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Crossroads Adventure #8
Encyclopedia of Xanth
The reader determines the fate of Alister as he searches for the missing five-volume Encyclopedia of Xanth for the Good Magician Humfrey
224 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1987
3 people are currently reading
251 people want to read
About the author
Jody Lynn Nye
310 books288 followersJody Lynn Nye lists her main career activity as ‘spoiling cats.’ When not engaged upon this worthy occupation, she writes fantasy and science fiction books and short stories.
Before breaking away from gainful employment to write full time, Jody worked as a file clerk, book-keeper at a small publishing house, freelance journalist and photographer, accounting assistant and costume maker.
For four years, she was on the technical operations staff of a local Chicago television station, WFBN (WGBO), serving the last year as Technical Operations Manager. During her time at WFBN, she was part of the engineering team that built the station, acted as Technical Director during live sports broadcasts, and worked to produce in-house spots and public service announcements.
Over the last twenty-five or so years, Jody has taught in numerous writing workshops and participated on hundreds of panels covering the subjects of writing and being published at science-fiction conventions. She has also spoken in schools and libraries around the north and northwest suburbs. In 2007 she taught fantasy writing at Columbia College Chicago. She also runs the two-day writers workshop at DragonCon, and is a judge for the Writers of the Future contest, the largest speculative fiction contest in the world.
Jody lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, with her husband Bill Fawcett, a writer, game designer, military historian and book packager, and three feline overlords, Athena, Minx, and Marmalade.
Before breaking away from gainful employment to write full time, Jody worked as a file clerk, book-keeper at a small publishing house, freelance journalist and photographer, accounting assistant and costume maker.
For four years, she was on the technical operations staff of a local Chicago television station, WFBN (WGBO), serving the last year as Technical Operations Manager. During her time at WFBN, she was part of the engineering team that built the station, acted as Technical Director during live sports broadcasts, and worked to produce in-house spots and public service announcements.
Over the last twenty-five or so years, Jody has taught in numerous writing workshops and participated on hundreds of panels covering the subjects of writing and being published at science-fiction conventions. She has also spoken in schools and libraries around the north and northwest suburbs. In 2007 she taught fantasy writing at Columbia College Chicago. She also runs the two-day writers workshop at DragonCon, and is a judge for the Writers of the Future contest, the largest speculative fiction contest in the world.
Jody lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, with her husband Bill Fawcett, a writer, game designer, military historian and book packager, and three feline overlords, Athena, Minx, and Marmalade.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 26, 2014
This is a book for Xanth collectors and/or pick-a-path collectors. I give it two stars mainly because when you "fail", the main character is usually killed in a very graphic and violent manner. I found this particularly disturbing because the main character is only 14 years old. While the book tries to redeem these fails by use of a magic word that exiles a healed Alister to Mundania instead of having him truly dying, that was not enough to make up for the agony the poor kid goes through before he uses the magic word.
I prefer the other Xanth Crossroads, Ghost of a Chance. The "fail" on that one is that they have to return home to recover and aren't able to complete their quest. Disappointing, but not horrific like getting your throat torn out by ant lions.
I prefer the other Xanth Crossroads, Ghost of a Chance. The "fail" on that one is that they have to return home to recover and aren't able to complete their quest. Disappointing, but not horrific like getting your throat torn out by ant lions.
Displaying 1 of 1 review