I was given this book as part of a "Blind Date with a Book" promotion at the library at the college where I work.If this book had been a real blind date, I’m ashamed to say that in the middle of dinner I excused myself to the restroom then promptly climbed out the window and ran far, far away. I only made it through page 49.When I first unwrapped the book, I was happy to see it was a Piers Anthony novel, as I had enjoyed his Incarnations of Immortality and Bio of a Space Tyrant series when I was in high school.I had some misgivings when I discovered Zombie Lover is book #22 of the Xanth series, a series I had never tried before. My short time with this book gave me the impression that Xanth is an homage to L. Frank Baum’s Oz books – an nonsensical fantasy world full of magic and absurd plot twists. I’m not a fan of that sort of fiction.The book’s sexism really bugged me too. The 15-year-old heroine is being romantically pursued by a twenty-something zombie who doesn’t take no for an answer. One female character alternates between two forms: she’s either really smart and ugly or really dumb and pretty. Maybe this makes sense in context of the previous 21 books, but it just comes off as awful here.What finally did me in was the parade of dozens of characters who I’m sure would be familiar and welcome to longtime readers but just left me bored with their labored quirkiness and long expository scenes about plot developments from the previous books.
Xanth #22: Zombie Lover, by Piers AnthonyI think "Zombie Lover" was the first Xanth book I read, and it's a perfect book for getting into the series. Breanna, the main character, isn't a native of Xanth but instead migrated with the Black Wave; human migration into Xanth has always happened in waves of people. And so the readers see Xanth through Breanna's eyes, which is a great way to see it if you're new to the series. Not overfull of puns, as some of the later Xanth books are, "Zombie Lover" follows Breanna as she tries to escape marrying a zombie king. Anthony examines bigotry and racism through her attitude toward zombies, which mirrors the feelings some have toward Breanna herself as she is black. Parallel to Breanna's story are the stories of Jenny, and of the kings of Xanth, who accidently drank Lethe water, causing them to forget where home was. Jenny, an elf and another non-native of Xanth, is writing invitations and planning a massive wedding, but no one knows who the bride is. "Zombie Lover" is a solid installment in the series, and is better than some of the recent Xanth books published. 3/5.
What do You think about Zombie Lover (1999)?
This book is the height of awesome for me. I first read it about 8 years ago, and it has since been my favorite book EVER. Although it isn't as well written as some, this book has a certain excitement to it with an odd twist involving a tree who is tired of a boring life, a black wave girl who made a HUGE mistake, and yes, zombies. Although the title makes it sound like a bad horror story or softcore porn, it's actually a fantasy with a comedic twist. I sincerely applaud Piers Anthony for a book well done.
—Ceilidh
This book was very awful. The sexual innuendo that started to ramp up with Dawn and Eve in the previous book is full blown in this one. I don't understand why Anthony went in that direction. Xanth had no place for it in my opinion. Ida's moons are back much to my dismay. The first visit there does nothing at all to advance the story. All it does is waste a few chapters on horrible reader submitted puns. The second visit was thankfully brief but still bad. The kings spend half the book looking for home since they forgot where it was. They see a castle, know they are kings, but don't bother to even go ask anyone there. Then they meet Justin who ought to know where they live but he never says anything. Too many horrible plot holes just to keep the "story" going.
—Jeremiah Johnson
