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Xanth #15
The Color of Her Panties
In fact, Gwenny Goblin, Che Centaur and Jenny Elf are just about the only creatures on Xanth who have been spared the sight of Mela Merwoman's undergarment -- preoccupied as they are with helping Gwenny beat out her awful half-brother Gobble for chiefship of the goblin horde. But first they must master space and thyme . . . and find the fabulous egg that sits between the Roc and the hard place. While Mela -- who would gladly relinquish her oft-viewed undies for a new husband -- joins the Adult Conspiracy . . . and quickly discovers the power of a perfect pair of panties!
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 15, 1992
97 people are currently reading
2264 people want to read
About the author
Piers Anthony
442 books4,219 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 - 30 of 88 reviews
unread-forever
March 28, 2015seriously? "THE COLOR OF HER PANTIES"? like for real? this book exists and is not just some crazy joke? am i high right now or something? it's like Piers started reading all those comments about how pervy he can be and was like Fuck It, the secret's out, everyone knows i'm a perv, i'm just gonna go for it, FUCK YEAH! PANTIES WILL BE IN THE TITLE GODDAMNIT!
i'm not really even trying to hate on Piers Anthony. i know like every fourth review of his books talks about how he is perverted and maybe even a pedo. i dunno. my jury's still out. he's definitely a perv (i could care less about that) and some of his more gruesome stuff gets dark & sick... but i'd be hard-pressed to say his books are pedophilic. or maybe i'm just stupid & sentimental, because i loved a lot of his books as a kid. his kid stuff like Xanth and especially his more complex spiritual-scifi books as well. like Macroscope & Battle Circle & Mute & the Cluster/Tarot series: all awesome. so anyway - i'm not one of those folks who automatically dismisses the guy.
but this fuckin title. really. it is unreal. i'm rarely ashamed (more of a guilt type of person) but i'd be way too embarrassed and probably ashamed to even buy this via anonymous amazon. i can't imagine hitting that Buy button with this title in the cart. my God, what would my postman think if this package accidentally ripped open? i'd much rather be caught with straight-up porn! and i just find it hard to believe that anything with such a crazy-bad title could ever be remotely good. am i wrong? someone prove me wrong!
i'm not really even trying to hate on Piers Anthony. i know like every fourth review of his books talks about how he is perverted and maybe even a pedo. i dunno. my jury's still out. he's definitely a perv (i could care less about that) and some of his more gruesome stuff gets dark & sick... but i'd be hard-pressed to say his books are pedophilic. or maybe i'm just stupid & sentimental, because i loved a lot of his books as a kid. his kid stuff like Xanth and especially his more complex spiritual-scifi books as well. like Macroscope & Battle Circle & Mute & the Cluster/Tarot series: all awesome. so anyway - i'm not one of those folks who automatically dismisses the guy.
but this fuckin title. really. it is unreal. i'm rarely ashamed (more of a guilt type of person) but i'd be way too embarrassed and probably ashamed to even buy this via anonymous amazon. i can't imagine hitting that Buy button with this title in the cart. my God, what would my postman think if this package accidentally ripped open? i'd much rather be caught with straight-up porn! and i just find it hard to believe that anything with such a crazy-bad title could ever be remotely good. am i wrong? someone prove me wrong!
January 25, 2012
This is another of Anthony's delightful, witty romps in the fantasy land of Xanth, whose physical geography resembles that of his adopted state of Florida, but whose flora, fauna and human (and semi-human) geography springs wholly from his own zany imagination --assisted by a flair for puns and copious borrowings from classical and world folklore and legend, all with a humorous spin. (See my previous reviews of titles in this series.) Over the years, my wife and I have accumulated various volumes of this series by buying them at our local flea market, so we haven't always purchased and read them with an eye to following the order of the books systematically. Question Quest, the preceding volume which we don't have and skipped, focuses on the life of Good Magician Humfrey; it explains (so our daughter reports :-)) the many bizarre details of his domestic situation,some of which this volume references in passing. (So now, of course, we need to read the preceding book as soon as circumstances permit!)
Despite the title and above description, this book isn't really risque'; Mela Merwoman's panties are often glimpsed only because she's innocently wearing a Freudian slip, an undergarment that often manages to embarrass its wearer. Xanthian characters are actually quite chaste, and the sight of female panties is about as frowned on as it would have been in Victorian England. Also, human babies (and those of most other human-like species) in Xanth actually are delivered by the storks --but the adult behavior for stork-summoning is a secret closely guarded from minors by the Adult Conspiracy. :-) It won't constitute a spoiler for Xanth fans to hear that Anthony wraps up everyone's quests here in his own inimitable fashion.
Despite the title and above description, this book isn't really risque'; Mela Merwoman's panties are often glimpsed only because she's innocently wearing a Freudian slip, an undergarment that often manages to embarrass its wearer. Xanthian characters are actually quite chaste, and the sight of female panties is about as frowned on as it would have been in Victorian England. Also, human babies (and those of most other human-like species) in Xanth actually are delivered by the storks --but the adult behavior for stork-summoning is a secret closely guarded from minors by the Adult Conspiracy. :-) It won't constitute a spoiler for Xanth fans to hear that Anthony wraps up everyone's quests here in his own inimitable fashion.
May 30, 2016
It's really kind of remarkable what Piers Anthony has done with Xanth. He's created a fantasy series in which there's action and brain-teasers, but the silly puns and lighthearted nature of the book belies the seriousness of some of the scenes. For example, when I first sat down to write this I was going to say that there's no real horror to the battle scenes, nothing grim or epic in Xanth the way there is in Middle Earth, say, or even Narnia, to take a lighter-hearted example.
But that's not true, entirely: In one of the books there's a siege of Castle Roogna, and there are deaths galore, as well as a pitched battle involving vampires, goblins, harpies, zombies, soldiers, and a giant spider.
(Giant spiders seem to be a staple in fantasy books: Harry Potter, The Lord of The Rings, and Xanth have all had one. I can't remember one in Narnia but that doesn't mean there wasn't one.)
The lighthearted feel of Xanth is, though, in stark contrast to most of fantasy writing that's out there. I think that (plus Anthony's admittedly somewhat simple writing style) causes many people to downgrade or disregard the series -- or to honestly dislike it the way Andrew Leon does -- because while there are epic quests and horrible deaths and demons and the like, it's all portrayed in a sort of Saturday morning cartoonish feel.
The Color Of Her Panties continues that combination of quests-and-kids-stuff feeling, as a former side character, Mela the Merwoman, decides to go find a husband, and ends up joining forces with a dissatisfied ogress, a mystery human woman, and some teenage folk who have to help a friend take over as a chieftain of the goblins. What got me started on thinking about where Anthony might fit in the pantheon of fantasy writers was a couple of things.
First, early on in this book Anthony essentially undoes an entire plotline from the earlier books. The main plot here is Gwenny Goblin having to finally take over as chief of her mountain. In an earlier book, Gwenny's mom kidnapped a winged centaur to help Gwenny, who was crippled and nearly blind; that set off a war between the winged monsters and the land monsters, but was eventually settled with the sort of almost-deus ex machina that Anthony favors as an ending to his books; the centaur decided to be Gwenny's companion to help hide her infirmities.
At the start of this book, Gwenny has had her lameness cured by a healing spring, and she recovers a pair of magic contact lenses to help her see, so she doesn't need the winged centaur anymore and the entire book leading up to this became unnecessary. It's not clear if Anthony simply didn't care, or is on a larger path with these. Lots of times what seems to be simple throwaway stuff ends up mattering in later books, but again, the tone of the books keeps them from seeming as literary as some other fantasy.
The other thing that got me thinking about Anthony's skills was the Simurgh, which in Xanth is a bird that sits atop a tree on Mount Parnassus and occasionally dispenses wisdom. The Simurgh has been in enough books that I finally decided to see if Anthony had just made it up, because it's kind of a neat creature, having lived through three universes so far and being able to see at least part of the future.
Turns out there really was a Simurgh, at least in our mythology: it was an Iranian god that, while not quite fully a bird, was similar to the one Anthony has repurposed for his books. Anthony already has Maenads on Mount Parnassus, too, and the more you dig into Xanth the more you find bits and pieces of mythology sprinkled around amongst the pie plants.
Those pie plants and the other fun stuff of Xanth led me to decide, when we were debating it one time, that if I could live in any literary world, it would be Xanth. Harry Potter's got his dementors and Voldemorts. Middle Earth sounds horrible unless you live in Rivendell or are a king of Gondor, or maybe a hobbit provided you're not there when Sharkey takes over. Most other fantasy worlds, too, are hard-scrabble, rainy, plagued with enemies (and plagues) and otherwise not worth living in.
Anthony's worlds are different. Phaze, his fantasy/scifi world in Split Infinity seems awesome, and even the Earth he posits in his Incarnations of Immortality series seems generally okay. But Xanth is by far the greatest of his creations, should you have to go live in a literary fantasy world.
This book, too, sees Anthony mess with the fourth wall. The ogress, Okra Ogress, wants to be a Major Character, because nothing bad ever happens to Major Characters. (That's true, in Xanth: in the last invasion all the kings who were dispatched simply went to the dreamworld for a while, then came back to life.) Okra wasn't a major character because Jenny The Elf got the job, instead; this is of course a nod to the book where Anthony put a real-life girl into his stories as an Elfquest elf, after having given her the choice of being an elf or an ogress.
This isn't the first time Anthony has done something like that. In Man From Mundania he had Grey, the Mundane Magician, read books about Xanth that were written by the Muses on Mount Parnassus and snuck out; here he makes it more overt, even having Jenny and Grey read his Author's note.
I think one of the reasons why I'm enjoying these Xanth books so much (sorry, Andrew) is because they seem so innocent. Like I said last time, they're some lighter reading that I can sort of drift along with, but they're entertaining enough to make me want to keep going. And I like that as they go along Anthony is making the stories a bit more complicated, bringing in new characters (especially nonhumans; there's not a lot of those starring in the fantasy books I've read, and while Anthony's nonhumans are mostly a lot like humans, he sometimes makes it really interesting, like the book Night Mare, told from the perspective of a dream horse.)
I think it's possible that Tolkien and Martin and Rowling are rated so highly because they paint their fantasy worlds in grim colors, blood and iron and boiling lava. That's very entertaining, but downgrading lighter fantasy like Narnia, or Robert Asprin's Myth series or Xanth simply because they're lighthearted is wrong. If you don't like them you don't like them; taste is subjective. But I think the Xanth books ought to be given more credit in the fantasy community than they seem to get.
But that's not true, entirely: In one of the books there's a siege of Castle Roogna, and there are deaths galore, as well as a pitched battle involving vampires, goblins, harpies, zombies, soldiers, and a giant spider.
(Giant spiders seem to be a staple in fantasy books: Harry Potter, The Lord of The Rings, and Xanth have all had one. I can't remember one in Narnia but that doesn't mean there wasn't one.)
The lighthearted feel of Xanth is, though, in stark contrast to most of fantasy writing that's out there. I think that (plus Anthony's admittedly somewhat simple writing style) causes many people to downgrade or disregard the series -- or to honestly dislike it the way Andrew Leon does -- because while there are epic quests and horrible deaths and demons and the like, it's all portrayed in a sort of Saturday morning cartoonish feel.
The Color Of Her Panties continues that combination of quests-and-kids-stuff feeling, as a former side character, Mela the Merwoman, decides to go find a husband, and ends up joining forces with a dissatisfied ogress, a mystery human woman, and some teenage folk who have to help a friend take over as a chieftain of the goblins. What got me started on thinking about where Anthony might fit in the pantheon of fantasy writers was a couple of things.
First, early on in this book Anthony essentially undoes an entire plotline from the earlier books. The main plot here is Gwenny Goblin having to finally take over as chief of her mountain. In an earlier book, Gwenny's mom kidnapped a winged centaur to help Gwenny, who was crippled and nearly blind; that set off a war between the winged monsters and the land monsters, but was eventually settled with the sort of almost-deus ex machina that Anthony favors as an ending to his books; the centaur decided to be Gwenny's companion to help hide her infirmities.
At the start of this book, Gwenny has had her lameness cured by a healing spring, and she recovers a pair of magic contact lenses to help her see, so she doesn't need the winged centaur anymore and the entire book leading up to this became unnecessary. It's not clear if Anthony simply didn't care, or is on a larger path with these. Lots of times what seems to be simple throwaway stuff ends up mattering in later books, but again, the tone of the books keeps them from seeming as literary as some other fantasy.
The other thing that got me thinking about Anthony's skills was the Simurgh, which in Xanth is a bird that sits atop a tree on Mount Parnassus and occasionally dispenses wisdom. The Simurgh has been in enough books that I finally decided to see if Anthony had just made it up, because it's kind of a neat creature, having lived through three universes so far and being able to see at least part of the future.
Turns out there really was a Simurgh, at least in our mythology: it was an Iranian god that, while not quite fully a bird, was similar to the one Anthony has repurposed for his books. Anthony already has Maenads on Mount Parnassus, too, and the more you dig into Xanth the more you find bits and pieces of mythology sprinkled around amongst the pie plants.
Those pie plants and the other fun stuff of Xanth led me to decide, when we were debating it one time, that if I could live in any literary world, it would be Xanth. Harry Potter's got his dementors and Voldemorts. Middle Earth sounds horrible unless you live in Rivendell or are a king of Gondor, or maybe a hobbit provided you're not there when Sharkey takes over. Most other fantasy worlds, too, are hard-scrabble, rainy, plagued with enemies (and plagues) and otherwise not worth living in.
Anthony's worlds are different. Phaze, his fantasy/scifi world in Split Infinity seems awesome, and even the Earth he posits in his Incarnations of Immortality series seems generally okay. But Xanth is by far the greatest of his creations, should you have to go live in a literary fantasy world.
This book, too, sees Anthony mess with the fourth wall. The ogress, Okra Ogress, wants to be a Major Character, because nothing bad ever happens to Major Characters. (That's true, in Xanth: in the last invasion all the kings who were dispatched simply went to the dreamworld for a while, then came back to life.) Okra wasn't a major character because Jenny The Elf got the job, instead; this is of course a nod to the book where Anthony put a real-life girl into his stories as an Elfquest elf, after having given her the choice of being an elf or an ogress.
This isn't the first time Anthony has done something like that. In Man From Mundania he had Grey, the Mundane Magician, read books about Xanth that were written by the Muses on Mount Parnassus and snuck out; here he makes it more overt, even having Jenny and Grey read his Author's note.
I think one of the reasons why I'm enjoying these Xanth books so much (sorry, Andrew) is because they seem so innocent. Like I said last time, they're some lighter reading that I can sort of drift along with, but they're entertaining enough to make me want to keep going. And I like that as they go along Anthony is making the stories a bit more complicated, bringing in new characters (especially nonhumans; there's not a lot of those starring in the fantasy books I've read, and while Anthony's nonhumans are mostly a lot like humans, he sometimes makes it really interesting, like the book Night Mare, told from the perspective of a dream horse.)
I think it's possible that Tolkien and Martin and Rowling are rated so highly because they paint their fantasy worlds in grim colors, blood and iron and boiling lava. That's very entertaining, but downgrading lighter fantasy like Narnia, or Robert Asprin's Myth series or Xanth simply because they're lighthearted is wrong. If you don't like them you don't like them; taste is subjective. But I think the Xanth books ought to be given more credit in the fantasy community than they seem to get.
dnf
May 20, 2023HONESTLY HORRIFIED THIS BOOK EXISTS AND THAT THE TITLE IS THE LITERAL PLOT WTF.
December 13, 2011
I know I'm going about this all wrong, reading the Xanth books out of order, but as a long time reader and with my deep love of Xanth, there is never a problem. I can pick up any of them, at any time, and fall back into the familiar world I so love. I think you're either a major, absolutely devoted fan, or you hate these books. The sneaky puns and half glimpsed at scenes hidden behind the dreaded 'Adult Conspiracy' are not for everyone, but they've sure got me sucked in.
As number 15, this one is much more simple than later volumes. Ida is making her first appearance, and so Ptero hasn't come into it. It's just Xanth, and the gourd, with little in between. To be honest, this one makes me kind of wistful, and I half wish the new books focused more on Xanth itself, like this one.
I love the characters here, Mela, Okra and Ida especially. The Panty was a funny scene, who knew there were so many? And we finally get an ending to Gwenny's how to become a female goblin chief and change goblin history story arc.
Xanth, one of my favorite worlds, and this one, with it's oh so naughty title, as one of my favorite books.
As number 15, this one is much more simple than later volumes. Ida is making her first appearance, and so Ptero hasn't come into it. It's just Xanth, and the gourd, with little in between. To be honest, this one makes me kind of wistful, and I half wish the new books focused more on Xanth itself, like this one.
I love the characters here, Mela, Okra and Ida especially. The Panty was a funny scene, who knew there were so many? And we finally get an ending to Gwenny's how to become a female goblin chief and change goblin history story arc.
Xanth, one of my favorite worlds, and this one, with it's oh so naughty title, as one of my favorite books.
January 22, 2016
An odd story as it focuses on the main characters fascination to discover the color of the heroine's panties throughout the adventure. The Xanth novels are a quick, fun and funny read. Great starter books for young fantasy readers. There is a ton of them and you can pick up any of them and start. Very recommended
April 23, 2008
Thanks to Josh Epps in Little Brook, CA for the fart/art pun, later all, im Piers Anthony and I JUST DONT GIVE A FUCK *slams down typewriter, storms offstage*
April 23, 2013
Princess Ida finally shows up! I was waiting for this. Now, Princess Ida is Ivy's long-lost twin. But since Ida's Magician-level talent is the power of the idea, whatever someone suggests to her becomes true if she believes it is. (As long as it's not deliberately fed to her by someone who knows what her talent is.) So, because she happens to look a lot like Princess Ivy, the suggestion that she's her twin may have actually caused her to become her twin because she believed it. Odd, yes? Welcome to Xanth.
So what's with the panties? Welcome to Xanth.
Piers Anthony again brings out excuses to talk about women's undergarments, having an entire plot point revolving around panties, though it's nowhere near as pervy as it sounds because the Adult Conspiracy is often invoked to avoid explicit detail. But it is an excuse to encrust all the panties Mela tries on with ridiculous, groan-worthy puns. Ida comes into the story when she meets Mela the Merwoman on her quest for a husband. Also involved is the ogre named Okra. The other storyline, surrounding Gwendolyn Goblin, involves a fight between siblings for the goblin throne. I liked the goblin plot more than the "find Mela a husband" plot, but they combined when Mela intervened in Gwenny's quest to steal a Roc egg, having to save her from the mother Roc. . . .
Seriously, though, the pun overload is stupid. The author has begun to include a long shout-out list detailing fans' contributions. Can you imagine how much pun-mail this man must have gotten? The fact that he will include these puns and put your NAME in a book must have encouraged it times a billion, and I found it really super tiresome.
So what's with the panties? Welcome to Xanth.
Piers Anthony again brings out excuses to talk about women's undergarments, having an entire plot point revolving around panties, though it's nowhere near as pervy as it sounds because the Adult Conspiracy is often invoked to avoid explicit detail. But it is an excuse to encrust all the panties Mela tries on with ridiculous, groan-worthy puns. Ida comes into the story when she meets Mela the Merwoman on her quest for a husband. Also involved is the ogre named Okra. The other storyline, surrounding Gwendolyn Goblin, involves a fight between siblings for the goblin throne. I liked the goblin plot more than the "find Mela a husband" plot, but they combined when Mela intervened in Gwenny's quest to steal a Roc egg, having to save her from the mother Roc. . . .
Seriously, though, the pun overload is stupid. The author has begun to include a long shout-out list detailing fans' contributions. Can you imagine how much pun-mail this man must have gotten? The fact that he will include these puns and put your NAME in a book must have encouraged it times a billion, and I found it really super tiresome.
June 2, 2012
I read a lot of Xanth books when I was a teenager. They were recommended by a few friends. His imagination speaks to young adults, and I liked some of the crazy rules his characters react to. But over time, I felt increasingly uncomfortable with the situations he put his preteen and teenage characters in. Many were sexually charged, and usually involved adults. It felt voyeuristic an in time I realized it was pedophilic. He would be a great YA author, with a lot of appeal to adults, if he didn't use writing to play out his own predatory desires. I wouldn't let anyone underage read them, and I wouldn't recommend them to adults. Preteens and young teenagers being coerced into nudity and physical contact by adults, in one book after another, isn't appropriate even to the most open-minded parent. The fact that no actual statutory rape or incest technically occurred doesn't redeem it.
July 23, 2023
This book is separated into 2 stories. The main one, where the title of the book comes from, stars Mela Mermaid and her hunt for a husband. Mela leaves her home under the waves to go to the good magician Humphreys and ask him where she can find a husband that will meet her requirements. Along the way she meets Ida Human and a female (sort of) ogre,whose name I can't remember. They both have questions for Humphreys also. The female ogre learned that she would have been a lead character if it wasn’t for Jenny, so her question now is, how can she get rid of Jenny Elf so she can be a lead character and have a charmed life. Ida's question is simply, who is she and where does she belong.
The other storyline is that it's time for Gwenny goblin to become chief of her tribe, but Gobble, her half brother is challenging her for leadership and even though he is 2 years younger than her, Gobble has figured out a way around the adult conspiracy and learned 6 of the 7 cuss words and is threatening to teach them to all the goblin children if he isn't made chief. So Che, Gwenny's companion and Jenny are setting out to goblin mountain to stop Gobble and make Gwenny the 1st goblin chief.
Follow both stories and find out what is the secret color of Mela Mermaids panties, just one of the many things that go on in this book.
P.S. For those of you that follow my reviews, you may have noticed that in writing this review, I skipped book 14 in the Xanth books. This is because I read almost all of my books on kindles and book 14, which is the story about the Good Magician Humphreys and how he attempts to rescue his 7 1/2 wife's from hell. Amazon doesn't offer this book in a Kindle format so I don't own it. Because of that I had to move on to the next book in the series. Just as I have done when I finished this one that I just reviewed.
The other storyline is that it's time for Gwenny goblin to become chief of her tribe, but Gobble, her half brother is challenging her for leadership and even though he is 2 years younger than her, Gobble has figured out a way around the adult conspiracy and learned 6 of the 7 cuss words and is threatening to teach them to all the goblin children if he isn't made chief. So Che, Gwenny's companion and Jenny are setting out to goblin mountain to stop Gobble and make Gwenny the 1st goblin chief.
Follow both stories and find out what is the secret color of Mela Mermaids panties, just one of the many things that go on in this book.
P.S. For those of you that follow my reviews, you may have noticed that in writing this review, I skipped book 14 in the Xanth books. This is because I read almost all of my books on kindles and book 14, which is the story about the Good Magician Humphreys and how he attempts to rescue his 7 1/2 wife's from hell. Amazon doesn't offer this book in a Kindle format so I don't own it. Because of that I had to move on to the next book in the series. Just as I have done when I finished this one that I just reviewed.
January 30, 2016
This is one of the Xanth books which I look back on most fondly. It doesn't hurt that it is targeted to exactly the audience which was me (13 year old boy at the time). I read it all in one day when I happened to be sick and had stayed home from school.
One aspect of this book that I really loved is that it has 6 protagonists with their own stories,secrets, and character arcs. As such, even if you don't care for one character or one story, you just have a few more pages toget back to the one that you do care about. I also like how these stories weave together (and the twists!)
A flaw of this format it that it was far too rigid. As I recall, it has 18 chapters and that means that each character has 3 chapters from their perspective and those perspectives go in a specific order. The flaw of this is that sometimes a chapter which is clearly more focused on, say, Gwenny will be from the perspective of, say, Che as it is his turn.
On of the aspects that I really liked was the difference between what is considered offensive porn (walking around in ones panties) and what is not (going completely nude) in Xanth as compared to Mundania. This really asks one to question one's personal views and causes for offense.
That said, the one complaint that I have about the book is the choice of cover art. Through most of the story, three of the adult female characters are walking around in very little (just their panties) so it would seem apt. But those are not the characters who were going unclothed. The characters on the cover are actually 9-10 year olds (in the book) but for some reason they are shown as being sexy near adults on the cover. It's a real mind fuck! I don't want to think about those characters in that way, stop making me!
One aspect of this book that I really loved is that it has 6 protagonists with their own stories,secrets, and character arcs. As such, even if you don't care for one character or one story, you just have a few more pages toget back to the one that you do care about. I also like how these stories weave together (and the twists!)
A flaw of this format it that it was far too rigid. As I recall, it has 18 chapters and that means that each character has 3 chapters from their perspective and those perspectives go in a specific order. The flaw of this is that sometimes a chapter which is clearly more focused on, say, Gwenny will be from the perspective of, say, Che as it is his turn.
On of the aspects that I really liked was the difference between what is considered offensive porn (walking around in ones panties) and what is not (going completely nude) in Xanth as compared to Mundania. This really asks one to question one's personal views and causes for offense.
That said, the one complaint that I have about the book is the choice of cover art. Through most of the story, three of the adult female characters are walking around in very little (just their panties) so it would seem apt. But those are not the characters who were going unclothed. The characters on the cover are actually 9-10 year olds (in the book) but for some reason they are shown as being sexy near adults on the cover. It's a real mind fuck! I don't want to think about those characters in that way, stop making me!
May 17, 2024
Meh. This is one of the weakest books in the series I've read so far. Neither of the two main stories are very interesting, and the characters are so interchangeable that it's easy to get them jumbled up. There was no major climactic scene or any sense of rising tension and resolution. I feel like the entire series may have jumped the shark with Question Quest, which did a lot of retconning lore for no good reason. It and this are the only two books I've first read as an adult. I'm starting to wonder if I should have let things lie.
February 21, 2012
This is a wonderful mix of childishness, imagination and fun. This book was never meant to be taken seriously, as the title clearly indicates.
If my addled brain recollects, a group of children were on a quest to discover the colour of someone's panties. I think they even had a discussion why that would be important.
For the audacity of the title, I give it 5. For the fun I give it 5. For the nostalgia of what it meant to me in my youth, I give it 5.
If my addled brain recollects, a group of children were on a quest to discover the colour of someone's panties. I think they even had a discussion why that would be important.
For the audacity of the title, I give it 5. For the fun I give it 5. For the nostalgia of what it meant to me in my youth, I give it 5.
September 10, 2012
This was my least favorite Xanth novel so far. In previous Author's Notes, Anthony said that he was going to limit the amount of puns in future books. The first part of this book was filled with so many stupid and pointless puns that it was very hard to get into.
The story wasn't very exciting even though the characters were fairly well done. I hope the series picks back up soon or I won't be able to go much further.
The story wasn't very exciting even though the characters were fairly well done. I hope the series picks back up soon or I won't be able to go much further.
September 22, 2015
Loved this book from beginning to end. I loved the amount of characters and how the story line slowly unfolded itself and you could see the crisscross.
Its the kind of book that had me thinking of it when I wasn't reading it and even now has me wondering how all of this could continue through the series.
Its the kind of book that had me thinking of it when I wasn't reading it and even now has me wondering how all of this could continue through the series.
April 25, 2011
I love the Xanth Series. I find his play on words so fun and refreshing.
March 3, 2014
One of my Xanth faves!
May 11, 2012
a story explaining the power of women over men
August 26, 2019
3 1/2 Stars
The Color of Her Panties is the fifteenth book in the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. This is one of the more zany adventures, as we follow Gwenny Goblin on her quest. Gwenny is vying for chiefship of the Goblin Horde, against her half-brother Gobble. But what has that got to do with Mela Merwoman's underpants? Well you're going to have to read the book to discover all the humorous details for yourself.
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 Color of Her Panties is the fifteenth book in the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. This is one of the more zany adventures, as we follow Gwenny Goblin on her quest. Gwenny is vying for chiefship of the Goblin Horde, against her half-brother Gobble. But what has that got to do with Mela Merwoman's underpants? Well you're going to have to read the book to discover all the humorous details for yourself.
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!
July 15, 2018
Well. I read the book BECAUSE of the title, contrary to another reviewer Mark Monday's opinion. Rather hilarious when a coworker asks what you're reading! And anybody who Knows Piers Anthony's Xanth tales certainly knows his tendency to use every pun imaginable.
The book is fun, very light reading. Certainly on a different (read, simpler) level than my usual of Brandon Sanderson, Robin Hobbs, Terry Goodkind, et al. It is clearly pre-YA level in it's structure, and that is an important feature I forgot since I haven't read one of this series in many years. So I was kind of shocked and actually had a hard time staying with it.
But I did. And you know what? I was surprised at the end. I won't go so far as to say this was a deep, philosophical story, but there were definitely twists and creative use of circumstance by the characters. In short, I'm happy I read it. Will I pick up another Xanth story? Probably not, unless I've been reading a lot of very heavy material for several months... or years.
The book is fun, very light reading. Certainly on a different (read, simpler) level than my usual of Brandon Sanderson, Robin Hobbs, Terry Goodkind, et al. It is clearly pre-YA level in it's structure, and that is an important feature I forgot since I haven't read one of this series in many years. So I was kind of shocked and actually had a hard time staying with it.
But I did. And you know what? I was surprised at the end. I won't go so far as to say this was a deep, philosophical story, but there were definitely twists and creative use of circumstance by the characters. In short, I'm happy I read it. Will I pick up another Xanth story? Probably not, unless I've been reading a lot of very heavy material for several months... or years.
April 16, 2023
Why on earth did I read this? I can only blame the title! A rather lame excuse would be that I haven't read a Piers Anthony for donkey's years and I thought maybe I should. So naturally I chose this one, which is number 15 of a series of 46. It actually turned out fairly well, it didn't seem to matter which of the series to read, I imagine they're mostly similar and there is so much happening that you probably need to be 14 to keep up anyway. Talking of 14, when I started reading I realized two things, it was a young adult book, and it was really silly. I never give up, so I plugged on, and the longer I read the more I liked it, there were six main characters, and I liked all of them. Being a main character was very important to one of the characters, and I liked her the most, there was also an Adult Conspiracy that was fun, I won’t say anything more about that, also panties and adventures were involved. And some awful puns. I’d have loved it when I was 14, and I still liked it at 68, but I think one is enough.
January 13, 2021
I rounded this story off since it came just under three stars. I went back to read this book because I had somehow skipped over it. It is amazing how much Anthony’s books in this series have changed over time, getting worse and worse as the puns took over the storyline and the Good Magician Humphrey became both the storyteller and the god of this universe. This book is actually well written compared to The Dastard and the books that follow. This has drama, danger, and even death in it. The author actually takes time to describe the background and provides explanations as to why certain events happen or things are the way they are without any puns, just normal narrative/prose. This may even be the last pure novel in this series before the puns take over completely by Faun and Games. A nice reminder of ages past when his books actually had meaning. In the meantime, back on the evil path for the rest of this series, with Swell Foop next.
October 23, 2021
We See England, We See Xanth, We See Mels's Underpanth
In fact, Gwenny Goblin, Che Centaur and Jenny Elf are just about the only creatures on Xanth who have been spared the sight of Mela Merwoman's undergarment -- preoccupied as they are with helping Gwenny beat out her awful half-brother Gobble for chiefship of the goblin horde. But first they must master space and thyme . . . and find the fabulous egg that sits between the Roc and the hard place. While Mela -- who would gladly relinquish her oft-viewed undies for a new husband -- joins the Adult Conspiracy . . . and quickly discovers the power of a perfect pair of panties! **
July 25, 2023
Interesting turn of events in this book.
I will not spoil it for those who haven't read it yet. I was surprised of the ending.
But, Anyone that has read Book #14 should already know that Jenny Elf is based on a REAL girl that became paralyzed and in a wheelchair for life because of a Drunk Driver decided to drink and drive and take out this little girl.
So horror able, But Jenny is making a recovery so far from reading the books as Pier's Anthony has been giving updates in the Author notes in the back. Jenny will always have a Place in my Heart as I can, in a way, identify with Jenny being a Wheelchair user myself.
I will not spoil it for those who haven't read it yet. I was surprised of the ending.
But, Anyone that has read Book #14 should already know that Jenny Elf is based on a REAL girl that became paralyzed and in a wheelchair for life because of a Drunk Driver decided to drink and drive and take out this little girl.
So horror able, But Jenny is making a recovery so far from reading the books as Pier's Anthony has been giving updates in the Author notes in the back. Jenny will always have a Place in my Heart as I can, in a way, identify with Jenny being a Wheelchair user myself.
Read
October 23, 2025We See England, We See Xanth, We See Mels's UnderpanthIn fact, Gwenny Goblin, Che Centaur and Jenny Elf are just about the only creatures on Xanth who have been spared the sight of Mela Merwoman's undergarment -- preoccupied as they are with helping Gwenny beat out her awful half-brother Gobble for chiefship of the goblin horde. But first they must master space and thyme . . . and find the fabulous egg that sits between the Roc and the hard place. While Mela -- who would gladly relinquish her oft-viewed undies for a new husband -- joins the Adult Conspiracy . . . and quickly discovers the power of a perfect pair of panties!
January 21, 2020
Finally got around to reading this some years after reading up to Xanth 14, and did not find it worth the wait.
I love the ridiculous punning world of Xanth and its mythological references. However, I found this book dragged. I was especially bored during the extended pantie-modelling scene. Once the characters all came together I began to enjoy the book much more.
I will carry on and read the rest of the Xanth books, and still have a fondness for this series, but definitely not one of my favourites.
I love the ridiculous punning world of Xanth and its mythological references. However, I found this book dragged. I was especially bored during the extended pantie-modelling scene. Once the characters all came together I began to enjoy the book much more.
I will carry on and read the rest of the Xanth books, and still have a fondness for this series, but definitely not one of my favourites.
October 18, 2025
Even though it was very purposeful there was almost too many characters and overlapping viewpoints for me. Especially since 5/6 were women and some gave off similar vibes I had to stop multiple times to reread or rethink whose pov I was reading from. A lot got wrapped up in this volume while still leaving a character or two to have further developments. I’m curious to see where it goes from here. This set of characters hasn’t necessarily been my favorite so I’m interested to see what happens next.
July 11, 2023
One of the better books in the series. Still it features "traveling against problems" as most of the stories do. We learn a lot more about the "Adult Conspiracy" in this one.
The main problem is to get a Gwenny Goblin into the leadership of her tribe instead of her bratty half-brother Gobble. But there's a LOT of other sub-plots running around loose, along with the usual puns and such. Anthony presents the "pun awards" (my title) in an unusual last chapter to the book. Very inventive!
The main problem is to get a Gwenny Goblin into the leadership of her tribe instead of her bratty half-brother Gobble. But there's a LOT of other sub-plots running around loose, along with the usual puns and such. Anthony presents the "pun awards" (my title) in an unusual last chapter to the book. Very inventive!
June 26, 2025
I have read other books in the Xanth series. They were quite enjoyable. But this book was simply boring. It bored right through me!
It takes a very long time to describe the tedious and odious journey of six people to the Good Magician's Castle...
Even the trope, device, conceit, technique, method of combining the author's note, afterword and acknowledgements falls flat on its face.
It takes a very long time to describe the tedious and odious journey of six people to the Good Magician's Castle...
Even the trope, device, conceit, technique, method of combining the author's note, afterword and acknowledgements falls flat on its face.
May 11, 2020
The more I read the series the more annoyed I get with the sexist themes. In this one, the author seems to talk down the reader in parts as well. So parts are amusing and the way the problems are solved are clever, if convoluted. But I find I like this author's books more.
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