!