This is the 10th Xanth novel, and the beginning of what I have always considered the second trilogy. At this point, Piers had moved from the TOR publisher to Avon. Since Avon doesn't ever list TOR novels and TOR doesn't ever list Avon ones, many readers may have long been confused on what was in the series and how they were ordered (pre-internet).After slogging through the last book, I wasn't too sure how much farther I would go with this series, but Vale breathes new life into the series. Firstly, it changes up the standard format of the Xanth novel. Where previous books were about one specific character and their journey of discovering who they are, where the belong, and who their soul mate is -> the new formula splits that between 3 characters and then rotates perspective by chapter.This means that no given character must achieve all of those things in a single book, rather out of the three they will certainly do that. It also means that characters who completed their story in a previous book can act as secondary characters in the new one.This book also marks the beginning of the 3rd Generation for Xanth. From ehre on out, the main characters will be the grandchildren of those in books 1-2 and the children of the characters from books 3-9. The benefit of this new format is that the reader can not like one or more of the characters and still be interested in the story. What's more, it can act as a sequel to multiple previous books which can then gain fans from those books.This book is about Esk, who is the son of the protagonists from book 5 and Chex, who is the daughter of one of the protagonists from book 7. The last character is Vadne, who is not only new but of a species that we have not yet encountered (The Voles).One thing that I really like about this book is in regards to Esk as a character as it acknowledges a type of child abuse which is not often discussed. Also, both he and Chex have trouble fitting in with society being of mixed parentage.But the main plot has an environmental message which was inspired by real events in Mundania (Florida) at the time. What I like about this as that Piers really doesn't take one side or the other of the issue.
I hope that this represents the low-water mark for the Xanth series, and that the remaining books cannot possibly be worse.This book was still readable, but numbingly repetitive and lacking in urgency or "danger". That is, there is no palpable immediacy to the quest, and thus no imminent peril, and the book suffers as a result of nearly negligable suspense.The story involves so many treks across Xanth that it seems it's no longer dangerous to travel here and there in Xanth - there's little reflection on the part of the characters as to the risk involved, and in fact the treks are mostly pointless, and thus unwise if safety might be a concern. Characters arrive at an intended location, only to discover that what they need there is either not yet available, or what they want is impossible, and therefore the journey was all for nothing. So they return to their starting point and then decide to try another destination in the hopes that it will have more useful results. Only to undergo another wasted trip from which they then backtrack.Esk's quest never really seems that important or necessary. I never was convinced in the urgency of his quest, nor of its importance, and always considered that traveling to the Magician was a questionable strategy.The vole's quest is more convincing, but I question if the other characters would really be so eager to help. They have their own problems to solve, after all, which were supposedly urgent enough for them to travel on a supposedly safe path that is inexplicably infested with dragons. Do I really believe that they'd be willing to help simply because their own quest is stalled? There's a link between helping the vole and furthering their own individual needs, but it's rather tenuous and ill-developed.The resolution of the plot is not clever or overly innovative, unlike some other earlier Xanth novels that I had previously been unimpressed with up until the end. That didn't happen this time - no redeeming quality was able to save the day at the last minute.
What do You think about Vale Of The Vole (2000)?
This is probably the last Xanth novel that I read30 December 2011tI guess that I am getting to the point where my memory of the Xanth novels are beginning to fade. This was written in 1987 and I suspect that I read it a couple of years later, possibly in the early 90s (though the exact date I am unable to remember). I remember this because it was when my friend first introduced me to the series, and I pretty much read everything thing that he had written up to that point, and a couple more.tI have noted that he is still writing the novels. Currently (as of the writing of this commentary) he is up to number 35, and there are a couple more in the wings. I guess that once one has made a name for oneself then people will keep buying the books. I am surprised that he has managed to keep this series going for so long. I would equate it to Harry Potter, though they were not as popular. Harry Potter hit the world by storm, where as these books have been sitting in the background and I suspect the popularity has probably diminished somewhat. I gave up after book number 13, not that I had become bored with them, but rather because there were other books that I was reading, and I had pretty much read everything that had been published and I simply stopped waiting for any more.
—David Sarkies
SUMMARY:When Esk, a young ogre-nymph-human, began his pilgrimage to the Good Magician Humfrey to rid himself of a seductive demoness, little did he know it would become a mission of mercy. A running river paradise and its harmless inhabitants were perishing in the wrathful wake of a greedy demon horde. Now it is up to Esk and his companions--a beautiful winged centaur named Chex and a brave burrower Called Volney--to search Xanth's treacherous reaches, gathering together a mind-boggling company of creatures to defend the precious Vale of the Vole.
—Ward Bond
Synopsis: A group of miscellaneous characters of mixed races meet each other along a road and decide to travel together. They're each going to the same place, to ask a wizard a question. Along the way, various random problems emerge, which they overcome with their variety of gifts (the majority of the book are these random encounters). After visiting the wizard's base, they must make a trip to defeat a villain, and water is definitely involved prominently in said defeat.Sound familiar?This book suffers from the same joys and flaws as all the Xanth books, but I enjoyed this one pretty well.
—J.
