I was thinking about this book the other day and wondering, "Is this the most sexist thing I've ever read?" The answer: quite probably. When was in my early teens I discovered Piers Anthony, because, let's face it: he WAS the fantasy section at Waldenbooks for the entire 1980's. I really loved the first few Incarnations of Immortality and the Xanth books, though they were definitely a bit naughty. Those books were also full of buxom women and people hopping into bed with total strangers, but they made it seem . . . well, not in innocent fun, but there was a certain schoolboy fantasy element that made me roll my eyes, but keep reading because of the cleverness of the books.And then I read this one.I mean . . . honestly.The premise is that there's a world of advanced science, Photon, wherein dwells our hero, Stile. Stile is a serf, but even serfs are allowed to compete in the games, which are sort of like American Gladiator competitions, and Stile is the best. Oh, and the serfs aren't allowed to wear clothes. So, yeah. Everyone except the elite is naked all the time. They're just walking around, with their junk hanging out. Which at first made me giggle, and then made me annoyed. There's absolutely no purpose for it. It's strictly a plot device to allow Anthony to describe the breasts of every woman in every scene. Oh, and to allow Stile to get turned on by women in clothes, because it's so weird and erotic to him. Also, he works with horses. Yep. Naked dude, taking care of horses. No shoes, no pants, no . . . just no. Anyway, Stile the Naked discovers that there's a parallel world to his called Phaze, where there is no science, only magic, and his counterpart there has been murdered. They want to murder him, too, because he could potentially cross over and take the other guy's place, and the other guy is a wizard. So Stile goes off to be a wizard and then things get stupid.What? You thought it was already stupid that there's an entire planet that contains advanced scientific gizmos but only the wealthy are allowed to have pants? Please! That's the first chapter or so! No, the stupid thing is the plot of this book.So, Stile is a serf on Photon, but on Phaze he's a wizard, and not just any wizard: he's an adept. They're like, the BEST wizards. Also, they're identified by color. but no one can tell Stile which color he's supposed to replace. Because apparently having one of like, seven, super wizards murdered isn't newsworthy enough for someone to notice which one it is. So the bulk of the book is him traveling to the demesne of each adept, to see if anyone's at home or if it's empty, which means it's his. That's it. Really. That's what he does. Each demesne (and by the way, if you, like me, find that word super irritating, brace yourself, because it's on every friggin' page) is really kooky and reflects that adept's personal magic style, so it gives Anthony the chance to create really elaborate castles with really bizarre booby traps around them. But booby traps don't bother our hero! He's the champion of the naked games! This guy can literally do anything. Also, hot women, androids, and shapeshifters fall at his feet and let him grope their globular boobies. All. The. Time. But sadly, he's short. He thinks constantly about his shortness, and how he has to be better than everyone else at everything else, because they mock him for being short. He's the only short guy in either world, apparently. Anyway, he travels around, and he meets a unicorn and there's an endless rumination on horse poop. I'm not joking. Horse poop. It's like Stile's thing, horse poop. And he tames the wild unicorn, and then she turns into a hot woman, and he tames her too, if you know what I mean. *rolls eyes* And they travel together. And he goes to all the magical color castles, and I swear to you, it's the LAST ONE that turns out to be his, by some incredible coincidence.And then it ends. And if you want to know what else Stile the No Longer Naked gets up to, you have to read the rest of the series. But honestly, even as a teenager, I was not up for more nakedness. It's a sad day when a book full of naked people can't hold a teenager's interest. Also, when even a teen girl who can't say the word sexism aloud (because it starts with s-e-x!) realizes that a book is incredibly sexist, you've got a problem. The women in this book are unable to even dress or feed themselves without Stile. And they're all shorter than he is. And . . . I just . . . ugh.
This book reminded me of a geeky prepubescent male's fantasy dream. The plot takes place in two worlds: a world of fantasy, and a world of science fiction. I normally read books from both genres, so I thought I would really enjoy it. The idea was novel, but it did not flow well. The main character jumps jarringly between the two worlds throughout the novel. In the science fiction world of Proton, no one is allowed to wear clothing unless they are in the rich upper class. The nakedness of the characters added nothing to the story it just seemed weird. The characters all seemed one dimensional. For example, the hero's girlfriend, Sheen, is an android woman whose proportions were apparently designed exactly to the taste of the hero. She was programmed with two directives: to "protect" the hero and to "love" the hero. "I was made to please you, to want to please you." She reminded me of a deluxe blow up doll, Stepford wife, and robotic guard dog rolled into one character. When he jumps to the magical world of Phaze, he meets his next female companion. She is a black unicorn who can shape shift by night into a naked beautiful woman. Of course our hero has to "tame" her first so he can "ride" her. He rides her all over Phaze during the day in her unicorn form and all night in her female form. Of course, she "doesn't like to talk much." and throughout the book males speak for her. When the hero is with her his conversations are unnatural and contrived. He just monologues every thought in his head. I gave it two stars instead of one because there are some creative ideas and a few passages I enjoyed reading. For example, I liked when the hero first attempted to ride the unicorn. He had some vivid descriptions and it was a very creative part of the book. She seemed intelligent and they had a nice pas de deux going between them. It was a grueling battle in which I found myself rooting for the unicorn to throw the hero onto his derrière. The whole passage, however, was ruined for me, when I read later on in the book that she had the ability to shape shift into a firefly and instead let him tame her. I decided she was an idiot at that point and I lost all respect for her. She was transportation, a mute sex partner, and a fencing partner all rolled into one: a teenage guy's wet dream.I couldn't stand the main male character any more than the female characters. His small man syndrome got old pretty fast. The author had to remind us on nearly every page that the hero is short. Of course the hero is good at pretty much EVERYTHING, from being an expert on horse manure to sword fighting. His extensive abilities got to be ridiculous. He is basically a superman, yet we have to read every other page about how he suffers for being short and how people look down on him and belittle him. I was able to get to the end of this book, but will not be reading the rest of the series.
What do You think about Split Infinity (1987)?
I was disappointed in this book, given the reputation of the author. I lost total interest in the story about halfway into it, so I have no idea if it improves or ends strongly. My biggest issue was with the main character, Style. I couldn't empathize with him at all. In his world, he is a perfect human athlete who wanders around naked. Everything he does is like reading the journal of your average self absorbed high school, football captain, scholar, valedictorian. His biggest " weakness" is that he is short and sensitive about it. Honestly, I thought his android girlfriend, Sheen, showed more potential as a main character and the book would have done well to focus on her.I lost interest in the story when the author spent an excessive number of pages discussing horse manure and the ridiculously never ending ride the unicorn took him on. What finished it for me was him having sex with the unicorn while she was in her (perfect) human form, and then meeting her brother who started speaking in bad Shakespearean English. Piers Anthony has a lot better work out there. This story missed the mark for me.
—Doug Pruden
It gets two stars because I finished it, but hoo boy.First, holy cow is it lazy and painful to have every single woman in the book instantly fall in love and risk their lives for the main character. The climax of the book is essentially a catfight for the main character. Only it is a human/unicorn fight? There are so many roll eyes moments in this that I've lost count.Second, while I think the idea of the Game is interesting, any detailed description of a game in a book is going to get my game d
—Zack Hiwiller
Piers Anthony was my favorite author while growing up, and I read nearly all of his books he had written before I turned 16. I decided to try him again (now that Im 41), and see how he holds up. He's still fun, but clearly not what I remembered. I have read recent accusations against him of being misogynistic, and while I wouldnt go that far.. His treatment of female characters is certainly.. different. He reminds of of Orson Scott Card: great ideas, but lacking in most other areas, combined with a generous layer of weirdness when it comes to sex. Sadly, I dont think his books will stand the test of time.
—Chad Lindaman
