It's so odd that this conversation is happening right now. This week, for no reason other than they were on ND's bookshelf and I needed some bedtime brain candy, I picked up one of the later Xanth books and read it. Then I read its sequel the next night.
I totally agree that Anthony is an ass (from what I can glean from the Author's Notes) and that the books have all kinds of flaws, but they've been fun to reread nonetheless.
Then the enjoyment curve took a swift dive.
This is pretty much what I think of all Anthony's series.
A Spell For Chameleon
was good, but each book after got progressively worse. Ditto
On a Pale Horse
and those. Same for that Tarot series. I don't think it was part of a series, but the Author's Note in Steppe was so annoying it cancelled out the enjoyment I got from the book. And
But What of Earth?
was practically all Author's Note, and that sucked about as much as you would think.
If you want classic Piers Prickiness, read the authors note where he replies to a young fan who suggests that a character could have refused to carry a promise made by his parents on his behalf for him to commit genocide.
PA replied that to suggest such a thing shows that the young fan has no sense of honor. WTF? Umm I could explain the reasoning in more detail, but why would you want me to?
Did you guys know that Piers Anthony writes porn? They're published by Mundania. I have not read any.
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Didn't Anthony write some uber-squicky story about women being used as a source of milk?
I wouldn't put it past him. He wrote one called "The Magic Fart".
[link]
Didn't Anthony write some uber-squicky story about women being used as a source of milk?
Yeah - as propaganda for vegetarianism.
I am afeared of magical smegma. I had to stop reading the review. those
Bio of a Space Tyrant
books were porny enough already.