Xone of Contention: A Xanth Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

This novel has some great premises, e.g. that there is something about Xanth's magic that prevents married couples from falling out of love and that, in Xanth, women's panties have a mysterious magic.

I would have given it five stars, but there were some very heavy pun clusters that dragged it down. If you don't know Xanth, you should understand that the magic of Xanth is largely based on puns. I'm not the world's biggest pun fan, but still some the punning is a lot of fun. In this book, though, there were sections where you just hit one pun after another and it was pretty rough going. I like it better when there is just a light sprinkling of puns.

Another slight problem is name dropping of familiar characters from earlier books. There have been enough books, now, that it's really hard to keep track of all the characters. Maybe there should be a little chart in each book, tracing the royal family lines, at least, or which characters were introduced in which books.

A good thing about Xanth novels is that each character is presented with a challenge that is suitable for that character's level of accomplishment. The characters have to struggle to win, but the struggle is appropriate to them and makes them grow.

I am not sure I like the Nimby character as much as some of the previous ones. He's just too powerful. It kind of tips the balance toward him too much. P. Anthony does a good job of putting him in situations where he is nevertheless challenged, despite his seemingly overwhelming power. Still, there is something a bit too close to God about Nimby that makes me uncomfortable.

"Xone of Contention" is imbued with Piers Anthony's characteristic sense of humour (some readers may find this a little painful!), but isn't quite as jam-packed with excruciating puns as usual. I always feel that reading one of Anthony's novels gives me a peek into what is occurring in the author's life at the time- for example, Ed's struggles with "Macrohard" on his computer obviously mirror real-life problems! Some of the jokes do get tired after several repetitions; the Adult Conspiracy, for example, has been around for far too long! About time, then, that it got bent (if not broken)- as occurs during the course of the book.

As always in Xanth, there are happy endings for everyone. This fairytale magic may grate with some readers, but I find it rather comforting. Xanth is the land of childhood, where pies grow on trees and nobody ever dies (they just retire gracefully, or drink youth elixir). When the reality of life is just too depressing, you can always retreat to the bookshelf. It's pure escapism, so enjoy it!