Cube Route by Piers Anthony was my first foray into the land of Xanth, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. I have seen his books on my local library's shelves for a long time, but never really felt the need or desire to give them a try. However, a couple of months ago I listened to a podcast where some guy talked about how as a kid he ran away from home and went to Anthony's house in search of help. This story was really interesting, and got me thinking about what his books were like. Which led me to this book. There was no particular reason for choosing this book over the four or five others on the shelf, though. It was pretty much the first one that I looked at.As I started the book, I found the puns jarring. I knew about them coming into the book, but I don't think that I actually knew what it was going to be like reading a new pun every page. After a chapter or so, I got used to it, and I actually really liked it. I don't think I could read a lot of Anthony's books in a row, but it was a refreshingly different style of fantasy from what I usually read.The only part that really stood out in a bad way was the Silhouette part of the story. Not the way that it was done, just that the story was really light and fun up to that point, then all of a sudden it got rape-y. I was really shocked when Silhouette's boyfriend came in and it was all attempted rape and domestic abuse. It was a really weird interlude, because the story continued in the same way it had before the gritty realness. That was really the weakest part of the book because it was so different from the rest of the book and it wasn't really addressed properly or integrated that well with the rest of the book.Overall, fun book, I'll probably read at least a couple more of Anthony's books, but I doubt he'll ever be my favorite author.
This is the 27th Xanth book and both the characters in the book and Anthony in his author's note made reference to it being the conclusion of a "cubic trilogy" (3x3x3 books) though not the end of the series (there are already at least a dozen more). I missed this one when it came out, but have already read the next 5 and own 4 more. The formula is pretty well established: a quest set by Good Magician Humphrey, a visit to several of Ida's moons, other recurring characters, and a gazillion horrible puns. The story that bound these together was interesting. The main characters learned something about themselves and grew in the process. So a fun visit. But I'll take a break before I plunge into "Jumper Cable".
