Source of Magic (Xanth)

I have been reading the Xanth novels for only a short while, and though they are for young adults, I love them. There is a pun on every page and the adventure is non-stop. I was very happy to find the book at such a reasonable price.

Piers Anthony really knows his audience, doesn't he? I consider myself a fantasy fan, but it has not escaped my notice that most fantasy fans are men and boys. This book speaks directly to them most of the time, and even though I kind of liked some of the silly ideas that Anthony planted in Xanth, I got tired of the constant running description of every single female that appeared. Men would have their talents and attitudes emphasized, but women were described physically (and, usually, lusted after), and even most of their magical talents had something to do with enhancing either their appearance or their ability to ensnare men. It was kind of disturbing to read about so many female characters who existed to trick guys. Especially since the protagonist's adventure came as a relief to him because it allowed him to escape his pregnant wife for a while.

Bink, the protagonist, gets his little band and goes out to try to find out why the land of Xanth has magic. Well, apparently it comes from demons. One particular demon. The land enjoys its magic, but the demon is imprisoned there to feed it to them, and Bink thinks this is morally wrong, so he has to decide what to do about it. Other than that, not a lot happens that isn't a plot device to lead to a pun or a joke or a funny detail. I was kinda sad that I didn't like these as much as my friend who recommended them to me did.

Here is part of a vision of the Mundanian prophet Isaiah:

Then the wolf shall live with the sheep,
and the leopard lie down with the kid;
the calf and the young lion shall
grow up together;
and a little child shall lead them;
the cow and the bear shall be friends;
and their young shall lie down together.
The lion shall eat straw like cattle;
the infant shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the young child shall dance over the viper's nest.
(_New English Bible_, Isaiah, 11, 6-8)

Is Isaiah describing a peaceable kingdom to come, or is he describing Xanth? Now, it is true that Xanth tends to have dragons, manticores, and nickelpedes rather than wolves, leopards, and sheep. And it is true that many of the creatures and denizens of Xanth can be dangerous.

But evil Magician Trent becomes good King Trent. The imperious Sorceress Iris becomes good Queen Iris. Many creatures who were past enemies become present friends and allies. That is the real secret of why we love Xanth. It is not just the magic. In _The Source of Magic_ (1979), after all, the magic goes away-- at least, for a time. We love Xanth because there is a basic brotherhood of creatures. All of them-- even ugly, repulsive, or dangerous ones-- have a story. And once you know their stories, you can never really treat them as enemies again.

And what is the story in _The Source of Magic_? Well... A magical costume ball thrown by Queen Iris leads to a treasure hunt for the skeleton of Millie the Ghost. And _that_ leads to a quest for the source of all magic power in Xanth. Chameleon, who is (at present) smart, ugly, nine months pregnant, and "with a tongue as sharp as a manticora's stinger" (33), has convinced Bink that the dangers of a quest can't be much worse than life at home. So off he goes, with Chester Centaur and Soldier Crombie.

There are the usual barrage of puns: shoe-trees, a tasteful cottage cheese, a picklepuss, lady-slippers, hell's bells, and many more. Some readers find these jokes tiresome. I rather enjoy them. There are trials and tribulations, but all works out well in the end. And we are left with a world where a dragon may ally itself with a centaur, a harpy may perch beside a hippogriff, and a ghost may lie down next to a zombie.

The second book in the Xanth series, The Source of Magic, finds the hero of the first book Bink, now married to Chameleon and living in a cottage cheese rind outside Castle Roogna. Chameleon is very pregnant, stuck in her smart/ugly phase and Bink is like many almost fathers' itching to have one last go at adventure before all his youth is gone. Queen Iris decides to throw a costume party, where she herself using her talent of illusion, outfits everyone in attendance. Whoever guesses the most guests proper identity gets an awesome prize; one question from Magician Humphrey, free of the yearly charge!!!
At the party Trent confides in Bink his sorrow at not being able to properly consummate his marriage to Iris because he is still thinking of his dead wife, Bink gives him a great idea and Trent runs with it!. Crombie is complaining that his wife Sabrina is a complete ball and chain and Chester Centaur is wondering if he himself has a talent. After the contest is won, Bink is even more eager to get out into Xanth because of a temptation, I won't spoil what happened!! Trent then sends Bink out into Xanth, with his friends, to find "The Source of Magic", a rather general and difficult quest! Where will they go? Who will join them on the way? Will Crombie finally learn to appreciate women? Will Chester find his talent? Will Bink sow his wild oats enough to go home satisfied? Will they find the Source of Magic? And what will happen when they do!
This is an amazing continuation of the series, and it wont let you down in any way!

As you are probably aware, "The Source of Magic" is the second book in the Xanth series. A co-worker turned me on to the series by lending me the sixth book ("Night Mare"), which led me pick up the first 16 books through an ebay auction.
I have heard that, after a while, the Xanth books get repetitive or dull, but "The Source of Magic" is near the beginning of the series, and everything is fresh and tight. What do I mean by tight? Well, the laws of magic in Xanth are well-formed and internally consistent. Lots of fantasy movies, in particular, do not adhere to internally consistent rules, and as a result, they get annoying. A prime example is Michael Crichton's "Timeline," where he babbles on about quantum theory in an effort to demonstrate that his book is not about time travel; yet, a major plot point could only work if in fact a person traveled back in time. That's annoying.
"The Source of Magic" (and "A Spell for Chameleon," the first Xanth book) are not like that. They follow the rules, and once you understand the secret about Bink (the main character), you marvel at how well everything fits together.
Anyway, this is a classic "quest" type of story: a group of adventurers -- Bink, a human with a special magical talent; Crombie, a human soldier transformed into a griffin (part-eagle, part-lion); Humfrey, a human Magician; Grundy, a golem; and Chester, a centaur -- go on a mission to find the source of magic in the land of Xanth. Along the way, they meet a dragon, an ogre, a village of women, a siren and a gorgon (kind of like Medusa), and all sorts of other creatures. Once they find the source of magic, Bink has to make an awfully difficult ethical and moral choice.
Later Xanth books get more and more pun-filled; you see some of them here, such as the desert known as "eye scream," made from the eyes of scream birds -- not to be confused with "eye smilk." But apart from the puns, this book is often quite funny, especially since the griffin and the centaur are constantly squabbling against each other.

Having completed the quest for his magic talent (told in "A Spell for Chameleon"), Bink embarks on another adventure. His mission: to find the source of all magic in the land of Xanth. Accompanied by his friend Chester Centaur, Grundy the universal translator and the wise Good Magician Humfrey, he sets off on this ambitious quest. But what he discovers in the course of his travels could extinguish magic and change the land of Xanth forever...
"The Source of Magic" is only the second volume in the Xanth series, and many of the more extensive magical ideas in the later books are still non-existent or undeveloped. Even so, Piers Anthony succeeds in creating a convincing story. The characters are amusing, if lacking somewhat in depth- this is most definitely light fantasy- and still face some halfway serious moral dilemmas as the story proceeds.
If you have read later Xanth novels, this book is a must-read: take a look at the origins of Xanth, and marvel at its evolution since then. For new readers, this is a good place to start: the world of Xanth is a more rounded and interesting place than it was in "A Spell for Chameleon", and it continues to develop over the course of the next several books.

Life had become mundane for Bink and his friends. It has been almost a year since their adventures that led to the Evil Magician becoming the Good King Trent, Bink married Chameleon and is now expecting their first child, Chester and Cherie have their own little colt, and Crombie is in the king's service and engaged to Sabrina. However, all of them suffer from women troubles and are getting rather agitated.

As it happens, Queen Iris decides to have a masquerade ball in honor of Trent's accession to the throne one year before and you have to play by Iris's rules because, well, because she is one of the three most powerful magicians in Xanth and is the Queen besides. During the course of the ball, Bink is getting attacked by some unseen enemy. So, to protect him, and get him away from Chameleon, King Trent sends him on a new quest - find out the source of the magic of Xanth. To help him, King Trent sends along the gang including Chester the Centaur, Crombie the soldier in the guise of a Griffin, and even the magician Humfrey comes along with the demon Beauregard and Grundy as a translator.

The happy band is glad to leave the castle and their various problems behind and eagerly tackle the quest. However, things quickly turn nasty as the land of Xanth is no place for the timid. It does not help that Bink has a tendency to get into lots of trouble since he lets his conscience guide him and his honor rule him. So, the group has to deal with Gorgons, Dragons, Ogres and other wierd and wonderful creatures before they can accomplish their task.

However, there is one more factor at play: The source of magic is guarded and that guardian wants no one to find it. Not only that, when Bink and company get close, they are warned to leave as accomplishing the mission will mean the destruction of Xanth's magic. What to do?

Well, the story ends happily with Xanth's magic in place, but not before many adventures are undertaken and obstacles overcome. The source of magic is found, it tries to destroy Xanth, but eventually things are restored - almost - to the way they were. Not only that, but Bink, Chester, Crombie, and King Trent all find ways to deal with their women problems and solve them in ways that bode well for their futures.

Now, what is the next adventure that these guys will have in Xanth? How many more plays on words can Piers Anthony come up with? What will be the next creature in the wiggle, squiggle, diggle line? Inquiring minds want to know!

There's about a 100 Xanth books out there, and they don't strictly require you to start at book one and move forward (although there are advantages to that), so where to start? In my opinion, the second book is the best entry into Anthony's odd world.
The first book, A Spell For Chameleon, is a bit dry and slow. It wasn't until the second that Anthony caught his stride. Here we've got a happy medium for Xanth, fun and whimsical but not unbearably punny and ridiculous like the later novels. Adding to that is a pretty decent story, where Bink, Humphrey and others must discover the source of power that enables magic in Xanth. The source is pretty interesting, as is what Bink does when they find it. The story actually has enough meat on it to stand up next to the more standard entries in the fantasy genre.
If you're familiar with Xanth but haven't read this one, what are you waiting for? It features the rarity of Humphrey going on a long quest, and features discovering what makes Xanth what it is. A must read for Xanth fans.
If you're a fantasy fan in general, be warned: Xanth is pretty ridiculous. It doesn't take itself seriously at all. But like I said, it's quite a bit tamer in these early books than in the later ones.

I read the first few Xanth books as a teenager in the 1980's, and really enjoyed them at the time, so I decided to revisit the, recently. Clearly my perspective has changed. I was startled by the misogynistic attitudes towards females throughout. His descriptions of women's motives, thoughts and personalities were genuinely offensive, and really wrecked what could be a charming story and setting.

This was the first Xanth novel I read, back in 1980. I received it as a gift from my sister-in-law who was school librarian and getting rid of some titles in favor of newer versions.

This novel combines a healthy dose of adventure, danger, and tragedy. It is one of the most unique of the Xanth novels and perhaps a but more serious than most.

The scenes are magical and perhaps even could be considered psychedelic at times. It is the journey to the source of magic itself that gives readers a great understanding of how Xanth works and the dangers that lurk in its myriad corners and wide open spaces.

I still recommend this novel to young adults, especially boys. It is a great and fun adventure story with a healthy dose of magic. (Reversal mo above comment intentional).

Many reviewers note that the Xanth books deteriorate over time, but I can't even endorse the first two. The puns are less clever than those found in, for example, "The Phantom Tollbooth," and the light fantastic elements lack the humor of Robert Asprin's "Myth" series or the grandiosity of the Weiss-Hickman Dragonlance chronicles.

The first two books center around Bink's magic power, which is that he cannot be harmed by magic. But this intriguing notion is very difficult to translate into a compelling story, since the protective power is realized in sometimes-subtle (and always arbitrary) ways. If his power causes an evil magician to, say, slip on a banana peel at the critical time, then why wouldn't it instead prevent the mage from finding Bink in the first place?

That Bink's power manifests as what seems to be tremendously good luck is entertaining at times, but also a little hard to pin down or appreciate. It also kills lots of what would otherwise be very suspenseful encounters.

If the funny parts were funnier, or the creative bits more creative, or the writing more immersive, I would have given this a higher rating, but it's simply outclassed on all counts by others in the field.

All of that criticism aside, this book is readable, which is more than I can say for lots of fantasy books. Anthony is clearly a solid writer who knows how to bang out a cohesive story that is well-paced and digestible.

If you've exhausted your fantasy bookshelf of all of the classics, you might want to give the Xanth universe a try. But if it doesn't appeal to you by the end of the first book, move along. There's nothing to see here.

Misogynist crap. I read this as a teen (15) many years ago, and now I see why I could relate to the author so well.
He is just about wise as your standard 15 year old.
The way he depicts relationships, such Iris , who needs a wise and dominant male to control her, or Chameleon who is either smart and an ugly crone that Bink can relate to intellectually and slowly changes to a beautiful but dumb sex kitten based on where she is in menstual cycle, is just ridiculous.

This is the second book in Anthony's Xanth series. The world of Xanth is build upon puns, all of the creatures and the landscape is puns taken from real life and used literally. The tone of Xanth is fairly light-hearted, and I've always considered this to be a light fantasy series (as opposed to the more serious and emotionally darker fantasy series).
Bink found his magical talent in A Spell for Chameleon , is now married, and works as a magic researcher for King Trent. With his wife nine months pregnant and very angry, Bink is sent off on a quest to discover the source of the magic in Xanth. Bink will be accompanied by his friend, Chester the Centaur, the Good Magician Humphrey, and Grundy the Golem. Being only the second Xanth novel, this one is has a decent story and is well written. Even though I have read this before (years back), I still cared what happened to these characters. The quest for the source of magic is interesting, and the payoff when Bink finds it (as if he wouldn't) is worth the price of admission. This is an excellent Xanth novel with more drama than later books. This is one of the best in the series.

I chose this rating because, while it is amusing it has resolutions that do not really relieve the tension of the story. But with a story about magic I guess no rules must be followed. I would recommend this story for a younger reader.

An extremely readable book. Good lighthearted atmosphere. If you want to spend some time reading a nice lighthearted story, this is the book for you.
Bink is a magician, one of the most powerful beings in the world of Xanth, but his power is devious. If the range of a power is known, then someone might find ways to circumvent it. So it conceals itself from discovery and manifests only when Bink is in danger. Bink goes on a quest to discover the source of magic and enemies try to prevent him. The scrapes Bink gets into and the ways in which his power helps him without revealing itself is hilarious. Accidents happens. The accidents always favour Bink. Nice book. If you are in search for some light entertainment read this.

I think that I must have read this book at least 400 times at one point in my life. My Xanth books (particularly the early ones) have been read nearly to death and stand as a tribute to how good Mr. Anthony was at catching young minds.

As an older mind, it is only the first three of the series that really stand up well. The Source of Magic was the second book in the Xanth series and answers the question for curious readers about how Xanth came to be the way that it is.

The ideas about women in the book are so over the top that they are hardly worth getting angry about. Still, this book manages to be the most grating in that regard, so I end up liking it less than books 1 & 3.

A good read for pre-teens and young teenagers.

I enjoyed this book. Served as a great book to read while on vacation by the pool sipping a drink! Ok, so I am easily entertained, but so what! I read some of the reviews and there was a lot of griping about how women were put down but I find it interesting that the women who say that don't bring up the fact that there was equal time for men!!! I mean admit it, men so weak they can't resist the call of a siren? Get kinda tired of women crying oh woe is me! Now if any of those characters were not heterosexual men, there would have been no trouble getting past the siren! The siren would have been totally ignored by any gay man unless of course if she had a fabulous gown and matching tiara! Come on people, get a life, this is entertainment and should be appreciated for the entertainment and creativity it is! Just sit back and enjoy the ride!

If you're looking at this book, I assume you've just finished "A Spell for Chameleon" and enjoyed it. Well, this book is okay, but not really nearly as good as the first one, and why would you want to read it when there's 30 more Zanth books out there, five or six of which are actually really good?
I'd recommend "Castle Roogna," which follows Dor, Bink's son, "Ogre, Ogre" (although if you can't stand rhyming speech, run, run, run! from that one) "Night Mare," and by far the best of the Zanth Series, the cute and up lifting story, "Dragon on a Pedestal." One way or another though, you could spend you time better than reading The Source of Magic.

It's getting a tad boring in the life of Bink of North Village. The feeling of great accomplishment he gained from trying to find his talent, and ending up saving Xanth from total anarchy has decayed about as much as the zombies of castle Roogna. Bink is left wanting, by a deteriorating home life with Chameleon and a lack of action. With all of this in mind, and the return of all of his friends from around Xanth to remind him of his previous adventure, he believes that it is finally time that he take on his task given to him by King Trent at the beginning of his reign to discover the source of magic in Xanth. So with all of his friends, a centaur named Chester, a human transformed into a Griffin, Crombie, and a Gnome that goes by the name of Good Magician Humfrey by his side, he undertakes his quest which fills him with enough action and adventure for any normal person's whole lifetime, luckily Bink is not just a normal person.

This book is really amazing in the way that it is written, through the point of view of a guy, a real one, not one of those lovey dovey guys that you read about in the romance novels which makes it extremely identifiable. There are pages and pages of action in this book, and it is all so perfectly detailed so that you can actually see in you mind where the swords clash, and how the fights take place. If you enjoy fantasy, this is defenitly the book for you. I strongly recommend this book or any book by Piers Anthony in this case.

If you liked "A Spell for Chameleon", you'll also like "The Source of Magic"; I actually think that the second book is slightly better. There were several passages that caused me to laugh out loud, something that I rarely do. Anthony provides his usual feast of adventure, entertainment, and terrible puns. I'd recommend this too anybody.
One final note: it doesn't really matter what order you read the Xanth novels in, although there are a few places in "The Source of Magic" that might seem a little confusing if you haven't read "A Spell for Chameleon."

I think that I must have read this book at least 400 times at one point in my life. My Xanth books (particularly the early ones) have been read nearly to death and stand as a tribute to how good Mr. Anthony was at catching young minds.

As an older mind, it is only the first three of the series that really stand up well. The Source of Magic was the second book in the Xanth series and answers the question for curious readers about how Xanth came to be the way that it is.

The ideas about women in the book are so over the top that they are hardly worth getting angry about. Still, this book manages to be the most grating in that regard, so I end up liking it less than books 1 & 3.

A good read for pre-teens and young teenagers.

I enjoyed this book. Served as a great book to read while on vacation by the pool sipping a drink! Ok, so I am easily entertained, but so what! I read some of the reviews and there was a lot of griping about how women were put down but I find it interesting that the women who say that don't bring up the fact that there was equal time for men!!! I mean admit it, men so weak they can't resist the call of a siren? Get kinda tired of women crying oh woe is me! Now if any of those characters were not heterosexual men, there would have been no trouble getting past the siren! The siren would have been totally ignored by any gay man unless of course if she had a fabulous gown and matching tiara! Come on people, get a life, this is entertainment and should be appreciated for the entertainment and creativity it is! Just sit back and enjoy the ride!

If you're looking at this book, I assume you've just finished "A Spell for Chameleon" and enjoyed it. Well, this book is okay, but not really nearly as good as the first one, and why would you want to read it when there's 30 more Zanth books out there, five or six of which are actually really good?
I'd recommend "Castle Roogna," which follows Dor, Bink's son, "Ogre, Ogre" (although if you can't stand rhyming speech, run, run, run! from that one) "Night Mare," and by far the best of the Zanth Series, the cute and up lifting story, "Dragon on a Pedestal." One way or another though, you could spend you time better than reading The Source of Magic.

It's getting a tad boring in the life of Bink of North Village. The feeling of great accomplishment he gained from trying to find his talent, and ending up saving Xanth from total anarchy has decayed about as much as the zombies of castle Roogna. Bink is left wanting, by a deteriorating home life with Chameleon and a lack of action. With all of this in mind, and the return of all of his friends from around Xanth to remind him of his previous adventure, he believes that it is finally time that he take on his task given to him by King Trent at the beginning of his reign to discover the source of magic in Xanth. So with all of his friends, a centaur named Chester, a human transformed into a Griffin, Crombie, and a Gnome that goes by the name of Good Magician Humfrey by his side, he undertakes his quest which fills him with enough action and adventure for any normal person's whole lifetime, luckily Bink is not just a normal person.

This book is really amazing in the way that it is written, through the point of view of a guy, a real one, not one of those lovey dovey guys that you read about in the romance novels which makes it extremely identifiable. There are pages and pages of action in this book, and it is all so perfectly detailed so that you can actually see in you mind where the swords clash, and how the fights take place. If you enjoy fantasy, this is defenitly the book for you. I strongly recommend this book or any book by Piers Anthony in this case.

If you liked "A Spell for Chameleon", you'll also like "The Source of Magic"; I actually think that the second book is slightly better. There were several passages that caused me to laugh out loud, something that I rarely do. Anthony provides his usual feast of adventure, entertainment, and terrible puns. I'd recommend this too anybody.
One final note: it doesn't really matter what order you read the Xanth novels in, although there are a few places in "The Source of Magic" that might seem a little confusing if you haven't read "A Spell for Chameleon."

This was an excellent book. I feel that it may have even topped the first Xanth book. It was just AWESOME!!! I got absorbed extremely fast. This has got to be one of my favorite books ever. It may even be my favorite out of the Xanth novels. As it ended, it began with the adventures of Binks son Dor (which I also loved). I think that it would be a good book for children and even adults. I know adults that have read it, and I read it when I was in 7th grade. All got wonderful results.

I found this novel enjoyable, but I'm not sure that I can continue with the series. I feel like each book will be more of the same. Go here, run into strange creatures, escape from danger, talk about attractive or irritating females, solve problem, return home. The characters aren't very interesting, and Xanth is no more unique than it was in the previous novel. These stories would be better with a force of evil or sense of purpose. The puns are amusing at times and irritating at others. Overall, these books are decent light reading, and would serve you well for a brief escape into a different world.

The Source of Magic is a great sequel to A Spell for Chameleon. A non-stop adventure with wonder and humor. The first 4 Xanth books make great reading material for teens, and really make reading enjoyable.
After Centaur Aisle, the series degenerates. The stories and characters get poorer. Xanth loses all it's charm and cohesion after that point. The main characters are kids and kid like characters. Stick with A Spell for Chameon, The Source of Magic, Castle Roogna, and Centaur Aisle for the best of Xanth.

This book is so good it doesn't even need words to describe it. So I'll keep it short. The second book in Piers Anthony's Xanth series is a wonderful addition to the wonderful world of Xanth. Together again with such awesome characters as Chester Centaur and soldier Crombie Bink takes a journey to the heart of Xanth to get to the core of were Xanths magic comes from. Joined by a few new characters Bink's second adventure is just as exciting as his first.

I first picked up the Xanth series because so many of my middle school students were reading them. They have definate appeal for youth as the books explore the themes of personal strength, and self discovery. The story moves quickly, and the word play is fun. Parents and teachers, this series is a great way to interest young people in reading. Since it is obstensively an adult book, it is probably best for confident readers.

I'm not sure what people giving 5 stars to this book are reading but it looks like a book written by a 12-year old for 12-year olds. SPOILERS. Have you ever seen those episodes of Scooby Doo where its the same plot, same story line, same sequence of events? That's exactly what you get when you read this xanth series. Add fascination of writer with explaining women's bodies in details and open sexism and demeaning of women, add stupid plot lines that even a 5-year old will easily dismiss, add totally shallow and illogical characters added to fill up pages, add stupid confrontations with monsters trees and lakes and you have this book and others in this series. Being an avid reader, I cannot get past the second book and literally I had to force myself to finish this joke of a book.

Piers Anthony is an amazing writer whose books will always have a place on my shelf, on my mind, and in my heart. He is an intelligent and thought provoking writer that can enchant both children and adults with his stories.
This is a wonderful book, I hope you enjoy it also.

I recently started rereading the Xanth series. I started reading them when I was in High School many years ago in Florida. A lot of memories was relived. Piers Anthony has the best imagination I've seen and read. From start to finish, it was hard to put down. It makes you wish that there was really a Land of Xanth and that you had an awesome magicial talent.

I recently started rereading the Xanth series. I started reading them when I was in High School many years ago in Florida. A lot of memories was relived. Piers Anthony has the best imagination I've seen and read. From start to finish, it was hard to put down. It makes you wish that there was really a Land of Xanth and that you had an awesome magicial talent.

Imagine yourself in a world where everyone has a magic spell. Now, picture yourself as someone on a quest to find the source of the magic. Now, imagine yourself with a centaur, a griffin, a golem, and a strange wizard. This is what happens to Bink, while his wife is throwing him out. He searches through all of the world of Xanth, with the help of his friends. He runs into all sorts of dangerous traps, but his magic talent saves him. However, where he goes, even all of his magic might not be enough to save him! When I read this book, I at first was just interested in the plot. Through the plot twists, I couldn't put it down. Near the end, where there are even more surprises, I almost burned the book. However, the end more than made up for the part that made me want to scream. All in all, The Source of Magic was a very worthwhile book to read.

A light, enjoyable read. Good story. Reading the first Xanth book is really a must, but that is a great story as well. I could do without the occasional pause to drop a bunch of pins but I suppose that is part of the charm. The target audience is an adolescent male but entertaining at all ages.

This second book in the Xanth saga does not deliver like its predecessor, A Spell for Chameleon. In The Source of Magic, we join Bink and company once again for a journey to find out waht makes the land of Xanth so magical. The quest itself is very boring, drawn out, and redundant. However, the answer to Bink's quest is quite interesting, and worth the read in and of itself.

it was non stop butt kickin action from start ta finish. it simply took what small peices of xanth that "a spell for chamelion" gave us blasted them right open. this gave us a veiw of the true nature of xanth.

Find it before they kill me.

Bink is married, and with is wife up the duff is happy in his nerd job. Then bad things try and shuffle him off the mortal coil.

As such, the king sends him on a quest to find stuff out. With a detour to pick up the magician, there are monsters to be overcome, and a demon dilemma at the end.

He does it again! Bink is back, with even more adventure. A few dragons here and there, magicians, (Especially old grumpy ones who don't like to let people into their castle) centuars, you name it. But this time Bink does something nobody expects. His quest: To find the source of magic. His decision: Well, I'll leave that up to you.......

I LOVED this book. It is perhaps the greatest book I've ever read, most certainly the best Xanth book I've read (i've read all of them). I highly reccomend this book for Xanth fans, and for those of you who haven't read Xanth, read A Spell for Chameleon first!

This book is entertaining although it is dry at times, like the first half of the book. thequest took too much time to get into but when they finally did it was very interesting. i would definitely reccomend this book, but dont expect as much as A Spell for Chameleon gave.

The second installment of the Xanth series has Bink searching for the source of the magical land's magic. (A quest he is sent on primarily to give him a break from his 7-8 month pregnant wife, inconveniently in her "ugly/smart" phase.)

This story continues with the sexual themes (though not as blantant as in later books, if I remember correctly) that are geared to entice the adolescent boys who are the target audience.

**Spoiler**

On a further note, if you are someone concerned about the controversies sometimes found around the Harry Potter stories, be warned that the source of magic is, literally in this story, demonic in nature (as in coming from a demon).

I've just finished The Source of Magic by Piers Anthony, and I hope that my review can be helpful to those interested in the fantasy genre. This is part of the Xanth fantasy series, and follows the first book: A Spell for Chameleon. I very much enjoyed this first book in the series, and that experience definitely affected my decision to carry on and read the sequel.

Bink, an extremely talented magician, lives in a society where practicing magic is commonplace. He is asked by the ruler, King Trent, to locate the source of all the magic in Xanth. Having craved adventure for some time, Bink readily accepts and is escorted by Chester the Centaur and Crombie the Soldier (who is turned into a griffin by Trent so that he will be more effective and less annoying to the others). Together, they make their way through the magical but hazardous land into territory they had not before explored. It's a quest, much like an Arthurian legend, full of obstacles and lessons along the path of the hero's journey.

My favorite part was where Bink and Chester had to fight against the Good Magician Humphrey and Crombie the Soldier, after they were captured by the Brain Coral, which basically controlled their bodies and their speech. This proved to be a moral dilemma for Bink and Chester: were they going to harm their companions with whom they had journeyed across Xanth? Or were they going to try and reach in their friends' hypnosis any further and attempt to psych them out of it? As the reader, I am going to leave this to you to find out, as I have no interest in spoiling what I feel is the best part of this novel.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of mythology, craves rapid adventure, and is inspired by warriors like Bink who are respectful, thoughtful, yet fierce when challenged. I would describe this as a moderately-paced, thrilling novel that sometimes requires deep thought. Lastly, anyone who reads this book needs to be open to imagination. This will make the adventure exponentially more enjoyable.