Hmmm... it's a strange thing to read your childhood favourites as an adult - except with Harry Potter, which for me is timeless. I will never stop enjoying them. I quite enjoyed 'The Source of Magic', though reading it now, a few things strike me. Firstly an obvious one - the prose are not nearly as good as I remember. But that is to be expected - nobody writes like Ian McEwan when they're writing young adult fiction. Also, this book in particular (I have yet to see whether the others will follow suit, though I expect they will) is overtly sexist. The premise basically centres around a bunch of men of various species (a man, a centaur, a man transformed into a griffin) going on a quest because their wives and partners are either pregnant or have just had a kid, and the men wish to escape the stress of their home life! Yeah, what a great message to send to young readers! The books goes on and the chauvinism gets worse. At the end, the protagonist doles out some male wisdom to the lady centaur, telling her that in order to keep her partner interested, she must pay him more attention instead of focusing too much on her new born baby centaur. Not good, Piers Anthony, not good at all. One of the main characters is also a self-proclaimed 'woman-hater' who takes any opportunity throughout the narrative to discuss why he despises the opposite sex so much, only to end the book marrying a woman who he doesn't have to see all the time, because that constitutes a perfect relationship for him. Also, it's got LOADS of sexual undertones that I totally failed to pick up the first time round - not saying that's a bad thing, just picking up on aspects of the book that I didn't get when I was younger. Overall this book would have been a lovely nostalgic indulgence if it hadn't been for Piers Anthony sending a message to his readers that if your wife/girlfriend/lady centaur is annoying you with her ridiculous female ways or her unforgiving pregnancy hormones - go on a life-threatening quest, it will make you appreciate her a lot more when you get home. I'm going to carry on reading the series (though I probably shouldn't) because I remember that I loved some of the books later on in the series, and I need the character set ups. Let's hope Anthony's story lines focus more on promoting equality in subsequent books, though to be honest, I do not hold much hope for this happening.
Régen volt, mikor utoljára humoros fantasyt olvastam – leszámítva az első részt – és felhőtlenül élveztem is. Régen a Skandar Graun-os könyveket imádtam (gondolom azok még ma is tetszenének), de aztán beleuntam kicsit – a nyíltan főleg humoros írásokat, Herry Kóklert és társait meg hagyjuk is inkább! – és nyilván azokban az időkben a Pratchett-könyvek is nagyon tetszettek, de azokba még hamarabb fáradtam bele. [...]Piers Anthony Xanth-sorozata nem ilyen fárasztó. Teli vannak bődületes ökörségekkel ezek a regények is – papucsokat termő bokor és társaik –, végig nevetgélhetnek az olvasók, de alig „poénkodnak” bennük csak úgy egyszerűen. Sokkal többet nevethetünk a szerző szarkasztikus (és sokszor cinikus) beszólásain.[...]Talán azért is, mert a szexista humor önmagában azért nem elég ahhoz, hogy teljesen kitöltsön egy egész könyv(sorozatot), és mivel a fantasy amúgy is kéz a kézben jár a kalandregényekkel, ezért szükség volt most is egy (nem annyira hősies) küldetésre, pár mini-kalandra lebontva, amit hőseink – Bink, a főszereplő; egy valódi életre vágyó minigólem; egy kakaskodásra hajlamos kentaur; egy griffé változtatott katona és egy folyton unatkozó, vonakodó birodalmi gnóm-főmágus – útjuk során rendre szállítanak is. Az első részben kiemeltem, hogy akkor a kalandok jórészét intellektusuknak hála sikerült inkább túlélni, mintsem a kardforgatásban való jártasságuknak köszönhetően. Most – vagy akkor is, csak nem vettem észre? – a szerző még tovább ment. Vándorlásuk során – a teljesség igénye nélkül – le kell győzniük sárkányt, ördögöt, démont, szirént, de ezen feladatok SOSEM olyan egyszerűek, mint általában más regényekben szoktak lenni. (Öld le/lopd el/surranj el mellette – aztán jöhet is a következő feladat.) A kalandok most mind ilyen-olyan, de mindig valami komoly erkölcsi dilemmát okoznak a szereplőknek, amikre legritkább esetben megoldás a kard (vagy a mágia), többször is csak a morális paradoxonokra adott – érett – válasszal folytatódhat az utazás és a nyomozás a mágia titokzatos – és halálos – forrása után.Bővebben a blogon:http://profunduslibrum.blogspot.hu/20...
What do You think about The Source Of Magic (1997)?
I think I liked this book even more than the first one in the series. Piers Anthony gives us our first look at some of the REALLY strange places (and people) in Xanth. It's also a swashbuckling boys-only adventure, (at least until the last quarter of the book) with very little of the moping that went on in "A Spell for Chameleon". At least until near the end when the main character does something unbelievably reckless that you have to admire him for. And also? There's some cute puns, but not to the point where they take over the story.
—Kathryn
I dislike the entire series a great deal. In fact, I've started using Xanth as a measurement for how bad other book series are.I managed to get through 5 Xanth books before I couldn't bring myself to continue any more. 5 books before I would rather listen to nothing while driving than be subjected to Piers Anthony's writing any more. It isn't the worst series I've ever read, I only managed 4 Maze Runner books, and 3 Divergent.In truth, it was the Ogre being propelled like a rocket by vomiting Black Licorice horse shit he'd eaten in book 5 that crushed my spirit once and for all.
—Chris Evans
I Have 10 of the figurines from the series that I need to sell. I have Chester the Centaur, Humphrey, Iris, Yin&Yang, The Demon Beauregard, Stanley Steamer & Ivy, Simurgh, Jewel the Nymph, Mare Imbrium, and Unicorn. If Interested Please Let me know. And I will inform you of my Email Address
—RachelAnne
