Piers Anthony

antiloquax

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I've heard some good things about this writer (I've never read any of his books) but also some criticism (ie that he gets carried away with puns!). Can anyone recommend some good titles by him (and preferable stand-alones rather than a series).
Thanks.
:D
a
 
Ah, but Xanth is a loooong series; and yes, that's where most of the criticism about his puns comes from. In his more serious work (that I've read, anyway), this is not a problem. I'm not knowledgeable enough about Piers' rather prolific output to make many suggestions, but I'm sure someone who does know will be along shortly.
 
Xanth started well, but descended into a soap opera.

The trouble is, Anthony writes a lot, from the excellent Phaze/Proton , through the patchy Bio of a Space Tyrant, to the dreadful Battle Circle.

An author both so prolific and so varied in quality isn't really a source for recommendations.
 
Thanks for your comments.
@The_Ace - since you rate the Apprentice Adept series highly, I will look out for "Split Infinity".
:)
 
Ah, yes, but getting into the Phaze/Proton books, you should start off with the early Stile books.


There's also a fairly early series from him that I don't think many people know about-the Planet of Tarot series. It's a true trilogy, only the three books. (He admitted when he started writing, in the early Xanth series, he thought the word "trilogy" meant 3 cubed; 3x3x3.)


And dare I say, if you're really looking for a mindbuster, read the Incarnations of Immortality. It's a series of eight so far, but very loosely affiliated in that you can read each volume as a standalone and not have to ask yourself about any real storyline between each volume. You may have to ask yourself what the hell is going on in each volume, but they are each highly enjoyable.
 
The first five books a quite good. In fact I would go so far as to say the first dozen or so are well written, but as one who has read all of the Xanth novels except the last one, I wouldn't expect much more from the next twenty.
 
I really enjoyed OX, ORN, and OMNIVORE. Someone I used to work with couldn't say enough good things about MACROSCOPE. Sooner or later I intend to give that a try.
 
I would second the Incarnations of Immortality books, especially the first two (though, as I recall after many years, all were interesting)....
 
I'm a big fan of several series of Anthony's, including the Apprentice Adept series, the Incarnations of Immortality series, and a very different and interesting one, the Geodessey series. I also liked the first few of the Mode series ok, but never worked up the interest to bother with the rest. I was quite put off by the Xanth series, but I might like them better now -- I was not a fan of puns until Spider Robinson cured me. :D
 
I have read an awful lot of Piers Anthony Jacob - partly because his saleability meant I could find the books, largely because he wrote so many. In his SF he nearly always leaves holes big enough to drive a reasonable size space cruiser through; it seems that someone who is so careful with his historical research considers physics to be below consideration (examples? Take "Omnivore" where he asserts that the Manta's eyesight is sensitive enough to see molecules, so it doesn't require a sense of smell, or read "Ghost". I rest my case) and only character interactions (frequently not very believable either) are important. I know, this is what we're all being taught to believe now, but he's been doing it for decades.

He has his standard writing style, adequate if a bit dry, which he uses everywhere (after all, why change a winning formula), and remember; he was one of the first writing humorous fantasy. Previous to Xanth, fantasy tended to take itself very seriously, because that was what sold, and to a certain extent all the Pratchetts, Friesners, Gardners, Holts and so on are riding his bandwagon, even if they've added no few wheels and accoutrements themselves.

So, however negative this might seem, do try some – I'll join with the "Split Infinity" trilogy (but not the sequels) and add "Steppe" (which could have been an interesting series, save that the readers didn't follow.

His quantity is irrefutable, quality variable, but generally it's easy to get into the stories and there are always one or two details stimulating thought.
 

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