What do you think?
Rate this book
Xanth #17
Harpy Thyme
Gloha is the only creature of her kind in all the world of Xanth, the beautiful offspring of a chance mating between a harpy and a goblin. As she grew to womanhood, she wondered where she would find the one true love with whom she could share her life.
So, naturally, she sets off to find the Good Magician Humfrey to ask him for an Answer to the riddle of her heart's desire. But Humfrey, for mysterious reasons of his own, propels her instead on a perilous quest in search of truth, friendship, and, just possibly, happiness.
So, naturally, she sets off to find the Good Magician Humfrey to ask him for an Answer to the riddle of her heart's desire. But Humfrey, for mysterious reasons of his own, propels her instead on a perilous quest in search of truth, friendship, and, just possibly, happiness.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
159 people are currently reading
2335 people want to read
About the author
Piers Anthony
441 books4,214 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 89 reviews
August 28, 2014
I normally give a book a 100 page test, but I honestly just couldn't with this one, which I fear will hurt the credibility of my review, but I will let these quotes from the "book" speak for me:
"After all, she had so much to offer the right man, she hoped. She glanced down at her fancy little figure, just to be sure." [IS THIS A JOKE?]
"Believe me, dear, your youth will last long enough if you keep your fine little figure...And hide your intelligence, too." [IS THIS A JOKE TOO?]
"But in a moment she suffered a change of mind. That was one of the privileges of being feminine."
"A female was in charge. So flower gardens made sense."
"A twisty gust reached out to blow her skirt up over her head so that way too much of her lithe little legs was exposed." [UGH]
In case you want to know what the rest of the first 42 pages was like, imagine more lamenting over the fact this nitwitted, oversexualized main character chose to wear a skirt while flying around, people looking up her skirt, and the stupidest puns you have ever heard.
This is bar none the worst garbage i have ever had the misfortune to pick up.
It blows my mind that the blatantly sexist remarks and female objectification found a publisher. Disgusting.
"After all, she had so much to offer the right man, she hoped. She glanced down at her fancy little figure, just to be sure." [IS THIS A JOKE?]
"Believe me, dear, your youth will last long enough if you keep your fine little figure...And hide your intelligence, too." [IS THIS A JOKE TOO?]
"But in a moment she suffered a change of mind. That was one of the privileges of being feminine."
"A female was in charge. So flower gardens made sense."
"A twisty gust reached out to blow her skirt up over her head so that way too much of her lithe little legs was exposed." [UGH]
In case you want to know what the rest of the first 42 pages was like, imagine more lamenting over the fact this nitwitted, oversexualized main character chose to wear a skirt while flying around, people looking up her skirt, and the stupidest puns you have ever heard.
This is bar none the worst garbage i have ever had the misfortune to pick up.
It blows my mind that the blatantly sexist remarks and female objectification found a publisher. Disgusting.
August 17, 2024
This was the first Xanth book I’ve read in probably decade if I had to guess. I was looking for a palate cleanser and I knew this would do the trick. You can always count on a Xanth book to follow the same story progression.
What I loved:
Revisiting so many old characters from the previous books who I loved!
The puns - always the puns
What I wasn’t so keen on…. Just some of the ways the women were portrayed… Im not one that usually gets bothered by this - but some of it just irked me. Once I just accepted that, I enjoyed the book more.
Definitely not my favorite of the Xanth books - this one felt incredibly slow…. The first 8 are hands down the best. But I’m sure I’ll keep chugging along - at least through the ones I own!
What I loved:
Revisiting so many old characters from the previous books who I loved!
The puns - always the puns
What I wasn’t so keen on…. Just some of the ways the women were portrayed… Im not one that usually gets bothered by this - but some of it just irked me. Once I just accepted that, I enjoyed the book more.
Definitely not my favorite of the Xanth books - this one felt incredibly slow…. The first 8 are hands down the best. But I’m sure I’ll keep chugging along - at least through the ones I own!
December 14, 2016
If I'm going to rag on guys like Grisham for having a formula for what they write, then I suppose I ought to do so for Piers Anthony, as well; Harpy Thyme, as the 17th book in the Xanth series, is enjoyable enough, but the parts that make it fun are the parts that don't feel like they've been done 16 times before.
In Harpy Thyme, Gloha the winged Goblin-Harpy crossbreed sets out to find true love, and begins with (of course) a trip to the Good Magician. That was also the inception of the plot for at least 1, and possibly 2, other Xanth stories. Once she gets to the Good Magician, she is told that rather than do her year's service, she should go see Humfrey's first son. This, too, has become commonplace for Anthony: the Good Magician doesn't actually require a year's service of any of the questioners who are the stars of the books; in this case, though, it makes little sense to not require the service because in fact he has answered her question -- so Gloha, who is not a Magician (usually exempt from the service) and who performs no other task for Humfrey (another way of getting out of the service) simply gets an answer that she doesn't have to pay for.
So Gloha sets off to find Humfrey's first son, and there is a rather pointless (but possibly meant to be charming?) series of visits as she goes to one more-or-less random person after another to try to find out who Humfrey's son might be, before she literally just sort of stumbles across him. The [SPOILER ALERT] son turns out to be Crombie, which readers might have known; I can't remember if that was mentioned in an earlier Xanth novel.
Gloha asks Crombie to use his talent for finding things to point to the direction of her dream man; he does, and she then sets out with Magician Trent, who is youth-potioned for this story. From there the story takes the typical sort of Xanthian twists and turns, all of it very familiar by now to anyone who has read the previous 16 books.
As I said, it's enjoyable enough; I use the Xanth books as filler and I was reading this one while I was tremendously busy and also a bit under the weather, so I didn't mind that it was simple, but it would be nice to see Anthony spread his storytelling wings a bit more with the Xanth books. As I was reading it I kept thinking of the really good Xanth books: Night Mare and Crewel Lye are two of the best, and Castle Roogna also a great one, and none of them really follow the same pattern as what has come to be the typical Xanth storyline: a person sets out with a question for the Good Magician, only to get a nonanswer of sorts, and then work through the question him- or herself on the course of fulfilling the seemingly nonsensical task Humfrey has given them.
The book did flesh out and elaborate on some characters; the demon Metria expands as a character, and Trent becomes a bit more human than he was in the first 2 or 3 novels, where he barely appeared, so there's that (we get to know Trent's Mundanian history, a bit, and it turns out he was friends in some way with Van Gogh, a detail about which I can make up my mind: interesting? or too much?) The puns are good, as always, but overall the story was only a middle-of-the-road Xanth book, not one of the great ones, not one of the bad ones, either.
A couple of things that particularly stood out as minor annoyances: there was a sequence in the book where two people, I believe meant to be from Mundania, were stumbled upon and put in touch with each other, and it all had the feel of some sort of inside joke or Easter egg type thing, but since the book is almost 25 years old, it was nearly impossible to even make sense of the joke, and it threw me out of the story for a bit.
Also, Anthony is replaying entirely too many bits from earlier books: we get another round of "the Curse Fiends force someone to put on a play," and the whole "we have to put on a play to get past this challenge" thing is really a Xanth trope by now.
The whole thing with Crombie and Humfrey was just a throwaway: Crombie was always a fascinating character: a soldier, woman-hater who married a nymph and had had a secret demon girlfriend growing up, Crombie (we're told) hates his father, Humfrey, for how he treated him -- but the two become instant friends again just right smack out of nowhere. Then the story drops them entirely.
And, there were a couple of things that made it seem as if the idea behind the book had changed. For example, the title: at points in the story, there were mentions of the "thyme" plant as it exists in Xanth -- slowing down time for people -- but they never connected up to make it really "Harpy Thyme" in any way, and Gloha isn't actually a harpy; there were some madness-inspired flashbacks that talked about some sort of cave Gloha found that was filled with artifacts and she had to be rescued, but that never went anywhere, either; they were just sort of thrown in there. All of Anthony's other titles for the books ultimately made sense once you read the book ("Crewel Lye" for example was the way they cleaned the Roogna tapestry to see Jordan The Barbarian's story). This title just felt like it was unrelated entirely
Some things that worked well, though, were the crushes on Trent that both Gloha and a winged centaur Trent transformed 70 years ago had, and Trent's reaction to them; and the final scenes when Gloha and the others have to storm up Mount Pin-A-Tuba (for reasons related to the plot that I won't disclose) are actually pretty exciting.
Overall, the book was a C+, and if it was my introduction to Xanth it probably wouldn't have been strong enough to keep me reading. Then again, who starts a series at book 17? Anthony is lucky that any reader who made it this far is probably like me: willing to forgive the weaker stories in hopes that the full magic will be restored, as it were. The first 8 books were really strong, but of books 9-17, only Man From Mundania stands out, although both Harpy Thyme and Demons Don't Dream had their merits.
I still plan on finishing all of the Xanth books eventually; a man's gotta have goals. I just hope that in the upcoming 19-already-written (and apparently 7 more planned) Anthony tries to recapture the best of the Xanth writing, instead of just churning out more of these.
Briane Pagel is the author of "Codes," and blogs at "Thinking The Lions."
In Harpy Thyme, Gloha the winged Goblin-Harpy crossbreed sets out to find true love, and begins with (of course) a trip to the Good Magician. That was also the inception of the plot for at least 1, and possibly 2, other Xanth stories. Once she gets to the Good Magician, she is told that rather than do her year's service, she should go see Humfrey's first son. This, too, has become commonplace for Anthony: the Good Magician doesn't actually require a year's service of any of the questioners who are the stars of the books; in this case, though, it makes little sense to not require the service because in fact he has answered her question -- so Gloha, who is not a Magician (usually exempt from the service) and who performs no other task for Humfrey (another way of getting out of the service) simply gets an answer that she doesn't have to pay for.
So Gloha sets off to find Humfrey's first son, and there is a rather pointless (but possibly meant to be charming?) series of visits as she goes to one more-or-less random person after another to try to find out who Humfrey's son might be, before she literally just sort of stumbles across him. The [SPOILER ALERT] son turns out to be Crombie, which readers might have known; I can't remember if that was mentioned in an earlier Xanth novel.
Gloha asks Crombie to use his talent for finding things to point to the direction of her dream man; he does, and she then sets out with Magician Trent, who is youth-potioned for this story. From there the story takes the typical sort of Xanthian twists and turns, all of it very familiar by now to anyone who has read the previous 16 books.
As I said, it's enjoyable enough; I use the Xanth books as filler and I was reading this one while I was tremendously busy and also a bit under the weather, so I didn't mind that it was simple, but it would be nice to see Anthony spread his storytelling wings a bit more with the Xanth books. As I was reading it I kept thinking of the really good Xanth books: Night Mare and Crewel Lye are two of the best, and Castle Roogna also a great one, and none of them really follow the same pattern as what has come to be the typical Xanth storyline: a person sets out with a question for the Good Magician, only to get a nonanswer of sorts, and then work through the question him- or herself on the course of fulfilling the seemingly nonsensical task Humfrey has given them.
The book did flesh out and elaborate on some characters; the demon Metria expands as a character, and Trent becomes a bit more human than he was in the first 2 or 3 novels, where he barely appeared, so there's that (we get to know Trent's Mundanian history, a bit, and it turns out he was friends in some way with Van Gogh, a detail about which I can make up my mind: interesting? or too much?) The puns are good, as always, but overall the story was only a middle-of-the-road Xanth book, not one of the great ones, not one of the bad ones, either.
A couple of things that particularly stood out as minor annoyances: there was a sequence in the book where two people, I believe meant to be from Mundania, were stumbled upon and put in touch with each other, and it all had the feel of some sort of inside joke or Easter egg type thing, but since the book is almost 25 years old, it was nearly impossible to even make sense of the joke, and it threw me out of the story for a bit.
Also, Anthony is replaying entirely too many bits from earlier books: we get another round of "the Curse Fiends force someone to put on a play," and the whole "we have to put on a play to get past this challenge" thing is really a Xanth trope by now.
The whole thing with Crombie and Humfrey was just a throwaway: Crombie was always a fascinating character: a soldier, woman-hater who married a nymph and had had a secret demon girlfriend growing up, Crombie (we're told) hates his father, Humfrey, for how he treated him -- but the two become instant friends again just right smack out of nowhere. Then the story drops them entirely.
And, there were a couple of things that made it seem as if the idea behind the book had changed. For example, the title: at points in the story, there were mentions of the "thyme" plant as it exists in Xanth -- slowing down time for people -- but they never connected up to make it really "Harpy Thyme" in any way, and Gloha isn't actually a harpy; there were some madness-inspired flashbacks that talked about some sort of cave Gloha found that was filled with artifacts and she had to be rescued, but that never went anywhere, either; they were just sort of thrown in there. All of Anthony's other titles for the books ultimately made sense once you read the book ("Crewel Lye" for example was the way they cleaned the Roogna tapestry to see Jordan The Barbarian's story). This title just felt like it was unrelated entirely
Some things that worked well, though, were the crushes on Trent that both Gloha and a winged centaur Trent transformed 70 years ago had, and Trent's reaction to them; and the final scenes when Gloha and the others have to storm up Mount Pin-A-Tuba (for reasons related to the plot that I won't disclose) are actually pretty exciting.
Overall, the book was a C+, and if it was my introduction to Xanth it probably wouldn't have been strong enough to keep me reading. Then again, who starts a series at book 17? Anthony is lucky that any reader who made it this far is probably like me: willing to forgive the weaker stories in hopes that the full magic will be restored, as it were. The first 8 books were really strong, but of books 9-17, only Man From Mundania stands out, although both Harpy Thyme and Demons Don't Dream had their merits.
I still plan on finishing all of the Xanth books eventually; a man's gotta have goals. I just hope that in the upcoming 19-already-written (and apparently 7 more planned) Anthony tries to recapture the best of the Xanth writing, instead of just churning out more of these.
Briane Pagel is the author of "Codes," and blogs at "Thinking The Lions."
February 25, 2021
This was like any Xanth novel: a quest filled with innumerable puns. Gloha was a harpy goblin and lonely since she was the only one of her type. She wants to find out about the adult conspiracy, a joke that has been done to death in pretty much all the Xanth books. Naturally others recognize the answer to her quest before she does. This book brought King Trent back which was fun. He more or less manages her quest. I do like the answer to the quest. That answer is pretty sweet. Lots of fun, which I really needed with the Covid19 pandemic, and quite forgettable also like most Xanth books. Recommended for those trying to read all of this series. February 2021: Since I honestly cannot remember the story, I am lowering this to 2 stars. It simply can't have been good if I can't remember anything about it.
July 4, 2016
This is the seventeenth glorious Xanth book in this series, and we again encounter someone who really needs a mate!!! Gloha is the only being of her kind in all of Xanth, the wondrous offspring of a mating between a harpy and goblin. And as she grew she often wondered if, when and where the one being she would find to love and to love her. So, as always, it's off to Good Magician Humfrey!!! Natch! In a quest for her true love she is thrust into perilous quest of puns and danger aplenty in search of love, friendship, and as always, happiness.
Xanth will forever serve up a hilarious milieu of puntastic adventures and this is no holds barred different! Enjoy!
Xanth will forever serve up a hilarious milieu of puntastic adventures and this is no holds barred different! Enjoy!
August 26, 2019
4 Stars
Harpy Time is the seventeenth book in the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. Gloha is half Harpie, and half Goblin- which makes her unique- the only one of her kind. As she mature's she is left with a dilemma that she can't begin to find a solution on her own. So she sets off to find Humphrey for some much needed answers.. What she doesn't expect is for her quest to take a perilous turn. Will she get the answer to her question. Will she find the happiness she desperately longs for?
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!
Harpy Time is the seventeenth book in the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. Gloha is half Harpie, and half Goblin- which makes her unique- the only one of her kind. As she mature's she is left with a dilemma that she can't begin to find a solution on her own. So she sets off to find Humphrey for some much needed answers.. What she doesn't expect is for her quest to take a perilous turn. Will she get the answer to her question. Will she find the happiness she desperately longs for?
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!
October 23, 2021
Product Description
Gloha is the only creature of her kind in all the world of Xanth, the beautiful offspring of a chance mating between a harpy and a goblin. As she grew to womanhood, she wondered where where she would find the one true love with whom she could share her life.
So, naturally, she sets off to find the Good Magician Humfrey to ask him for an Answer to the riddle of her heart's desire. But Humfrey, for mysterious reason of his own, propels her instead on a perilous quest in search of truth, friendship, and, just possibly, happiness... in Piers Anthony's Harpy Thyme.
Review
“Fans of the author's trademark humor will relish [ Harpy Thyme ], the latest jaunt through the wacky world of ; new readers too will enjoy the fun.” ― Publisher's Weekly
“ Harpy Thyme is another of Piers frothy and frivolously fantasy novels about the land of , where puns and playfulness reign supreme.” ― The Toronto Star
About the Author
Piers Anthony is one of the world's most prolific and popular fantasy authors and a New York Times bestseller twenty-one times over. His Xanth novels, including Esrever Doom , Luck of the Draw , and Well-Tempered Clavicle , have been read and loved by millions of readers around the world. While he is best known for his science fiction and fantasy, Anthony incredibly versatile, having also written several novels in other genres, including historical fiction and horror. He lives in Central Florida.
August 22, 2023
Ghola, the first goblin/harpy crossbreed is worried. She's almost 20 and will end up an old maid if she doesn't find a older goblin/harpy man to marry, but she also knows that she is the only one that exists. So she goes on a quest to ask the only person who could possibly know where to find what she thinks she needs.
After making it through to see him, the only thing that the good magician tells her is to find his first son. Nobody knew that Humphreys had another son and so after talking with several people she decides to seek out crombie, if anyone can find Humphreys lost son, Crombie should be able to point out the way.
On her way to Crombie's and his wife, Jewel's home down near the braincorrals pool she meets up with King Trent, Queen Iris, Bink and Chameleon who are heading to meet the same people as she is. The six of them are having a fade out party. They have been major characters in the history of Xanth for a long time and feel it's time to let the younger crowd run Xanth without them. Humphreys has given Trent a small vial of youth elixir, just in case something comes up and one or more of those planning on fading out changes their mind.
That's just the beginning of the story, and there's a few other new characters that start out of this book. There's still the puns to put up with, some of them are good, others kind of make you cringe, but they don't get real bad. I gave the book 4 stars because it seems like Piers Anthony is dragging the story out and it drags in some places.
After making it through to see him, the only thing that the good magician tells her is to find his first son. Nobody knew that Humphreys had another son and so after talking with several people she decides to seek out crombie, if anyone can find Humphreys lost son, Crombie should be able to point out the way.
On her way to Crombie's and his wife, Jewel's home down near the braincorrals pool she meets up with King Trent, Queen Iris, Bink and Chameleon who are heading to meet the same people as she is. The six of them are having a fade out party. They have been major characters in the history of Xanth for a long time and feel it's time to let the younger crowd run Xanth without them. Humphreys has given Trent a small vial of youth elixir, just in case something comes up and one or more of those planning on fading out changes their mind.
That's just the beginning of the story, and there's a few other new characters that start out of this book. There's still the puns to put up with, some of them are good, others kind of make you cringe, but they don't get real bad. I gave the book 4 stars because it seems like Piers Anthony is dragging the story out and it drags in some places.
February 21, 2020
This is the 17th book in the pun-filled Xanth series by Piers Anthony. Like all the books in this series, the main characters travel to the good magician Humphrey to get an answer to a question. Humphrey usually charges a year of services as the price for his answer but he always finds a way for the main characters to do some deed for Xanth instead of serving Humphrey for a year.
In this particular book, the female character is Gloha a goblin crossbreed who is looking for a mate. Joining Gloha on her quest for love is a winged centaur filly named Cynthia, a beloved character from earlier books King Trent, and Graeboe who is a giant. Along the way, they interact with several other characters.
First of all, if you can't stand puns, then don't even attempt to read any books in this series. Second, if you're looking for an in-depth fantasy novel with lots of plots...you might want to look elsewhere. While Xanth is (so far) a series of 42 books it is NOT the Wheel of Time Series or any other involved fantasy series.
These books are light-hearted, whimsical, and funny. They are meant for entertainment and can be read in a day or two. You do not have to read the series in order although that does help when characters from other books in the series show up. :)
In this particular book, the female character is Gloha a goblin crossbreed who is looking for a mate. Joining Gloha on her quest for love is a winged centaur filly named Cynthia, a beloved character from earlier books King Trent, and Graeboe who is a giant. Along the way, they interact with several other characters.
First of all, if you can't stand puns, then don't even attempt to read any books in this series. Second, if you're looking for an in-depth fantasy novel with lots of plots...you might want to look elsewhere. While Xanth is (so far) a series of 42 books it is NOT the Wheel of Time Series or any other involved fantasy series.
These books are light-hearted, whimsical, and funny. They are meant for entertainment and can be read in a day or two. You do not have to read the series in order although that does help when characters from other books in the series show up. :)
October 23, 2020
When I found this book I was so excited because I had loved the Xanth years ago when I read every book up to this point. Also, I have grown up quite a bit and some of Xanth humor is uncomfortable for me now.
So when I first started this book, I almost put it back down. But I persisted.
I really like Gloha.I wanted to see who her true love would be. So I trudged through all the silly sex jokes and adjectives for girls, and once I was in the meat of the story I didn't even notice them.
When Cynthia, Trent and Gloha were adventuring I could not figure out who would be her true love. It had to be someone in the story and Trent was already married.
Then enter Marrow, Demetrius, and Graeboe. I still didn't see it. But I was happy in the adventure.
It wasn't until the nymphs were lost until I saw where it was going. And then I was like huh? How is that going to work? How could they "summon the stork"?
Well it all works out and it proves that under all the puns and innuendos, Piers Anthony is a great storyteller.
So when I first started this book, I almost put it back down. But I persisted.
I really like Gloha.I wanted to see who her true love would be. So I trudged through all the silly sex jokes and adjectives for girls, and once I was in the meat of the story I didn't even notice them.
When Cynthia, Trent and Gloha were adventuring I could not figure out who would be her true love. It had to be someone in the story and Trent was already married.
Then enter Marrow, Demetrius, and Graeboe. I still didn't see it. But I was happy in the adventure.
It wasn't until the nymphs were lost until I saw where it was going. And then I was like huh? How is that going to work? How could they "summon the stork"?
Well it all works out and it proves that under all the puns and innuendos, Piers Anthony is a great storyteller.
February 15, 2019
Better than I expected. Perhaps the inclusion of characters from the first few books, when this series was much less worn and hadn't settled into it's established repetitiveness, boosted this a bit above what it might otherwise have been, despite it otherwise being the same story with different characters that this series has devolved into.
If you're reading them all you might as well read this one. I can almost even see this is a starting point, good enough for a new reader who hasn't yet experienced the same story repeated in the previous dozen books, and not knowing what they're missing by not reading the first few books that were actually somewhat worth reading.
I guess we'll see how the next dozen go...
If you're reading them all you might as well read this one. I can almost even see this is a starting point, good enough for a new reader who hasn't yet experienced the same story repeated in the previous dozen books, and not knowing what they're missing by not reading the first few books that were actually somewhat worth reading.
I guess we'll see how the next dozen go...
May 22, 2020
I gave this book 4 stars because of Mr. Anthony's sense of humor. The man adores puns; good puns especially, but bad ones can even sneak in there and be read and laughed at. He also accepts readers' submissions and uses them with proper credit in his books, and this one is no exception. The world of X(A/N)TH is well-built and devotees can generally find their way between locales just with descriptions. In this one, we are told in which direction we are traveling and we visit some of the locales we loved in previous books. Lake Ogre-Chobee and the Gap Chasm come to mine immediately. This is a light-hearted romp through the landscape and we are left with good feeling when the book is finished.
December 14, 2025
Well that ending was kind of disappointing. I was ready to be sad and possibly shed a tear or two at the concept of Trent fading out since he’s a character that I’ve known since the beginning but in the end he decided just not to. I mean sure I guess kind of ruins the mood after slowly grieving him. Our main character honestly kind of started getting annoying about half way through with her antics and just overall characteristics. Just not generally a huge fan. I did like the storyline relating to the nymphs and the castle and Metria. It was odd at first but I kind of grew to like it and the characters and relationships that came from it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
October 23, 2025Gloha is the only creature of her kind in all the world of Xanth, the beautiful offspring of a chance mating between a harpy and a goblin. As she grew to womanhood, she wondered where where she would find the one true love with whom she could share her life.So, naturally, she sets off to find the Good Magician Humfrey to ask him for an Answer to the riddle of her heart's desire. But hUmfrey, for mysterious reason of his own, propels her instead on a perilous quest in search of truth, friendship, and, just possibly, happiness.
November 28, 2025
I love every Xanth novel
I learned of Piers Anthony after reading the Proton/Phaze series by a recommendation from my now-late husband. I began with the first book in the Xanth series which introduced me to Bink whose magical talent took pains to hide itself.
Over the years, I have read them whenever I had the chance. At the Public Library
now in Kindle Unlimited. I couldn't
put Harpy Thyme down for long. Gloha is a sweet winged goblin harpy looking for true love. Someone from the first book will join her and others from the greater Xanth-Verse as well.
I learned of Piers Anthony after reading the Proton/Phaze series by a recommendation from my now-late husband. I began with the first book in the Xanth series which introduced me to Bink whose magical talent took pains to hide itself.
Over the years, I have read them whenever I had the chance. At the Public Library
now in Kindle Unlimited. I couldn't
put Harpy Thyme down for long. Gloha is a sweet winged goblin harpy looking for true love. Someone from the first book will join her and others from the greater Xanth-Verse as well.
December 22, 2023
Like most books in the series, it's a travelogue through the magical land of Xanth. It includes obstacles and attacks by various monsters and such. Its also full of puns (many provided by Anthony's fans). The main character is a winged harpy/goblin female who's attractive and has a good heart, so she's easy to like. She attracts a few fellow travelers (who are useful in overcoming the various challenges).
Good light reading.
Good light reading.
October 27, 2025
Apparently Florida is really a magical land called Xanth. Who knew?!
Most books have a little bit of a build-up before the start of an adventure, but not this one. This one immediately jumps into the start of Gloha's quest and just keeps going. I kind of liked it. The story is amusing, in it's own way, but it was a little too repetitive for my tastes. I think I may have enjoyed this more as a child. It is cute. Be prepared for a lot of puns.
Most books have a little bit of a build-up before the start of an adventure, but not this one. This one immediately jumps into the start of Gloha's quest and just keeps going. I kind of liked it. The story is amusing, in it's own way, but it was a little too repetitive for my tastes. I think I may have enjoyed this more as a child. It is cute. Be prepared for a lot of puns.
December 30, 2019
Although Mr Anthony has a loyal following who really enjoy his sense of humour and playing with words, I am not one of those people. I pushed through although I had lost interest halfway through and I didn't really enjoy reading this and probably will not read any more of his material. All the power to those who do enjoy Piers Anthony's writing.
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 20, 2023
Excellent
This is a story about a harpy/goblin mix, an invisible giant, a sad skeleton, a confused demoness, a young king of Xanth, and a sex maniac who goes on a journey to answer their own individual questions. It's a journey of discovery for each individual and the truth behind their desires.
This is a story about a harpy/goblin mix, an invisible giant, a sad skeleton, a confused demoness, a young king of Xanth, and a sex maniac who goes on a journey to answer their own individual questions. It's a journey of discovery for each individual and the truth behind their desires.
May 18, 2017
I enjoyed this episode of adventures in Xanth. It was great to see some characters from past stories return for further adventures.
January 3, 2018
Another pun-filled book from Piers Anthony. This was a good book and of course, the reader could surmise the outcome early, but that didn't detract from enjoying the book. On to the next one.
April 16, 2020
A goblin/harpy crossbreed is in search of her perfect mate. It's a silly and pun-filled story with no pretensions of being anything else.
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
July 22, 2020
The writing improves with each book. Though it is still filled with a lot of sexist vocabulary.
August 23, 2020
A lot of puns. And this is number 17 in a series of puns so getting old. This story was interesting but not a real page Turner.
July 2, 2022
The puns are so fun, but I really got caught up in the descriptive writing. You are feeling every thing happening. Love Anthony's books
November 5, 2022
An acceptable story but certainly not one of the better Xanth stories.
June 19, 2023
This one is a bit twee - but it gets better as the story develops - worth reading . . .
August 9, 2023
I rather enjoyed this book. Punny as always, Great story, took me back to some real life events I've had to deal with with some family.
Great Read.
Great Read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews