Xanth

Hey, /book/, what do you think of Piers Anthony/the Xanth series? I've gotten hooked, originally started reading some of the more recent stuff out of order, then eventually read Spell for Chameleon (MUCH better than the stuff from this decade), and have been reading up since (currently on Heaven Cent.) Is it generally liked, generally hated, generally unknown, or what?

I only read the Spell for Chameleon and its not bad but haven't been able to read anymore.

The series really spreads out from that first book. The second book, The Source of Magic, is a typical sequel, starring the same character as the first and taking place a year later. But then the third book is 12 years later and stars his son. And then for a while every book is "3-5 years later", so eventually Bink's son grows up and we start seeing his children starring in the books and people of that same generation. And then Piers started switching from taking the occasional suggestion from a reader for a pun and making the books nothing but based on reader suggestions (which I think is one of the reasons the later books aren't as good). Now we're at the point where every book happens exactly a year after the first, so the timeline is going a lot slower, but we're still at the point where the current book in the series takes place about 65-70 years after A Spell for Chameleon, and the characters that are most often featured in those books are Bink's Great Grand-daughters. I just really love how fleshed out the world is and how much of a large timeline and whole universe it has. Although, this is mostly because the series has been churning a book out every year straight since 1977. But still, the series is just epic to me, while at the same time decidedly silly and idealistic.

Really? Nobody else reads this series?

I read a lot of it.  It's not very good, pretty juvenile.