What do you think?
Rate this book
Xanth #24
The Dastard
Many malevolent menaces have imperiled the magical land of Xanth in its long and storied history. But none has been as despicably dangerous as the Dastard-a craven miscreant who sold his soul to a detestable demon for the power to erase events. Now the entire future of Xanth is at the mercy of his every whim. Only a young dragon-girl named Becka has the power to stop his devious deeds!
Becka is a crossbreed-the daughter of Draco Dragon and a lovely human woman who met, by chance, at a Love Spring. Now fourteen, Becka is beginning to wonder where in Xanth she belongs-on the ground with her mother's people, or flying the skies with her father's kind. So she journeys to the Good Magician Humfrey to discover her True Purpose in life. Much to her astonishment and surprise, the Magician tells her that that a great Destiny awaits her-one that will affect the future of all of Xanth.
Becka is a crossbreed-the daughter of Draco Dragon and a lovely human woman who met, by chance, at a Love Spring. Now fourteen, Becka is beginning to wonder where in Xanth she belongs-on the ground with her mother's people, or flying the skies with her father's kind. So she journeys to the Good Magician Humfrey to discover her True Purpose in life. Much to her astonishment and surprise, the Magician tells her that that a great Destiny awaits her-one that will affect the future of all of Xanth.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
28 people are currently reading
2418 people want to read
About the author
Piers Anthony
441 books4,216 followersThough he spent the first four years of his life in England, Piers never returned to live in his country of birth after moving to Spain and immigrated to America at age six. After graduating with a B.A. from Goddard College, he married one of his fellow students and and spent fifteen years in an assortment of professions before he began writing fiction full-time.
Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.
Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
September 22, 2021
I didn't think I liked Pierce Anthony's writing style - thought it, perhaps, to be too masculine in nature with crisp, direct prose and none of the subtlety, rhetorical gymnastics and baroqueness I like from my fiction.
But then I was scrolling one day through a list my friend had compiled of books by their ENF (English Noun Frequency), who was using this to demonstrate how you could pretty much sum up any book by their most used words. Perusing my friend's library in the form of ENF rather than authors or titles, I happened upon this series of nouns:
Dastard, Princess, Hag, Rhythm, Sea, Magic, Soul, Talent, Thought, Castle, Course, Green, Dragon, Centaur, Help, Demon, Unhappen, Magician, Sister, Path, Look, Tree, Need, Love, Stop, Form, Panties, Monster
...and thought, now this is a book I need to read. You had me at "dastard, princess and hag"! Throw in a dash of sea magic and demons, and cryptic "paths" and the irreverence of referring to undergarments as "panties" and this promises to be entertaining.
I was concerned when the novel began with a dragon, from a dragon's POV. Draco Dragon, to be precise - what a name! So cartoonish! Was this silly name self aware?
It turns out, yes, very much so - the whole story is incredibly self aware. It isn't some chunibyou extended Tolkien fan fiction like so much of the high fantasy genre, but rather incredibly tongue in cheek, extensively imaginative and wickedly hilarious. The characters, all of them, are immediately compelling, even to the cynical.
I've been trying to read more "serious" books. I've been weaselling my way through Herodotus, and Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy, dipping in out of the poppier but no less engrossing "Literature Book: Big Ideas Explained Simply". I have some short stories of Dorothy Parker and Woody Allen I dip into when the mood strikes. But I needed one solid fiction novel to blaze through as a palette clearing and Queneau just wasn't doing it for me (he isn't going to cleanse anyone's palette any time soon, I would think...but rather stain it with the memetic residue of old cigarettes or stale pot smoke; at any rate, you won't feel clean when he's done with you).
This book seems just the trick.
I know nothing else about Xanth, but now I'm eager to learn.
How often is it that you read a book or watch a show/movie and think idly, "Ugh, how predictable! I wish for just once [this] would happen!" then...it does? Look no further for this small miracle. And what's more, the treatment is actually everything it deserved - thoroughly well executed. That's the gift of this book. P.A. knows what he's doing.
Update/Edit:
Okay, I’ve got to come clean - I read this in the beginning of the book, when the jokes were fresh & characters novel. Then, around the 60% mark, decided I couldn’t stomach it any more; life’s too short. I guess I should have known by the ENF indicating ‘panties’ as a a most used term that it would smack of hentai in novel form. It really is pretty seedy & ‘rapey’ as some people put it, though I suspected it was just the outrage police being overzealous. Nay, this arrest was on point. Good job, outrage police.
It’s rather cringey, misogynistic and gross, like being a woman on a public bus in Tokyo. And just like most misogyny, not even terribly funny or clever. Suppose the jokes/gags were offensive but funny? Then I, personally, feel there’s a biiiiit of slack - just a bit. But this is the worst of all worlds - boorish, sexist AND rude! Tedious, oafish and like something cooked up by a slow witted boy who just hit puberty.
The running gag is this guy trying to get girls to “show him their panties”. It’s juvenile and an apt act for what a literally soulless douchebro this character is supposed to be. Is that not what every soulless jerk on the street is wishing they could demand, in a sense? It’s not that most people are good but that propriety restrains them - fear of repudiation. In this fellow’s case, there are no consequences, so it follows rationally that he would behave this way at every turn.
For this reason, I kept reading.
Along the way, he stoops even to paedophiliac impulses, which - along with the rest of his depraved antics - are repudiated by the “good” characters. Now, when writing about good and evil in epic terms, maybe it makes sense to illustrate depravity this way, and to sugar coat it with a cutesy phrase like “show me your panties”, that may be the most sanitized, lighthearted way to discuss serious issues in a not entirely depressing way. The book, so far, makes it quite clear from the onset that this isn’t a good character and in no way seems to endorse his actions.
So is it fair to call it misogynistic?
Yes, I’d say so, after some reflection, because the ongoing gag is this creep’s lechery - up to the point it becomes a bit of “harmless fun” that those around him just mock or jeer at casually. His nastiness not only gets normalized over the course of the story, but is treated as a joke.
If the joke was him being punished for his relentless sleaze, that would be one thing, but the joke rarely goes beyond him just repeating the same old tired refrain. You can’t just say something hundreds of times and each time laugh it off as a joke. It’s not funny, no adjustments have been made to the joke, and the butt of this particular joke is really someone else’s discomfort. Sexist or not, it’s just lame! I can’t imagine that he’ll be Clockwork Oranged by the end of this, so what’s the point of making him so literally dickish?
(Semi spoiler follows here:)
(/end semi-spoiler)
The other thing is the writing starts to feel flat and repetitive after awhile. This book is pretty much all about sex, in a euphemized way. But it doesn’t really have much of great relevance to say on the matter so much as it’s just peppered with sex jokes, which are occasionally rough and grotesque, in my opinion, but other times funny.
One of the great concepts that got me so keen on the book in its incipient pages was the idea of love springs, and hybridization of magical creatures. However, this happens SO much throughout the book, that it’s quite hackneyed by the halfway mark. Got one good idea? Why not spam it 10 times like every office worker in the 90s quoting Homer Simpson’s “doh!” like it’s their own most original invention and looking around for applause in the eyes of their sympathetic brethren? Oh, because recognition doesn’t alone make something great unless you’re a complete imbecile.
Every few pages, some new NPC (effectively) starts telling their life story, which is actually pretty hilarious at times, and would be an alright use of repetitive style - just barely - if the whole rest of the book didn’t feel like Groundhog Day x lolita porn x Mother Goose as written by the deranged love child of Chaucer & Carroll.
And while I’m at it, I guess I’ll take him somewhat to task that the black centaurs we’re playing basketball instead of doing the usual scholarly centaur stuff - probably a minor point, but while the outrage police are here and I’m prosecuting, might as well make note. “At least there were black centaurs” is a weak defense because it was never specified that the centaurs had any race or skin tone in particular except specifically, the one time it came up, it was because they were black and playing basketball. Nothing offensive about being good at basketball, but they’re friggin’ centaurs - the academics of this world, and the black ones happened to do sports instead of study/teach in the one scene where we see them. So the implications were rather tasteless there as well, albeit subtle and brief.
Personally, I don't feel this whole thing was a seething cesspool of calculated sadism so much as the ignorant clumsiness of someone on the spectrum, who happens to exhibit prolific talents as a writer, generally speaking. So the goal here isn't to totally drag ol' Anthony through the mud - it was a different time and lots of people were deaf to empathy because it wasn't part of the collective consciousness & the plight of women & racial minorities was invisible to many nerd blokes just owing to their all consuming social awkwardness and own inner striving against jocks and cool kids; he's probably come a long way since he wrote this book decades ago, so we shouldn't necessarily vilify & burn the fellow at the stake over this, imo, but nonetheless, give it a miss! Alright, well, that's that.
But then I was scrolling one day through a list my friend had compiled of books by their ENF (English Noun Frequency), who was using this to demonstrate how you could pretty much sum up any book by their most used words. Perusing my friend's library in the form of ENF rather than authors or titles, I happened upon this series of nouns:
Dastard, Princess, Hag, Rhythm, Sea, Magic, Soul, Talent, Thought, Castle, Course, Green, Dragon, Centaur, Help, Demon, Unhappen, Magician, Sister, Path, Look, Tree, Need, Love, Stop, Form, Panties, Monster
...and thought, now this is a book I need to read. You had me at "dastard, princess and hag"! Throw in a dash of sea magic and demons, and cryptic "paths" and the irreverence of referring to undergarments as "panties" and this promises to be entertaining.
I was concerned when the novel began with a dragon, from a dragon's POV. Draco Dragon, to be precise - what a name! So cartoonish! Was this silly name self aware?
It turns out, yes, very much so - the whole story is incredibly self aware. It isn't some chunibyou extended Tolkien fan fiction like so much of the high fantasy genre, but rather incredibly tongue in cheek, extensively imaginative and wickedly hilarious. The characters, all of them, are immediately compelling, even to the cynical.
I've been trying to read more "serious" books. I've been weaselling my way through Herodotus, and Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy, dipping in out of the poppier but no less engrossing "Literature Book: Big Ideas Explained Simply". I have some short stories of Dorothy Parker and Woody Allen I dip into when the mood strikes. But I needed one solid fiction novel to blaze through as a palette clearing and Queneau just wasn't doing it for me (he isn't going to cleanse anyone's palette any time soon, I would think...but rather stain it with the memetic residue of old cigarettes or stale pot smoke; at any rate, you won't feel clean when he's done with you).
This book seems just the trick.
I know nothing else about Xanth, but now I'm eager to learn.
How often is it that you read a book or watch a show/movie and think idly, "Ugh, how predictable! I wish for just once [this] would happen!" then...it does? Look no further for this small miracle. And what's more, the treatment is actually everything it deserved - thoroughly well executed. That's the gift of this book. P.A. knows what he's doing.
Update/Edit:
Okay, I’ve got to come clean - I read this in the beginning of the book, when the jokes were fresh & characters novel. Then, around the 60% mark, decided I couldn’t stomach it any more; life’s too short. I guess I should have known by the ENF indicating ‘panties’ as a a most used term that it would smack of hentai in novel form. It really is pretty seedy & ‘rapey’ as some people put it, though I suspected it was just the outrage police being overzealous. Nay, this arrest was on point. Good job, outrage police.
It’s rather cringey, misogynistic and gross, like being a woman on a public bus in Tokyo. And just like most misogyny, not even terribly funny or clever. Suppose the jokes/gags were offensive but funny? Then I, personally, feel there’s a biiiiit of slack - just a bit. But this is the worst of all worlds - boorish, sexist AND rude! Tedious, oafish and like something cooked up by a slow witted boy who just hit puberty.
The running gag is this guy trying to get girls to “show him their panties”. It’s juvenile and an apt act for what a literally soulless douchebro this character is supposed to be. Is that not what every soulless jerk on the street is wishing they could demand, in a sense? It’s not that most people are good but that propriety restrains them - fear of repudiation. In this fellow’s case, there are no consequences, so it follows rationally that he would behave this way at every turn.
For this reason, I kept reading.
Along the way, he stoops even to paedophiliac impulses, which - along with the rest of his depraved antics - are repudiated by the “good” characters. Now, when writing about good and evil in epic terms, maybe it makes sense to illustrate depravity this way, and to sugar coat it with a cutesy phrase like “show me your panties”, that may be the most sanitized, lighthearted way to discuss serious issues in a not entirely depressing way. The book, so far, makes it quite clear from the onset that this isn’t a good character and in no way seems to endorse his actions.
So is it fair to call it misogynistic?
Yes, I’d say so, after some reflection, because the ongoing gag is this creep’s lechery - up to the point it becomes a bit of “harmless fun” that those around him just mock or jeer at casually. His nastiness not only gets normalized over the course of the story, but is treated as a joke.
If the joke was him being punished for his relentless sleaze, that would be one thing, but the joke rarely goes beyond him just repeating the same old tired refrain. You can’t just say something hundreds of times and each time laugh it off as a joke. It’s not funny, no adjustments have been made to the joke, and the butt of this particular joke is really someone else’s discomfort. Sexist or not, it’s just lame! I can’t imagine that he’ll be Clockwork Oranged by the end of this, so what’s the point of making him so literally dickish?
(Semi spoiler follows here:)
(/end semi-spoiler)
The other thing is the writing starts to feel flat and repetitive after awhile. This book is pretty much all about sex, in a euphemized way. But it doesn’t really have much of great relevance to say on the matter so much as it’s just peppered with sex jokes, which are occasionally rough and grotesque, in my opinion, but other times funny.
One of the great concepts that got me so keen on the book in its incipient pages was the idea of love springs, and hybridization of magical creatures. However, this happens SO much throughout the book, that it’s quite hackneyed by the halfway mark. Got one good idea? Why not spam it 10 times like every office worker in the 90s quoting Homer Simpson’s “doh!” like it’s their own most original invention and looking around for applause in the eyes of their sympathetic brethren? Oh, because recognition doesn’t alone make something great unless you’re a complete imbecile.
Every few pages, some new NPC (effectively) starts telling their life story, which is actually pretty hilarious at times, and would be an alright use of repetitive style - just barely - if the whole rest of the book didn’t feel like Groundhog Day x lolita porn x Mother Goose as written by the deranged love child of Chaucer & Carroll.
And while I’m at it, I guess I’ll take him somewhat to task that the black centaurs we’re playing basketball instead of doing the usual scholarly centaur stuff - probably a minor point, but while the outrage police are here and I’m prosecuting, might as well make note. “At least there were black centaurs” is a weak defense because it was never specified that the centaurs had any race or skin tone in particular except specifically, the one time it came up, it was because they were black and playing basketball. Nothing offensive about being good at basketball, but they’re friggin’ centaurs - the academics of this world, and the black ones happened to do sports instead of study/teach in the one scene where we see them. So the implications were rather tasteless there as well, albeit subtle and brief.
Personally, I don't feel this whole thing was a seething cesspool of calculated sadism so much as the ignorant clumsiness of someone on the spectrum, who happens to exhibit prolific talents as a writer, generally speaking. So the goal here isn't to totally drag ol' Anthony through the mud - it was a different time and lots of people were deaf to empathy because it wasn't part of the collective consciousness & the plight of women & racial minorities was invisible to many nerd blokes just owing to their all consuming social awkwardness and own inner striving against jocks and cool kids; he's probably come a long way since he wrote this book decades ago, so we shouldn't necessarily vilify & burn the fellow at the stake over this, imo, but nonetheless, give it a miss! Alright, well, that's that.
January 9, 2012
by Piers Anthony, published in 2000.
I can’t believe the Xanth series is now over 30 years old and that I have been reading it since the beginning. Well, if Fauns, Nymphs, puns a plenty and the sight of panties freaking men out is your cup of tea, hop on the Xanth train and party.
“The Dastard” is book 24 in the Xanth series which has well over 30 novels now and counting, and is everything you have come to expect if you have been reading along like I have. There is usually a quest to be performed which starts with a visit to the good magician Humphrey’s castle to have a question answered.
Enter Becka, a half breed dragon girl, who is told by the good magician that she must assist the Dastard even though he has traded away his soul for a talent which can ruin Xanth; the Dastard’s talent is the ability to travel back in time and undo events.
I have always liked that the Xanth novels were so clear of focus spiced with naughty and sometimes outrageous and/or just plain silly fun. We always know what each character is trying to achieve, a key element in good fiction I think, and Piers Anthony’s writing (though he uses the ly words an awful lot) is so refined as to make itself almost transparent leaving the reader able to journey along for the fun without any wordly distractions . . .
And it is quite a bit of fun, though I always find snippets of moral and ethical lessons strewn in for good measure. I won’t give away much of the plot but tell you the three princesses, Melody, Rhythm and Harmony play a key role in events as well as Sim. Oh, and the Sea Hag shows up and does a lot of damage but gets hers in the end. Not really a spoiler, just and inevitability.
If you have been reading Xanth forever, as I have, you will not want to miss any of them, and if you have never heard of Xanth before then you should pick up “A Spell for Chameleon” and begin your punny journey . . .
How can I write a Xanth novel review without once using the word Punny at least once? I would list all the Xanth novels to date but that would take up about twice as much space as this review. All you need do is a search on them and lists will be found by Com Puter for you . . .
I’ll leave it alone now, before this turns into a comic strip . . .
I can’t believe the Xanth series is now over 30 years old and that I have been reading it since the beginning. Well, if Fauns, Nymphs, puns a plenty and the sight of panties freaking men out is your cup of tea, hop on the Xanth train and party.
“The Dastard” is book 24 in the Xanth series which has well over 30 novels now and counting, and is everything you have come to expect if you have been reading along like I have. There is usually a quest to be performed which starts with a visit to the good magician Humphrey’s castle to have a question answered.
Enter Becka, a half breed dragon girl, who is told by the good magician that she must assist the Dastard even though he has traded away his soul for a talent which can ruin Xanth; the Dastard’s talent is the ability to travel back in time and undo events.
I have always liked that the Xanth novels were so clear of focus spiced with naughty and sometimes outrageous and/or just plain silly fun. We always know what each character is trying to achieve, a key element in good fiction I think, and Piers Anthony’s writing (though he uses the ly words an awful lot) is so refined as to make itself almost transparent leaving the reader able to journey along for the fun without any wordly distractions . . .
And it is quite a bit of fun, though I always find snippets of moral and ethical lessons strewn in for good measure. I won’t give away much of the plot but tell you the three princesses, Melody, Rhythm and Harmony play a key role in events as well as Sim. Oh, and the Sea Hag shows up and does a lot of damage but gets hers in the end. Not really a spoiler, just and inevitability.
If you have been reading Xanth forever, as I have, you will not want to miss any of them, and if you have never heard of Xanth before then you should pick up “A Spell for Chameleon” and begin your punny journey . . .
How can I write a Xanth novel review without once using the word Punny at least once? I would list all the Xanth novels to date but that would take up about twice as much space as this review. All you need do is a search on them and lists will be found by Com Puter for you . . .
I’ll leave it alone now, before this turns into a comic strip . . .
February 11, 2014
This was a much better book than the previous few. It still had Ptero and it's stupid comic strips and geography, but thankfully not a lot of it.
I really liked the Dastard. He was a unique character whom unfortunately we likely won't see again.
The story was average for the series. More unnecessary adult themes that I still say aren't needed.
I really liked the Dastard. He was a unique character whom unfortunately we likely won't see again.
The story was average for the series. More unnecessary adult themes that I still say aren't needed.
August 26, 2019
4 Stars
The Dastard is the twenty-fourth book in the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. Xanth seems to face one disaster after another, and this book is no different. The Dastard is the worst yet- and only a young dragon girl called Beca has what it takes to defeat him. But not without facing some dangers herself.
The Xanth Series is quite a really long series that has spanned many decades. I remember reading the first few books back in the very early 1980’s and was totally captivated by the epic fantasy that unfolded before my eyes. I collected all the books as each new one was released and have revisited them a few times over the years. Recently I had been reorganising my bookshelves, because eight book cases have become insufficient to house all my books (#bookwhoredilemma)- and it came to the point where I was going to have to get rid of some of my older books/series in order to make way for new favourites. I looked at all the larger/longer series first and this is one of the larger series that I have, it came under scrutiny. I decided to reread all the books I was considering getting rid of first- before making a final decision. I can honestly say that although I these books didn’t blow me away as they once did- I still really enjoyed all the adventure, magic, swords & sorcery like epic fantasy that Mr. Anthony is renowned for. He has imbued his stories with plenty of humour, a playfulness, lots of fun, action, some history, conspiracies, secrets, surprising developments, and much, much more. We meet so many varied and original characters along the way- the books are full of wonderful fictional beasts and paranormal creatures/beasts. From centaurs, to demons, dragons, fauns, gargoyles, goblins, golems, harpies, merfolk, elves, nymphs, ogres, zombies, and curse fiends- and a few more I am sure I have missed.
The world of Xanth is wonderfully rich and vividly descriptive. It is really well written and is so easy to imagine, it came to life before my eyes. Each ‘person’ in Xanth is born with their own unique magical ability, which is called a ‘talent’. We follow along on many epic adventures and explore the world as the story unfolds.
I have many fond memories of reading this book/series- and in the end I can’t cull any of my collection. So I decided to just purchase a couple of extra bookcases instead. #myprecious
A series worth exploring- especially for any epic fantasy lover who loves some fun and humour served with their adventure.
Thank you, Mr. Anthony!
The Dastard is the twenty-fourth book in the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. Xanth seems to face one disaster after another, and this book is no different. The Dastard is the worst yet- and only a young dragon girl called Beca has what it takes to defeat him. But not without facing some dangers herself.
The Xanth Series is quite a really long series that has spanned many decades. I remember reading the first few books back in the very early 1980’s and was totally captivated by the epic fantasy that unfolded before my eyes. I collected all the books as each new one was released and have revisited them a few times over the years. Recently I had been reorganising my bookshelves, because eight book cases have become insufficient to house all my books (#bookwhoredilemma)- and it came to the point where I was going to have to get rid of some of my older books/series in order to make way for new favourites. I looked at all the larger/longer series first and this is one of the larger series that I have, it came under scrutiny. I decided to reread all the books I was considering getting rid of first- before making a final decision. I can honestly say that although I these books didn’t blow me away as they once did- I still really enjoyed all the adventure, magic, swords & sorcery like epic fantasy that Mr. Anthony is renowned for. He has imbued his stories with plenty of humour, a playfulness, lots of fun, action, some history, conspiracies, secrets, surprising developments, and much, much more. We meet so many varied and original characters along the way- the books are full of wonderful fictional beasts and paranormal creatures/beasts. From centaurs, to demons, dragons, fauns, gargoyles, goblins, golems, harpies, merfolk, elves, nymphs, ogres, zombies, and curse fiends- and a few more I am sure I have missed.
The world of Xanth is wonderfully rich and vividly descriptive. It is really well written and is so easy to imagine, it came to life before my eyes. Each ‘person’ in Xanth is born with their own unique magical ability, which is called a ‘talent’. We follow along on many epic adventures and explore the world as the story unfolds.
I have many fond memories of reading this book/series- and in the end I can’t cull any of my collection. So I decided to just purchase a couple of extra bookcases instead. #myprecious
A series worth exploring- especially for any epic fantasy lover who loves some fun and humour served with their adventure.
Thank you, Mr. Anthony!
January 11, 2021
Reading the rest of this series over the course of the next several weeks is going to potentially kill me. I may break them up to give myself a chance to “get over” this silliness, but then again I may simply stick it out and take the pain. Piers’ world wasn’t always like this and I am sure this world will continue to get worse as the pins get more and more shallow and become more reader dependent for ideas. This was and may always be my favorite author from the old days, but I simply cannot “kick the can” around anymore and humor this stuff. As to this book, at least we are following two separate storylines for most of this book until they merge towards the end, a bold attempt of trying to move forward to the modern age rather than the linear format he has used in the past. The dastard himself isn’t much of a believable character and most of the “complex” figuring and reasoning in this book is at least challenging, hence the extra star rating. I’m glad the dastard winds up being 5 years old and hopefully his old self remains retired on the silly planet orbiting what’s her names’ head, as all the bad ideas from this series should be retired there. Onwards...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2018
If you have read one Xanth Book you almost feel like you have read them all. The puns are still so spectacularly bad they become good again, very convenient characters and magic happens to move the stories on and someone is always trying to get around the Adult Conspiracy.
This one is about a character called The Dastard (I'll let you work out what his name actually should be!), he is travelling around Xnath bringing woe to all by undoing good events. This is a quest to try and stop him made by three princesses.
Its not a bad book, there are parts that are quite funny, but as I said earlier, if you have read one Xanth book this is nothing new that is going to leave a lasting impression.
This one is about a character called The Dastard (I'll let you work out what his name actually should be!), he is travelling around Xnath bringing woe to all by undoing good events. This is a quest to try and stop him made by three princesses.
Its not a bad book, there are parts that are quite funny, but as I said earlier, if you have read one Xanth book this is nothing new that is going to leave a lasting impression.
June 29, 2020
This was a reread. I rediscovered it in a box of my old college things. It was a flat, uninteresting story packed with out of place puns. I learned in the author note at the end that he included every pun submitted by a fam from a list he had kept. It showed. There was constant justification for story elements that wouldn't have made any sense otherwise. Also, a lot of casual racism (surprising for a 2000 copyright date) and the whole story line was very rapey. It's just not cool that seeing a woman's panties makes a man unable to control himself.
June 1, 2020
The Xanth books by Piers Anthony were one of the first SciFi/Fantasy series I ever read. I love puns so I have always enjoyed them. Upon re-reading them I can see that they have some weaknesses but overall they stand the test of time. They are a fun and fast read that keeps me amused without any deep thinking required.
September 16, 2020
If you don't like puns, don't read this. Not so bad that I couldn't finish, but I am absolutely amazed that this is #24. I like the general plotline, but am underwhelmed by the writing. This read to me like a book that was published about 30 years earlier than it was (2000).
November 5, 2024
I haven't read any books in this series for quite some time. I suggest having a break between books as the puns can get tiresome when reading alot of the books in succession.
The characters in this book were likeable and the ending left the reader happy.
The characters in this book were likeable and the ending left the reader happy.
March 8, 2019
Not the best in the series, but if you've been reading them it's worth your time.
July 14, 2020
One of p8ers Anthony's better Xanth novels. Love reading all the Xanth novels.
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
March 19, 2021
Probably one of my least favorite in the series.
Read
April 27, 2021An excellent installment in the series.
July 18, 2023
Not my favourite of the Xanth books - but worth reading . . .
October 2, 2023
This Zanth book has been my least favorite so far. I think that Piers Anthony is trying to get more adult with the Xanth books, but this is not the way he should do it.
April 4, 2024
Another very enjoyable Xanth novel
April 30, 2016
Book 24 of the Xanth series is a fun book and a quick read that fans of the series will enjoy.
The book starts out with two events that are a large part of the story. The first is that Draco Dragon was on spying a delicious female morsel to eat, and both of them end up drinking from a love spring, the result of which was Becka. The second event is that a demon makes a trade with a human man named Anomy - the talent to be able to erase events for his soul. The result of this is The Dastard, who goes around Xanth deviously undoing things. Though he is not physically harming the people who's lives he has changed, he is undoing their happiness in order to make himself feel important.
Becka becomes involved with this nefarious creature because she goes to the Good Magician to ask what her purpose is. The God Magician, being the Magician of Information, is aware of The Dastard, and enlists Becka to help try to stop him. The adventure becomes complicated right off because in order to stop The Dastard, he must break The Rule of 10, thereby making it possible for the secret mission to be exposed and not work because more than 10 people know about it.
Also enlisted in the mission are the Princesses Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm. They actually see The Dastard doing a dastardly deed and are encouraged by their parents to seek out the Good Magician. While there they meet their friend Sim, and they find out that all four of them are to be involved, albeit not in the way they imagined. As it turns out, the only way to have a chance to stop The Dastard is for the young Princesses and Sim to travel to the world of Ptero and exchange with their adult selves. This is necessary not only for the maturity that is needed, but also to be able to handle Adult Conspiracy issues. Their Ptero selves come to Xanth and attempt to stop the Dastard. During this attempt Melody gets taken over by the Sea Hag who makes a deal with The Dastard, and Sim and her sisters, along with Becka's help must try to save her.
All in all this is a pretty good installment for the Xanth series. It's fun and it is a quick read. There are some areas that it seems rather farfetched, even for a fantasy book. For instance, having a vehicle from Mundania come to life in Xanth and end up at a love spring where it mates with the first female it sees is a little much! And the story seemed a little dragged out, though maybe that was because of the large amount of puns used. Also, unlike other books in the series, I don't feel that this is a book in the series that could stand on its own. While the reader does not need all the background of the previous books, there are parts that would not make as much sense without previous books in the series having been read. Anyway, I think fans of the Xanth series will like this book.
The book starts out with two events that are a large part of the story. The first is that Draco Dragon was on spying a delicious female morsel to eat, and both of them end up drinking from a love spring, the result of which was Becka. The second event is that a demon makes a trade with a human man named Anomy - the talent to be able to erase events for his soul. The result of this is The Dastard, who goes around Xanth deviously undoing things. Though he is not physically harming the people who's lives he has changed, he is undoing their happiness in order to make himself feel important.
Becka becomes involved with this nefarious creature because she goes to the Good Magician to ask what her purpose is. The God Magician, being the Magician of Information, is aware of The Dastard, and enlists Becka to help try to stop him. The adventure becomes complicated right off because in order to stop The Dastard, he must break The Rule of 10, thereby making it possible for the secret mission to be exposed and not work because more than 10 people know about it.
Also enlisted in the mission are the Princesses Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm. They actually see The Dastard doing a dastardly deed and are encouraged by their parents to seek out the Good Magician. While there they meet their friend Sim, and they find out that all four of them are to be involved, albeit not in the way they imagined. As it turns out, the only way to have a chance to stop The Dastard is for the young Princesses and Sim to travel to the world of Ptero and exchange with their adult selves. This is necessary not only for the maturity that is needed, but also to be able to handle Adult Conspiracy issues. Their Ptero selves come to Xanth and attempt to stop the Dastard. During this attempt Melody gets taken over by the Sea Hag who makes a deal with The Dastard, and Sim and her sisters, along with Becka's help must try to save her.
All in all this is a pretty good installment for the Xanth series. It's fun and it is a quick read. There are some areas that it seems rather farfetched, even for a fantasy book. For instance, having a vehicle from Mundania come to life in Xanth and end up at a love spring where it mates with the first female it sees is a little much! And the story seemed a little dragged out, though maybe that was because of the large amount of puns used. Also, unlike other books in the series, I don't feel that this is a book in the series that could stand on its own. While the reader does not need all the background of the previous books, there are parts that would not make as much sense without previous books in the series having been read. Anyway, I think fans of the Xanth series will like this book.
November 2, 2009
Xanth #24: The Dastard, by Piers Anthony
While most people in Xanth have a magic talent, many of the talents are minor - the "spot on the wall" variety. Usually only Magicians and Sorceress' have powerful talents, such as being able to transform any living creature into something else.
Anomy has a useless magic talent - the talent of stupid ideas. Frustrated by this, he sells his soul to a demon for a much more powerful talent - the ability to rewrite history. With his new talent and soulless self, Anomy changes his name to the Dastard, and sets out to erase happy people and events all over Xanth.
Three bored princesses, Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm, happen to see the Dastard erase a happening in the magic tapestry in Castle Roogna. The princesses are bored and see this as an opportunity for an adventure; and their parents let them go see the Good Magician to find out how to keep the Dastard from ruining Xanth. He tells them that they need to exchange their four-year-old selves with their seventeen-year-old selves from Ptero, and off they go on an adventure that includes Becka, a dragon-human crossbreed, Sim, who will one day be the smartest bird in the universe, and the Sea Hag, an evil, centuries old spirit.
In "The Dastard," Anthony provides more of what Xanth is about - fun fantasy. In my opinion, the story is somewhat darker than many in the series, as the Dastard has a talent he puts to evil uses, and with no soul, he has no conscience. The Sea Hag also adds to the darker story, as she possesses young women and uses them their bodies to seduce and control men. But of course there's the classic happy ending, where everyone gets what they want, but for a while you're unsure of just how it's going to happen.
3/5.
While most people in Xanth have a magic talent, many of the talents are minor - the "spot on the wall" variety. Usually only Magicians and Sorceress' have powerful talents, such as being able to transform any living creature into something else.
Anomy has a useless magic talent - the talent of stupid ideas. Frustrated by this, he sells his soul to a demon for a much more powerful talent - the ability to rewrite history. With his new talent and soulless self, Anomy changes his name to the Dastard, and sets out to erase happy people and events all over Xanth.
Three bored princesses, Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm, happen to see the Dastard erase a happening in the magic tapestry in Castle Roogna. The princesses are bored and see this as an opportunity for an adventure; and their parents let them go see the Good Magician to find out how to keep the Dastard from ruining Xanth. He tells them that they need to exchange their four-year-old selves with their seventeen-year-old selves from Ptero, and off they go on an adventure that includes Becka, a dragon-human crossbreed, Sim, who will one day be the smartest bird in the universe, and the Sea Hag, an evil, centuries old spirit.
In "The Dastard," Anthony provides more of what Xanth is about - fun fantasy. In my opinion, the story is somewhat darker than many in the series, as the Dastard has a talent he puts to evil uses, and with no soul, he has no conscience. The Sea Hag also adds to the darker story, as she possesses young women and uses them their bodies to seduce and control men. But of course there's the classic happy ending, where everyone gets what they want, but for a while you're unsure of just how it's going to happen.
3/5.
January 1, 2015
This is the very first full-length novel I ever finished, and I think I made no mistake for choosing this book to be the one.
When I was 1st year in high school we were asked to pick a book (any book) and do apply the usual summary/characters/settings/moral lesson shit our teachers love to burden us with. Prior to this, I have no interest in reading whatsoever, so this seems to be a task.
I picked this book up from a garage sale near our house for twenty pesos. Not bad for a near-pristine condition, without a trace of fold.
My first taste of Piers Anthony, as what I would experience for his other books, is definitely funny and delightful. I like this book because it's a very light read compared to those Maya Angelou and George Orwell stories we were being forced to digest.
When I was 1st year in high school we were asked to pick a book (any book) and do apply the usual summary/characters/settings/moral lesson shit our teachers love to burden us with. Prior to this, I have no interest in reading whatsoever, so this seems to be a task.
I picked this book up from a garage sale near our house for twenty pesos. Not bad for a near-pristine condition, without a trace of fold.
My first taste of Piers Anthony, as what I would experience for his other books, is definitely funny and delightful. I like this book because it's a very light read compared to those Maya Angelou and George Orwell stories we were being forced to digest.
September 26, 2022
"Nothing is predetermined."
Another chance love spring encounter, another crazy crossbreed species that I have to just really not think about too hard because it makes my head hurt. We've got Becka DragonGirl (how? I mean, literally, how?) that is such a cool concept if, once again, you don't think too hard about it. She wants to know her place in the world (don't we all) and, apparently, that place right now is with The Dastard, a once ordinary man who sold his sold to a demon for a stronger magical talent.
What comes of this pairing is a Xanth adventures we've come to know and (at least in my case) love.
Another chance love spring encounter, another crazy crossbreed species that I have to just really not think about too hard because it makes my head hurt. We've got Becka DragonGirl (how? I mean, literally, how?) that is such a cool concept if, once again, you don't think too hard about it. She wants to know her place in the world (don't we all) and, apparently, that place right now is with The Dastard, a once ordinary man who sold his sold to a demon for a stronger magical talent.
What comes of this pairing is a Xanth adventures we've come to know and (at least in my case) love.
December 14, 2013
When I read this book originally, I admit I was pretty confused. I hadn't at that time read the book about Ida's moons, so the whole concept of the switching of characters didn't really make much sense to me then, but I just went with it. Now though, reading through again I have more of an idea and can appreciate the concept.
I love the layers to Xanth, it is definitely an onion of a series. Just when you think you have it figured, something else crops up and changes everything. Awesome book, five stars.
I love the layers to Xanth, it is definitely an onion of a series. Just when you think you have it figured, something else crops up and changes everything. Awesome book, five stars.
January 11, 2013
I read many Xanth books as a preteen/teen. I loved them then.
Lately I have been going back and reading the whole series. On the whole I realize now that Piers Anthony is not the great writer I remember, but he is perfectly suited for young adult fiction.
This was actually the first book in some time that I really enjoyed. Certainly some aspects I do get tired of (comic strips are just a way to wedge in more reader suggested puns), but the plot of this particular book was quite fun to read.
No matter how good I think the books are, they are still my guilty pleasure.
Lately I have been going back and reading the whole series. On the whole I realize now that Piers Anthony is not the great writer I remember, but he is perfectly suited for young adult fiction.
This was actually the first book in some time that I really enjoyed. Certainly some aspects I do get tired of (comic strips are just a way to wedge in more reader suggested puns), but the plot of this particular book was quite fun to read.
No matter how good I think the books are, they are still my guilty pleasure.
July 10, 2009
I absolutely love this author, I have been reading the Xanth series as I can find them, totally going out of order but it really doesnt seem to matter with this series, I love the Puns, they are so funny and give me a laugh whenever I come across one I wouldnt have thought of. I was glad that the Dastard did indeed become dashing in this book and hope he and the princess are very happy together!!!
July 22, 2010
Maybe I am just becoming bored with the entire series (I have read them all, starting with A Spell for Chameleon). At any rate, this seemed to me to be a repeat of an ongoing line, with very little variation. It did serve to remind me why I stopped eagerly looking forward to the next XANTH book around the time Ogre, Ogre came out.
July 31, 2010
While it is a lovely Xanth novel. I just wasn't feeling it. It kicked up a but more towards the end. But I want to hear more about characters I know about. Which at the moment aren't plenty. Too many new characters being introduced in a row for these last few books.
July 24, 2010
Xanth turned into the "same old, same old" long ago; apparently the author is just going through the alphabet. There were a few books I enjoyed earlier in the series, but after Dragon on a Pedestal, they just got old.
February 17, 2016
While this book did have a few redeeming qualities, due to a lack of editorial contribution I would not recommend.
My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.
My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.
April 14, 2013
I thought Piers Anthony had stopped writing Xanth novels and only recently managed to purchase this next book in the series. I am hooked again and enjoying reading these new old books that I missed. Xanth is the place I hide when I need a break from reality.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews