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WereWoman
In this delectable fantasy romp, a shape-shifting private detective with sexual identity issues hunts a serial killer preying on the Supernatural community
Who but the indomitable Piers Anthony could write a hard-boiled detective-novel-fantasy-comic thriller featuring demons, succubi, zombies, ghosts, serial murder, gender bending, and a healthy dose of good, clean sex? Anthony’s remarkable imagination has taken glorious flight once again with WereWoman—and no one does it quite like Piers Anthony!
The classy dame who walks into fledgling private eye Philemon’s office is like Venus in motion and is most definitely a Witch. But dealing with Supernaturals—or “Supes” for short—is Phil’s beat, since he himself is a shape-changing Were. And this sexy sorceress is offering him the “friendship of her thighs” to investigate a murder, so how can he possibly refuse? But the Warlock slaying in question turns out to be only the first in a series of homicides, because someone—or something—is picking off Supes like insects. Soon the search begins leading the brand-new dick into places outside the mundane realm—into a Demon amusement park, through the doors of an Incubus-Succuba dating service, and into some very sticky situations where he’ll need to undergo a supernatural sex change just to stay alive.
Who but the indomitable Piers Anthony could write a hard-boiled detective-novel-fantasy-comic thriller featuring demons, succubi, zombies, ghosts, serial murder, gender bending, and a healthy dose of good, clean sex? Anthony’s remarkable imagination has taken glorious flight once again with WereWoman—and no one does it quite like Piers Anthony!
The classy dame who walks into fledgling private eye Philemon’s office is like Venus in motion and is most definitely a Witch. But dealing with Supernaturals—or “Supes” for short—is Phil’s beat, since he himself is a shape-changing Were. And this sexy sorceress is offering him the “friendship of her thighs” to investigate a murder, so how can he possibly refuse? But the Warlock slaying in question turns out to be only the first in a series of homicides, because someone—or something—is picking off Supes like insects. Soon the search begins leading the brand-new dick into places outside the mundane realm—into a Demon amusement park, through the doors of an Incubus-Succuba dating service, and into some very sticky situations where he’ll need to undergo a supernatural sex change just to stay alive.
122 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2014
32 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
Piers Anthony
441 books4,215 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.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 30, 2014
Aside from writing the massive Xanth series, Piers Anthony has written in pretty much every sub-genre imaginable in science fiction and fantasy. So I was surprised when he stated in the afterword of his novella WereWoman that he never wrote a mystery until now. WereWoman is a mystery but it is still firmly entrenched in fantasy.
Phil is a young private investigator, 18 years old and on his first day in the job, when a witch asks him to find the murderer of her friend, another witch. Phil himself is a were, a supernatural being that can change into another creature. However Phil's other "creature" is a woman who he calls Mena, short for Philomena. One may argue whether the author is showing a sexist nature when he speculates that women are different creatures than men but I will not go there. Phil is reluctant to take the case until he finds how that his best friend Bear, another were and fiance to his were secretary Syb, has also been killed in a seemingly related murder. From there, he goes on a hunt for the murderer as more killings pop up, all of "Supes" and all of them being different types of supernatural entities.
It is an interesting tale that has various levels of seriousness, parody, and humor. Anthony cannot help throwing out a few puns even here. Yet while admitting that it is different than the never ending Xanth series, it still feels a bit derivative. The combination of detective and fantasy world setting are not exactly novel any more and I can't help feeling the author was rushing through it. No one can accuse Piers Anthony of ever writing mediocre prose. But I am just not feeling the enthusiasm here. One of the interesting themes in the book is that there seem to be a lot of mention of sex and nudity. For some reason the characters are required to get nude to perform certain magic acts and tests and more than once it results in erotic consequences. But it still feel kind of PG and gives me visions of a certain Monty Python character going "Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.". The gimmick of making each murder a different magical creature also grated on me to the point, of thinking "OK, what is it now?" instead of staying in the plot and wondering who did it?. When the mystery is solved, it is actually a clever resolution yet I can't help wondering if very many people cared by that point.
I must admit it is nice to see something by Piers Anthony besides another Xanth novel. However I cannot say Were Woman was all that successful. Even though it was marginally enjoyable, By any standard it does not hold up to the level of simliar supernatural books and is a bit of a disappointment for an established and talented writer.
Phil is a young private investigator, 18 years old and on his first day in the job, when a witch asks him to find the murderer of her friend, another witch. Phil himself is a were, a supernatural being that can change into another creature. However Phil's other "creature" is a woman who he calls Mena, short for Philomena. One may argue whether the author is showing a sexist nature when he speculates that women are different creatures than men but I will not go there. Phil is reluctant to take the case until he finds how that his best friend Bear, another were and fiance to his were secretary Syb, has also been killed in a seemingly related murder. From there, he goes on a hunt for the murderer as more killings pop up, all of "Supes" and all of them being different types of supernatural entities.
It is an interesting tale that has various levels of seriousness, parody, and humor. Anthony cannot help throwing out a few puns even here. Yet while admitting that it is different than the never ending Xanth series, it still feels a bit derivative. The combination of detective and fantasy world setting are not exactly novel any more and I can't help feeling the author was rushing through it. No one can accuse Piers Anthony of ever writing mediocre prose. But I am just not feeling the enthusiasm here. One of the interesting themes in the book is that there seem to be a lot of mention of sex and nudity. For some reason the characters are required to get nude to perform certain magic acts and tests and more than once it results in erotic consequences. But it still feel kind of PG and gives me visions of a certain Monty Python character going "Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.". The gimmick of making each murder a different magical creature also grated on me to the point, of thinking "OK, what is it now?" instead of staying in the plot and wondering who did it?. When the mystery is solved, it is actually a clever resolution yet I can't help wondering if very many people cared by that point.
I must admit it is nice to see something by Piers Anthony besides another Xanth novel. However I cannot say Were Woman was all that successful. Even though it was marginally enjoyable, By any standard it does not hold up to the level of simliar supernatural books and is a bit of a disappointment for an established and talented writer.
June 3, 2016
Завязка у книжки - абсолютно на все деньги. Вот есть волк-оборотень (werewolf), это человек, который умеет превращаться в волка. Лис-оборотень (werefox) превращается в лисицу. И так далее. А еще бывает редкая и удивительная порода, называется женщина-оборотень (werewoman). Человек, превращающийся в женщину.
Детективная городская фентези со столь необычным героем - это должно быть просто гомерически, до истерики смешно. Но Пирс Энтони уже совсем старенький и зажигательно шутить ему трудно, поэтому по ходу книги только иногда улыбаешься вполсилы, когда незадачливый сыщик сталкивается с зомби-нелегалами, вкалывающими на стройке вместо таджиков, или с сервисом знакомств, организованным предприимчивыми суккубами.
За саму идею - искренний респект, за исполнение - трояк без плюса.
Детективная городская фентези со столь необычным героем - это должно быть просто гомерически, до истерики смешно. Но Пирс Энтони уже совсем старенький и зажигательно шутить ему трудно, поэтому по ходу книги только иногда улыбаешься вполсилы, когда незадачливый сыщик сталкивается с зомби-нелегалами, вкалывающими на стройке вместо таджиков, или с сервисом знакомств, организованным предприимчивыми суккубами.
За саму идею - искренний респект, за исполнение - трояк без плюса.
December 3, 2020
This is a book that got put on my to read shelf back in 2014. I read the first chapter, and then stooped for reasons I do not remember. But now I have finished the book and glad that I have. Phil is a Were, but a very strange Were in that rather than an animal, he Changes sex (male to female). He has just opened up a detective agency and got his first case - proving that the suicide of another Supernatural (in this case the Supe is a gay Witch) was murder. So Phil/Mena and his secretary Syd (another Were - in her case a snake) are on it. The Syd's fiance Bear is killed, and even more Supe deaths need to be investigated. So Phil/Mena gives the reader a ride around Anthony's fantasy noir crime scenes where he/she has encounters with goblins, demons, succubus/incubus, ghosts, witches, vampires, and zombies before the case is resolved. And Phil gets the girl of his dreams in the end. Not a bad Piers Anthony tale, but a bit more risque than his normal Xanth books.
December 14, 2024
WereWoman by Piers Anthony
A very different type of novel from the pen of a master writer!
Supernatural people are being killed. Everyone is innocent. How will they figure it out? Read and see!
A very different type of novel from the pen of a master writer!
Supernatural people are being killed. Everyone is innocent. How will they figure it out? Read and see!
November 29, 2019
This is another one of those books that will not be winning any awards in literature . However, I did enjoy its sexiness and quirky essence. Oh well, ok I’ll confess-I secretly enjoyed it.
March 1, 2021
Simple tending and then devolving to simplistic. Travels through different "supernatural communities," but all bland presentations of sexualized stereotypes.
June 20, 2021
I couldn't even finish this. This was crap.
October 24, 2014
“WereWoman”
By Piers Anthony
In this book humans are mundane and supernaturals or “supes” are the superior species. The supernatural creatures have different primary, secondary and tertiary powers. The primary is to speak their own secret name that transforms them; secondary can be anything from psychic ability to enchantment; the tertiary is typically illusion that is taught to all supes while young so that they can hide themselves from humans if need be.
A new detective agency has just opened up run by Phil, the PI, and Syd, a close friend and fiancée of his best friend, Bear. They are no sooner open for business, when a beautiful, seductive witch saunters in to hire the firm to investigate the murder of a warlock.
Even though Phil is very green, Nonce wants to hire him because it is supe business and he is a Werecreature. There are different types of Werecreatures. Phil’s is very atypical. His unusual type and his uncommon secondary power will make him a formidable private investigator.
He no sooner decides to take the case, when the office receives a call about another supe’s murder. One closer to him that will drive him to use all of his powers to find the murderer of the supes.
The killer exploits the weaknesses to murder the creatures. Both the suspects and the victims are creatures from all clans like warlocks, weres, vampires, zombies, etc. In order to catch the murderer, Phil must learn the carefully guarded secrets of the various clans. All of the supernaturals must cooperate to catch the killer before he or she strikes again.
Once again, the author discovers new ways to take the typical supernatural creature and twist it to make it his own. I liked how the book involved all forms of supernatural creatures. It made it more interesting. However, the plot was a little thin and the ending somewhat predictable.
Review by Michele Douglas
Disclosure: I have been provided an advanced copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
By Piers Anthony
In this book humans are mundane and supernaturals or “supes” are the superior species. The supernatural creatures have different primary, secondary and tertiary powers. The primary is to speak their own secret name that transforms them; secondary can be anything from psychic ability to enchantment; the tertiary is typically illusion that is taught to all supes while young so that they can hide themselves from humans if need be.
A new detective agency has just opened up run by Phil, the PI, and Syd, a close friend and fiancée of his best friend, Bear. They are no sooner open for business, when a beautiful, seductive witch saunters in to hire the firm to investigate the murder of a warlock.
Even though Phil is very green, Nonce wants to hire him because it is supe business and he is a Werecreature. There are different types of Werecreatures. Phil’s is very atypical. His unusual type and his uncommon secondary power will make him a formidable private investigator.
He no sooner decides to take the case, when the office receives a call about another supe’s murder. One closer to him that will drive him to use all of his powers to find the murderer of the supes.
The killer exploits the weaknesses to murder the creatures. Both the suspects and the victims are creatures from all clans like warlocks, weres, vampires, zombies, etc. In order to catch the murderer, Phil must learn the carefully guarded secrets of the various clans. All of the supernaturals must cooperate to catch the killer before he or she strikes again.
Once again, the author discovers new ways to take the typical supernatural creature and twist it to make it his own. I liked how the book involved all forms of supernatural creatures. It made it more interesting. However, the plot was a little thin and the ending somewhat predictable.
Review by Michele Douglas
Disclosure: I have been provided an advanced copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
November 1, 2014
My first delve into the worlds of Piers Anthony. This was interesting but with being barely over 100ish pages, we don't get much world building or character development.
It's a bit disappointing that neither gender bending Were really made much of a point to try to make both of their forms actual healthy personas. They each simply changed when it would benefit them, not when they wanted to experience life as the opposite sex. Phil was trying a bit there for Mena to actually have friends of her own.
While it's horrible for those involved, it was neat to have the killer targeting a different species of supe and having each chapter relate to that crime & the target. While there's quite a bit of free loving and "friendly thighs" it doesn't go in to to much steamy detail. Kind of a wham bam, that's done, on with the plot.
*Digital review copy provided by NetGalley.
It's a bit disappointing that neither gender bending Were really made much of a point to try to make both of their forms actual healthy personas. They each simply changed when it would benefit them, not when they wanted to experience life as the opposite sex. Phil was trying a bit there for Mena to actually have friends of her own.
While it's horrible for those involved, it was neat to have the killer targeting a different species of supe and having each chapter relate to that crime & the target. While there's quite a bit of free loving and "friendly thighs" it doesn't go in to to much steamy detail. Kind of a wham bam, that's done, on with the plot.
*Digital review copy provided by NetGalley.
April 14, 2016
If that first statement didn’t stop you, and you like detective novels and fantasy, this is the book for you. In a world where supernaturals (also known) as supes, such as weres, witches, vampires, and others are living alongside normal people, and masquerading as such, someone is killing supes. Phil Were, Private Investigator is brought in to solve the case. Being a werewoman, Phil is both the hard boiled (more like soft-boiled) PI and a damsel in distress. In this rollicking adventure, Anthony is going back to his old ways of making his main character learn new ways of seeing the world before they can successfully complete their mission. This book also gives a high level overview of various supe clans, that make me wonder what Piers would do with a book that really digs into one clan or another.
October 31, 2014
WereWoman was a riot of fun. The idea that a man changing into a woman is as supernatural as a man turning into a wolf or snake sets the stage for the humor and mystery. My only complaint was the book was to short, I could have read on and on.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews