Piers Anthony

What can I say? This was an absolutely appallingly bad book. I'm new to fantasy, and was really excited for this series. By five pages in, I was regretting that decision. By page thirty, I was openly laughing.

There's an interesting idea at play here (more interesting in 1983, I daresay, than in our world where "guy becomes Death" has been done to, well, death). But unfortunately, I'd assumed this was adult fantasy, whereas this is written like a youth book - in fact the prose reminds me specifically of the lesser "Choose Your Own Adventure" works. Zane, the central character, has the thought processes of a 13-year-old boy, and as a result, we're punished by having to endure every single mundane thought he has. (Without a trace of irony, one line of narrative voice says "This was unreal!")

It's clear that Piers Anthony has a lot of good ideas but has no way of expressing them. At one point, he describes a watch: "It was mechanical, but had a way of magic about it". Describe how Zane could sense this magic, Mr. Anthony. Or show us some glimmer or spectral presence, rather than just tell us that. This is fifth-grade writing at best. The world Zane inhabits, similarly, is not in the least appealing. Winged horses in this world? Are known as "air-horses". It's like a bad "Futurama" parody. (Note to Mr. Anthony: we didn't call aeroplanes "air-cars", nor did we call cars "metal-horses". This is not how the world works.)

Perhaps if I'd got further into the book, this would have been revealed as an elaborate literary device to show us Zane's simplistic surfer dude brain patterns, but somehow I doubt it. I'd only recommend this to fifth-graders, but even then, I'm sure they can find something better to read.… (more)

Personally I didn't mind the first book in the series.
Yes, A Spell for Chameleon was sexist, etc, but at least the characters were vaguely likable and interesting and the plot moved along reasonably well.
The Source of Magic I didn't enjoy as much. The macho attitude and 1-dimensional characters just started to get really tedious. And it had the "everything will work out in the end" feel about it regardless of any dangers and challenges found along the way.
I've managed to collect most of this series, but will probably pull the pin after the third book, Castle Roogna, unless it manages a huge turnaround and somehow renews my interest. I have plenty of other books on my shelves to get on to.… (more)