Ironically, a common criticism of his work is that there is too much comedy in it, along with some inherent sexism. Other positive reviews acknowledge Anthony’s famous sense of humor and how he can weave it between all the drama. An essential reason this is considered one of the best Piers Anthony book series is for the ideas and the structure these novels are overflowing with a multitude of ideas. In this enchanted land magic rules and every citizen has a special spell only they can cast, except Bink, who must find his magic powers or be exiled. The chief protagonist, Bink is portrayed as a regular guy, but we learn he’s not at all average. The world of Xanth is clearly shaped to reference Florida, taken into a fantastical realm.

Other titles include The Source of Magic, Centaur Aisle, Man from Mundania, and Zombie Lover. However, its success precipitated the inspiration to build an entire world that became the Xanth series or The Magic of Xanth, and there are over forty books to date. Interestingly enough Anthony saw this a singleton, so only researched and wrote with that in mind. The novel, Piers Anthony wrote that launched his career, was called A Spell For Chameleon published in 1977.

Learn more about his book in our standalone articles. One of Anthony’s quirky kudos is the fact that he has written a book with titles taking every letter of the alphabet starting at Anthonology and ending with Zombie Lover.

Piers anthony split infinity series