A Spell for Chameleon (Magic of Xanth)

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So, the first half of the book is undoubtedly silly. So what? In fact, it’s more than silly, it’s often frankly bizarre and most likely best enjoyed with your hallucinogen of choice close at hand. He said he'd push her off the brink if she made a sound," the bailiff replied. "She was frozen in terror. Right girls?" Yet as it shifted into the form of a basilisk it glared at him with such ferocity that Bink’s mirth abated. If its malice could strike him, he would be horribly dead. The series is apowerful testament to the effect readers can have on an author: given the choice between the ambitious but flawed Macroscope and the considerably less ambitious fluff of Xanth 2, readers voted overwhelmingly for Xanth. The result is no more works like Macroscope and no fewer than 40 Xanth volumes, with at least three moretocome. Xanth is rich in magic and rich in magical creatures, plant and animal, happy to chow down on acareless, powerless human. Bink’s quest becomes that much more difficult when he encounters the beautiful but extraordinarily stupid Wynne, her propensity for wandering into danger compensated for only by her amazingtits.

Chameleon’s curse is typical of how women are treated in the book. Agency makes women annoying or dangerous. The main reason for tolerating them is the chance to have sex with them (although that too can bring complications; Wynne, for example, doesn’t know enough to say no — but she also does not know enough to avoid dragging paramours into life and death situations) but most of them demand asteep price for their services. Or worse, accuse someone of rape on the specious grounds they did not want to be overpowered and forced tohavesex. And I don't deny that some of his conclusions, even though they are wrapped up inside a lighthearted fantasy story, are a bit chauvinistic, but that isn't the point. All women are the same inside. They differ only in appearance and talent. They all use men.” —Spoken by Iris the stereotypically conniving sorceress, to which Bink replies, “Maybe so. I’m sure you know more about that sort of thing than I do.” The other thing I couldn't get into is the "everybody has one magic skill and that's it" thing - and many of the skills were unexceptional or useless at best. It seems so limiting, that I also found it annoying. the Sorceress Iris seemed beautiful, but I met others who weren't. Once they get old or married, they--" [...:]"'Women don't have to get ugly when they marry,' Fanchon said. [...:] 'Some start out that way.'" Got that? Married = ugly (applies to women only, of course). Wow.

The characters: the juxtaposition between the selfish, profiteering, crotchety, but ultimately harmless (and thus "good") Good Magician Humphrey and the frequently noble, heroic, and powerful (and thus "evil") Evil Magician Trent was amusing because the reality of the two Magicians' natures are at odds with the public's perception of the two figures. Sure, the Evil Magician Trent is a criminal who has abused his magical talent in the pursuit of power, but is he really so bad when compared with the Good Magician Humphrey who casually demands a year's worth of hard labor from every person who comes to him seeking knowledge? The evolution that takes place in the character of the Evil Magician Trent is a treat to behold. Bink stared down at his hands, pondering. His right hand was normal, but he had lost the middle finger of his left hand in a childhood accident. It had not even been the result of inimical magic; he had been playing with a cleaver, holding down a stalk of coilgrass while he chopped, pretending it was the tail of a dragon. After all, a boy could not start to practice too early for the serious side of life. The grass had twitched out of his grip as he swung, and he had grabbed for it, and the cleaver had come down hard on his extended finger.

Chameleon thus embodies the nonsensical principle (typical of all Anthony's work that I have read) that a woman cannot be both attractive and intelligent. At that point, there's just nothing left to say. I finished the damn book... and I doubt I'll read anything else by Anthony in the near future. Usually I love ripping apart the books I hate. But no, I've been avoiding writing this review. Why? This is the most sexist fantasy book I've ever read. That's saying something. Merely thinking about this book makes my skin crawl. Below the cut, you'll hear more, there will be spoilers, there will be a lot of gross talk about rape culture, and a shitton of sexism will be unveiled. I should note, that I stopped reading this series after the fifteenth book (it is now up to 40 volumes) so it is quite possible that the later books improve and I just do not know it. In any case the first three stories are pretty good even with their flat characters after that you will need a stronger stomach for puns than I have (and that is really saying something!) He remembered the wild oats he had planted as an adolescent. Sea oats were restless, but their cousins the wild oats were hyperactive. They had fought him savagely, their stems slashing across his wrists as he tried to harvest a ripe ear.And for young guys to consider the themes here, even if they end up agreeing with som eof the author's rather wayward thinking, is a much healthier thing (at least they have the opportunity to disagree with him) than a young woman reading a sad 'one day my prince will come' piece of pseudo-erotica. Despite the lightheartedness of the story there is a perilous undertone. Xanth is a magical place, but it can be pretty dangerous too, since it is extremely unpredictable. It’s a place where walking off into the woods at night is almost sure to get you killed, and the method of demise can be as inane as “death by peacefulness” (which essentially boils down to losing all interest in living). I think someone has serious issues with women. I just don't understand how anyone can say Piers Anthony himself isn't sexist. Say all you want that he just isn't good at writing women (although that on its own is a sign...); the problem here is that he doesn't think women are people. He clearly has a fixation with rape and possession that's not healthy. Only a phenomenal series of coincidences had saved his skin. He knew that coincidence was an untrustworthy ally.

Omigod, a truer word was never spoken. Given the current right-wing discussion of Critical Race Theory it seems particularly appropriate to take Anthony’s comment to heart and to remember that history, a living thing, is always written from the unique perspective of the people that are actually doing the writing. But I digress. Speaking of basilisks: Bestiality is a central plot point of Spell. Bink discovers that the underpopulation of Xanth is a result of all the human-on-monster sex that goes down across the land thanks to a bit of magical, naturally occurring aphrodisiac. But Bink doesn’t judge. He can’t. Earlier in the book, under the thrall of that aphrodisiac, he gets a hard-on for a harpy. But hey, he doesn’t judge. Bink avoids death and very sexy enticement but the result of his audience with Humfrey is equivocal. Humfrey can tell that Bink has atalent and apowerful one at that. What Humfrey cannot work out is the nature of the talent. Whatever the talent is, its nature makes Bink resistant to scryingspells. That was the point at which I messaged my friend, saying "Uh, when was the last time you read this book?"I first read this book when I was in college, I think. I had read several other series by Piers Anthony which all started out well enough but somehow got needlessly bogged down in mathematical games or sophomore philosophy, none of which did anything for the later stories. Also the actions and motives of the characters in his sequels seemed to get more complex, while the characters themselves remained undeveloped. So I will admit starting this book with some hesitation. Humfrey knows a hundred spells. Maybe one of them—I’m sure he could find out what your talent is. Then everything would be all right.” Everything's couched in such artless language, too, which just makes it worse. It's all "needs" "urges" "absolutely beautiful" "me tarzan, you jane." Even born mouth-breathers can write well (see: Lawrence Durrell, Henry Miller), so what gives? Monsters are not the most unsettling thing Bink gets aroused by in Spell. During his first meeting with Iris, the sorceress changes her appearance numerous times in an attempt to seduce Bink. First she appears as an older woman, then as a voluptuous woman, then as a 14-year-old girl: “very slender, lineless, and innocent.” Bink becomes overwhelmed by the smorgasbord of female flesh laid out before him; it’s a shame Xanth’s pervasive magic doesn’t include Internet porn. Then this happens: The fact that he would attempt to deal with these issues in this setting (and not in a sneaky, subtle way but right out in the open) is something to be lauded. I'm not saying he's right, although he certainly isn't the only guy to think women who are both very beautiful and intelligent generally aren't very nice people. What I'm saying is Fantasy as a genre is often reduced to wish fulfillment, and that is by far the more juvenile approach.