Six Crystal Princesses

Xanth #46

by Piers Anthony

In this heroic Xanth adventure from the New York Times-bestselling author, there's no time like the present to free six plucky princesses from the past.

Young Vinia is enjoying her life with her boyfriend, Prince Ion. They complement each other her telekinesis helps him walk, and his ambiance abolishes all allergens, allowing her to breathe freely. But Ion and his twin, Hilda, are bored with their easy royal lives and are restless for an adventure . . .

While telling the story of how their parents met, the twins remember their mother was once captured by a dragon and frozen in crystal along with a half dozen other strong-willed princesses. She managed to escape, but the six other maidens continue to be held captive--which gives Vinia, Ion, Hilda, and Hilda's caprine-crossbreed boyfriend the perfect excuse to embark on a quest.

But first they must get the approval of their parents--and the Good Magician. Since Vinia is the protagonist in this story (though she's much more comfortable as a background character), it's up to her complete the Magician's challenges. And then comes their greatest to free the princesses from their patriarchal prison, frozen in place by the Dragon with the Girl Tattoo . . .

Praise for Piers Anthony

"Piers Anthony is one of those authors who can perform magic with the ordinary. . . . [He] is a craftsman." --A Reader's Guide to Science Fiction

"Anthony's unflagging sparkle, verve and wordplay spin everyday trials of Mundane life into storytelling gold." --Publishers Weekly

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

358 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 31, 2022

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

[Allan MCcormick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me start by saying I love Xanth I have read many books in this enormous series over many many years. So It disappoints me to tell you how much I hate this

The ick this book gave me is off the charts. The main characters of this book are 11 & 12 year old children. If you know Xanth the Adult conspiracy exists to protect children as this book reminds us over and over again. The Children are curious about it but that isn't what bothers me. Nearly every page the Adult characters in this book are talking about sex. Getting Naked and showing off in front of the children until the children. Offering to have sex with them. Frequent discussion of gang rape. Constant sexualizing of the children The sexual assault of the children.

Xanth is usually such a fun time but I just can't get behind this it's creepy and frustrating

[Kaylee · Rating 3 out of 5]

CAN WE PLEASE STOP WITH ALL THE CHILDREN? It's entering creepy territory. Especially with how this one went - TW: lots of talk about child molestation, an older man forcing a kiss on a 12-year-old and admitting she rather liked it.

The fixation of young children being so... focused on the Adult Conspiracy and what it entails is getting a bit outta hand. At least the prince/princesses were adults... It looks like the next is going to have an adult back as the "protagonist" (as mentioned soo many times) so I am looking forward to that. Although I am betting Vinia is going to be in Apoca Lips.

This all seemed far too easy, especially towards the end. Seemed like such a cheat. When I hit the half-way mark, I was confused with there being so much story left!

Oh well. I have to get on another level these days to continue with Anthony but I still love his writing style and Xanth. It does show that Anthony is trying to be more inclusive, though, so that's great.

I was so sorry to hear about the loss of his wife after 63 years! Heartbreaking.

(This is marked on my dubcon-noncon shelf because of all the talk about rape for all ages.

[Your Common House Bat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well shucks, fooled again--done got lured in by a cool looking title. Okay so this book isn't the worst thing that I have ever read but it really just didn't do it for me. I remember reading book 1 a very long time like when I was a kid. I only vaguely remember it, did not realize that it reached 40+ books lol. This is one of those childhood reads that I just didn't care for as an adult and maybe it's because I wasn't as attached to it as a kid as I was to Magic Treehouse and Rainbow Fairies. Regardless this one just didn't vibe with me. I think part of it is that when referring to cuss words the author literally wrote 'bleep' in the dialog. Like one of the sentences was something like, 'he'd have to deal with a mountain of bleep'. Like why not just say 'poop'? 90% sure 'poop' was said prior to that moment. If not I feel like there are much better ways to censor swears than straight up writing 'bleep'. That was just super jarring to me and pulled me out of a world that I wasn't super invested in to begin with. Petty? Maybe. But still lol.

[Jill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. The premise is interesting, the puns fun. The story is written on a middle school level, but the content is for adults. The oversexualization of children, unnecessary focus on women's bodies and sex, and the constant dismissal of women's intellect and ability throughout detracts mightily from what could have been a good story. I won't finish and I won't recommend. A solid disappointment.

[Donald Franck · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointed in this Santa book

I loved all the other books. I looked forward to an amusing story line. I couldn't even finish this book. This book wasn't enjoyable as the other 45 books in this series. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. What a waste of money.

[Nathan Dehoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Queen Ida's two children, Ion, who collects elixirs (which don't affect him), and Hilda, who can sew magical items, decide to save the other women who had been trapped along with their mother in a dragon's cave. They travel along with their significant others, Vinia, the protagonist of the novel, and Bennie, a cross between human and goat. They also seek to find partners for the imprisoned women, because that's what happens in Xanth books. As things develop, they also join forces with all sorts of beings to form a matriarchal country called Thanx, and then to save it from an insidious virus that makes women subservient to men. As usual, it's pretty shallow, but also enjoyably whimsical. There's even a repeat appearance by an obscure character from the past, the demon professor who taught the Good Magician Humfrey.

[steven wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting

As an avid reader of all things Xanth, I was anxious to read this tome. While it kept to the cannon of Xanth, I was a bit disappointed that there was less occurrence of the be usual beguiling puns we expect and the story was darker than many of its predecessors. It also appears that Mr. Anthony has tried to elevate the reading to a more adult and more educated audience. As a multi-college degreed engineer, I applaud it pushing literacy in a world where our government is trying to drive education to the lowest common denominator.

[Judi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always liked the Xanth novels. The series seems to becoming too formulaic. And lately the fourth wall has been quite thin. I didn't like the protagonist and the quest seemed contrived. And my final quibble is that the puns aren't as good or as funny as they were in Bink's day. Maybe I should go back and reread the early ones and see if they still have their magic. "No violens in the median," indeed. Recommended for completion's sake.

[Kathy]

Piers has been a writer for a long time. This was a nice wrap up of characters that had been sitting for quite a few books. The topics he covered in this story line were controversial and If found them to be daunting to read.

Kind of suprised that the library had this in their collection. Being a popular writer doesn't alwasy translate into being popular with library patrons.

[Cyrix Instead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great bit of Xanth, strong and smart female characters, a return of some well loved characters from the past books and a reprieve for Xanth at least for now of the troubles that Mundania faces, wish we had heroes like these to fix our own ills....

[R. Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

"Six Crystal Princesses" was very engrossing with more action than any other Xnath book that I have read. It definitely shows the versatility of Piers Anthony's mind and imagination.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best in the Xanth series. Can't wait for Apoca Lips!

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

I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the previous few, but this is still a fun, quick read.

[Russell Hosaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my favorite Xanth novels

I liked that Viruses,racism, women and mens rights are all resolved in a fantastic story. How I wish the real world would be more like Xanth.

[Robert Whiting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Great Installment

This was another great addition to the history of Xanth, while also being a callback of sorts. It also establishes a new order for the future.

[Julie Doig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it Xanth is one of my favorite series

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, it had a bit too much going on, but still comfortably entertaining.