Magic Realms |
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Xanth books 1. A Spell for Chameleon Xanth was the enchanted land where magic ruled where every citizen had a special spell only he could cast. It was a land of centaurs and dragons and basilisks. For Bink of North Village, however, Xanth was no fairy tale. He alone had no magic. And unless he got some and fast! he would be exiled. Forever! But the Good Magician Humfrey was convinced that Bink did indeed have magic. In fact, both Beauregard the genie and the magic wall chart insisted that Bink had Magic. Magic as powerful as any possessed by the King or by Good Magician Humfrey or even by the Evil Magician Trent. Be that as it may, no one could fathom the nature of Bink's very special magic. Bink was in despair. This was even worse than having no magic at all... and he would still be exiled! 2. The Source of Magic King Trent decides that what Bink needs is a quest to keep him busy. He orders Bink to find the source of Xanth's magic. Bink sets off with Crombie the soldier (transformed into a griffin), Chester Centaur (ornery like the rest of his breed but loyal indeed) and Grundy the golem on a perilous journey to Good Magician Humfrey's castle. Once there they have to get past the Castle's defenses and get the Magician's advice for which most folks end up paying with a year's service! Humfrey joins them and they embark upon a series of mind-boggling, side splitting escapades that'll have you glued to the book as you urge Bink on in his mission to find the source of Xanth's magic in a quest that finds even his prodigious talent boggled by the power at the core of Xanth - a mysterious entity who takes over Humfrey and Crombie so that Bink must fight his own friends or die! 3. Castle Roogna This book is about Dor, son of Bink and heir apparent to the throne due to his talent as a full magician (Dor can talk to anything that's dead as a doornail - anything inanimate in fact). People tend to avoid Dor as it's all too easy for him to dig up their secrets by talking to the floor or the walls. And to make matters worse his nanny happens to be Millie the Maid whose magic is sex appeal. Dor is rapidly starting to recognize Millie's charms and this leads to embarrassing situations. Dor's emerging hormones keep mucking up his relations with Irene, the green-haired, green thumbed daughter of King Trent and Queen Iris. The King sends Dor on a quest to help Millie by restoring her friend, the Zombie Jonathan, back to life. It's not gonna be easy. Dor has to enter a 800 year old tapestry and take over the body of a muscular barbarian from Mundania--all this with the help of the Good Magician Humfrey's magic. On the way he befriends a giant spider named Jumper who teaches Dor a lot about growing up. Dor has to reach Castle Roogna and aid King Roogna in its completion. A task made excruciatingly difficult by the fact that Murphy the magician, the King's greatest rival and the master of chaos, is very much around the castle. To put the fat in the fire Dor finds himself caught between warring Harpies and Goblins. And there's still his original mission of persuading the reclusive Zombie master to give him the elixir that will restore Jonathan. 4. Centaur Aisle Dor's got heaps of problems. To start with he's got to write an essay which isn't so bad except that he's real lousy at spelling. Iris, King Trent's precocious daughter, helps him trap a spelling bee (a bee that actually spells out words) to complete his homework. But this ends in disaster as Dor ends up using all the wrong words anyway. To complicate matters Dor ends up fighting Iris in the moat. Did I just say fighting? Make that making love to. So when Dor's tutor, Cherie Centaur, turns up at the scene, Dor is very sure that his goose is really going to get cooked this time! And when King Trent calls for him shortly thereafter Dor fears the worst. But the king's got other fish to fry. He is going on a trade mission to magic-less Mundania's medieval age with the Queen for company. Dor is to rule in his absence, something he's rather reluctant to do. The King leaves and Dor counts the days to his return. Except that King Trent doesn't come back. And now Dor's got to go and rescue him. Before which he's got to find the King. All he's got is a vision with Trent telling him to find the magic Centaur Aisle. Dor seeks Good Magician Humfrey's advice and learns of a new Magician on Centaur Isle. Now this also turns out to be the spot to which Crombie the palace guard points out as the source of help for finding the king (Crombie's magic is pointing to the right spot where the answer to any question may be found). So Dor sets off with Iris and his buddies Smash the Ogre, Grundy Golem and Chet the Centaur on a perilous journey to find the mysterious magician on Centaur Isle who is King Trent's only hope of rescue! 5. Ogre, Ogre Tandy's got problems. She's the daughter of Jewel the Nymph and Crombie the soldier who guards Palace Roogna. Being half-Nymph and half-human is bad enough. But now she's being harassed by the demon Fiant - a bad guy if there ever was one. Then she meets up with Smash the Ogre who proves that appearances can be deceptive and even ogres can have hearts. 6. Night Mare The Nextwave of
barbarian warriors was invading Xanth from the north,
ravaging and destroying as they advanced. But Mare
Imbrium had her own problems. Ever since she had gained
the half soul, the might mare had begun to mishandle her
job of delivering bad dreams. Now the Night
Stallion dismissed her, exiling her to the day world with
a message for King Trent: "Beware the
Horseman!" She had no idea of what that meant. But
that was the way with prophetic warnings, nobody could
understand them until it was too late. Then she met the
Horseman. And she discovered that one who would ride a
night mare was a master of bit and spur, and not a man to
surrender her. For the might mare, it began to be all a
horrible nightmare! There was trouble in Xanth again, all
kinds of trouble, in fact. The Gap Dragon had escaped
form the Gap and was ravaging across the land. The forget
spell that had covered the Gap was breaking up into small
forget whorls that wandered about giving amnesia to all
they touched. Good Magician Humfrey might have had the
Answer, but he had overdosed on water form the Fountain
of Youth and was only a helpless baby. And Ivy, three
year old daughter of King Dor and Queen Irene, was lost
in the jungles south of the Gap. While Irene sought her
without much hope, Ivy was wandering further into danger,
her memories ereased by a passing forget whorl. Her path
was leading her directly for where the Gop Dragon was
seeking dinner. Jordan was a ghost in Castle Roogna now, spending his time with little five year old Ivy and watching his own past unfold on the magic tapestry. But once he had been a valorous knight, riding his ghost horse Pook on a fabulous and dangerous mission. He had been betrayed with a cruel lie by two wily magicians and the woman he loved. He had been killed at the end, and his bones had been scattered. Now he could not even remember where they had been buried. That was important, because Jordan's talent had been to recover form almost any injury, provided enough of his body could be assembled to grow together again. But all that had been four hundred years before. Nobody who was alive today knew or cared where his bones might be. It was hardly the proper ending for a gallant adventure! 9. Golem in the Gears Grundy Golem was the size of an inconsequent, and nobody had any respect for him including Grundy! To prove himself, he volunteered to ride the Monster Under the Bed to the Ivory Tower to find little Ivy's long lost dragon, Stanley Steamer. After many adventures, he reached the Tower, to learn that the evil Sea Hag kept lovely Rapunzel imprisoned there, her body destined to be used to maintain the witch's immortality. Grundy managed to free the damsel, and they fled together. As the descendant of Jordan the Barbarian and Bluebell Elf, Rapunzel could become any size, even that of any Golem's dream girl. But Grundy knew she was surely fated for someone better than he. Besides, the Sea Hag still Pursued them to destroy hem and get her back. And he still hadn't found Stanley Steamer. 10. Vale of the Vole 11. Heaven Cent 12. Man From Mundania 13. Isle of View 14. Question Quest Being grown up is a drag... or so
thinks Lacuna, one of the mischievous Castle Zombie
twins. So she makes the Good Magician Grey an offer he
can't refuse. Thirsty for a taste of the Elixir of Youth,
she'll help him outwit the evil Com-Pewter if he'll send
her to Hell (in a hand basket, no less) to find Humfrey,
the missing sorcerer. And while there, she'll learn the
True History of Xanth (simplified) and help rescue a
blushing Rose form the demon X(A/N)th ... with the help
of a gorgon or two. In fact, Gwenny Goblin, Che Centaur and
Jenny Elf are just about the only creatures on Xanth who
have been spared the sight of Mela Merwoman's
undergarments Preoccupied as they are with helping Gwenny
beat out her awful half brother Gobbel for chiefship of
the goblin hored. But first they must master space and
thyme... and find the fabulous egg that sits between the
Roc and the hard place. While Mela who would gladly
relinquish her oft viewed undies for a new husband joins
the Adult Conspiracy... and quickly discovers the power
of a perfect pair of panties! 17. Harpy Thyme 18. Geis of the Gargoyle Since Xanth began, the gargoyles of
that magical place have been under a magical compulsion
to protect the purity of the Swan Knee River which flows
into Xanth form Dreary Mundania. But recently the
pollution form the outside world has grown ever greater,
and young Gary Gar, latest in a long line of gargoyle
guardians, is finding it ever more difficult to fulfill
his responsibilities. So Gary does what any sensible
Xanth resident with a dire dilemma would do. He goes to
see the Good Magician Humfrey, who sends him on a
peculiar quest to transform himself into human shape,
tutor a precocious child with more than there share of
wild magical talents, and find a philter which can
restore the river to its previous pristine state. Seeking a solution to a perplexing
personal problem, the delectable Demoness Metria asks for
help form the wise Magician Humfrey. But before he will
help her, she must perform a perilous mission: Rove the
length and breadth of Xanth in search of a suitable jury
for the trial of Roxanne Roc a notably noble and virtuous
bird charged with a most improbable offense. A fickle flux in the fabric of space
has allowed a horrendous hurricane to blast into Xanth,
stirring up mischief and madness wherever she goes.
Trapped in a preposterous form by a cosmic wager, the
Demon X(A/N)th must join forces with a vexatious vixen
named Chlorine to save xanth from this terrifying and
tempestuous threat. Their companions on this haphazard
quest are a hapless human family, Jim and Karen Baldwin,
and their two teenage sons, David and Sean gusted into
Xanth from the mundane world beyond. Together they
encounter a host of turbulent misadventures as they
struggle to keep Xanth from being blown off the map
forever. |
