Faun & Games

The Xanth books by Piers Anthony were one of the first SciFi/Fantasy series I ever read. I love puns so I have always enjoyed them. Upon re-reading them I can see that they have some weaknesses but overall they stand the test of time. They are a fun and fast read that keeps me amused without any deep thinking required.

Young Faun Forrest discovers his friend has gone missing into the Void, and the tree he is bound to will wither and die. Faun wishes to save his friend's tree, but in doing so, he risks his own tree. After visiting the Good Magician, Forrest Faun is sent with Mare Imbri to Ptero to find a faun for the tree. His journey later takes him from Ptero to smaller moons that orbit that specific world's Ida.

I feel I must qualify this by saying perhaps I have read too many in the series and have to expect a certain level of writing. Though the book is pretty much like the rest of the series: main character has a problem, goes to good magician, then ends up in a full fledged adventure. The trips to ida's moon is enough to make anyone loose track of where the characters were, where they came from, and what they were trying to accomplish. I do not recommend this book.

The miraculous and mirth-filled land of Xanth holds many marvels. But now an extraordinary new aspect of this remarkable realm unfolds as young Forrest Faun’s quest takes him to a tiny planet hidden in the heart of Xanth. There, with a delightful “day mare” as his constant companion, Forrest will find more marvels then he ever dreamed of.

#21-- if the stories were as simple as the following description you probably would not read these books, luckily they're not!!

"A young faun discovers his friend has gone missing into the Void and thus, the tree that nymph is bound to will wither and die. The hero wishes to save his friend's tree but in doing so, he risks his own tree"

Fantasy