Castle Roogna

Dor, Bink and Chameleon's son, is now age twelve and realizes that he's attracted to his nurse Millie the (former) ghost. She's unhappy (and a few centuries too old for Dor, but her talent is sex appeal so there you go), and Dor is a restless almost-teenager. King Trent suggests that what Dor needs is a quest, so Dor and Grundy the (former) Golem go off to Good Magician Humphrey's castle for their directions.

When I first read this series as a teen, what really stood out for me was the zany humor and constant punning. This time, I "got" the jokes a bit more, both puns like "Murphy's Law" and the sexual humor (approx. PG13, I'd say). A fun romp, as always.

I first read this when I was in high school and I somehow only retained the funny puns and unique world building and forgot the heaps of extraordinary sexism and sexual creepiness these books contained. I need to cleanse my mind with Discworld.

Piers Anthony builds upon the Xanth mythos of the first two novels for a more-enjoyable third. This book still suffers from some of the inherent problems that exist in Piers Anthony novels, but I'd at least recommend this one to someone trying to get into the Xanth series.

The third installment in Piers Anthony’s Xanth series. We meet the son of the previous main characters, Bink and Chameleon. Dor is a young boy of twelve who has magic and is being raised to someday be King. Most heroes of Xanth have to go on quests and Dor must as well. With his “babysitter”, an ex gargoyle, and a spell from the wizard Humphreys he goes back hundreds of years in time to find a cure for a girl and her zombie.

I find over the years I like series that are family sagas. Probably why I like genealogy as well. I really like the Xanth books for the magic and the humor. I had started this book 2 other times and then lost the book because we moved. The start of the story never left my mind which is rare for me to remember show more anything I have read for very long. I was happy to finally get to finish and find out how Dor’s first quest went.

Dor's quest seems fairly hard for a 12-year-old but he finds friends and helpers. One friend in a spider he calls Jumper. I mention this because if you are not a friend of spiders you may not like this story as he is in the book for most of it. I don’t love spiders and I don’t hate them either. Jumper was much nicer than Aragog from the Harry Potter series.

I can’t wait to read the next book, Centaur Aisle. I have also read other series from Piers Anthony and I do recommend his books for fantasy lovers. show less

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.

I needed something light & fast & easy after my last one so I picked this. #3 of Xanth series - Included: Liberal sprinklings of puns, heavy sprinklings of internal musings (pretty advanced ones for a 12 yr. old), life lessons, action & adventure, time travel, history, and a really big spider named Jumper. I liked him better than the main character Dor. I am remembering why I stopped reading this series - each book seems so uneven. I like parts but overall? I can do without reading it. Good thing this was a free copy from Bookmooch.

Young Magician Dor, on a quest, enters a magic tapestry into Xanth's past to find an elixir to restore Millie the Ghost's zombie lover, Jonathan, to life, while proving his worthiness to rule Xanth and learning valuable life lessons about growing up. Trapped in a barbarian's body, Dor teams up with a giant spider, Jumper, and the younger Millie in a perilous ancient Xanth, facing dangers and misunderstandings to complete his mission and help King Roogna build his castle.