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...