Three Novel Nymphs

Xanth #48

by Piers Anthony

Three cloistered nymphs discover the wild land of Xanth in this epic adventure from the acclaimed fantasy author.
The idyllic splendor of the Faun & Nymph Retreat never grows old. With not a stitch of clothing in sight, the fauns give chase, the nymphs play hard to get, and they celebrate—as they put it—when they come together. Over and over again.
But when three nymphs accidentally escape from the retreat, the simple creatures discover a far more complicated reality in the world of Xanth. Suddenly, they need to wear clothes, find shelter, eat food—and perform messy natural functions that weren't operational before.
As they face these challenges, the nymphs set off on a journey to the Queendom of Thanx and soon find themselves on a mission to tame the five Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and the Void. And while they grapple with threats from each, they discover that saving the universe can be even more fun than a faun-filled day in the Retreat.

Genres: Fantasy

273 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 13, 2025

About the author

Though 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.

Reviews

[Robert B. Morson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is unreadable garbage.

[Patt Lisenbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three Novel Nymphs by Piers Anthony

If you know anything about Xanth nymphs, they desire only celebrating with fauns. They're fairly brainless. But ravishingly beautiful. These three nymphs became the major characters, so they are different.
Follow them as they save the universe from Demonly destruction!

[Mark Hartman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The latest Xanth novel that lacks the fun of the beginning of the series. Only recommend for the fans of Xanth that must read all of the books. I consider this the Bronze Age of the Xanth books. If you haven’t read any of them I recommend starting with the first 15 which I think of it as Xanths Golden Age. Three Nymphs head to the Good Magician after accidentally leaving the Faun & Nymph Retreat. The Nymphs face challenges setting off for the Queendom of Thanx along the way having to tame five elements and try and save the universe.

[Nathan Dehoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are pretty much all by the numbers at this point, but there hadn't really been that much about the Nymphs, who spend all their time being chased by fauns and having sex in a retreat, not remembering anything from day to day. In this volume, three of them leave the retreat to go on an adventure and save Xanth from destruction by tectonic plate activity. One of them turns out to be a Nereid from the sea who ended up in the wrong place. They receive assistance from Ecstasy, a maker of figurines, in animating the personifications of the five elements, who then join the quest. And there's a knife character, who doesn't really do that much, but it's interesting that I read this around the same time as Brigands & Breadknives. The party also meets Ouroboros and Lilith, and hear an alternate version of the Adam and Eve story that's pretty clever. And they visit the Andromeda Galaxy, with the Greek myth of Andromeda playing a significant role. As usual, pretty much everyone pairs up, including the Demon of the Big Bang with Andromeda. It's not a great story, but I do like the incorporation of more mythological elements. The socks that protect from the elements are also entertaining. There's an occasion where an autistic girl becomes better able to concentrate and socialize with one of these socks protecting her from the Void, which is a more developed joke than most of the ones in this series, but also kind of seems a bit adjacent to thinking autism is something that needs to be cured.

[John (Hey Y'all Listen Up) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not one of my favorites in the series, but it's a fun adventure that I enjoyed reading.