Showing results by author "Piers Anthony" in All Categories

Piers Anthony delivers another tale set in the best-selling world of Xanth, filled with magic, surprises, adventure, and a few puns. Here's what the author has to say about his new book: "Five Portraits is a kind of sequel to Board Stiff in that it picks up where the other leaves off, with the same characters. Apart from that, it's one of my favorites within the series.

The robotic Mach and the human Bane are the only contact between the technological world of Photon and the fantastical world of Phaze. So the Adverse Adepts devise a scheme to control the duo by kidnapping their lovers.

In Xanth, everyone has a talent. But that doesn't mean everyone loves his talent, and no one understands that better than Hapless. Endowed with the ability to conjure any instrument he wants, Hapless could be an extraordinary musician if only he could play a tune that didn't fall ear-piercingly flat. His one desire is to find an instrument he can play. When the Good Magician hears about Hapless's desperate desire, he sends the young man on a quest to find the elusive Isis Orb, a magical talisman that could fulfill his wish.

The merged worlds of Phaze and Proton face a new threat from an invading force - leaving the fate of the two planets in the hands of Nepe and Flach, two children possessing magical powers.

Two worlds - the scientific Proton, and the magical Phaze - exist side-by-side. Now, Mach has crossed from Proton to Phaze, switching places with his counterpart, Bane. And both must learn to survive in environments alien to their own nature.

In a tiny village, just off the universe-spanning trail of the Amoeba, young, telepathic were-creatures are schooled in the mystery and wonder of the human body—its practicalities as well as its pleasures. Eager to discover their alternate selves, they marvel at the possibilities. But when precocious were Wetzel, an infinitely curious and adventurous teenage boy—and unicorn—is enlisted into sexual service, his life is endangered by his own horn, a valued commodity. Villagers would kill for it, so Wetzel has little choice but to flee and find his destiny on the trail.

In Kirlian Quest the galaxies are united in an alliance of peace. But Hweeh of Weew, the Milky Way's leading research astronomer, observes that Amoeba--just beyond the galaxies' common frontier--is expanding ominously in the direction of the twin galaxies. Herald the Healer is called in.

Before Tod Timmins meets the naked waif, the vampire, the wizard, and the others, he’s just a dull man engaged in manual labor. The job, good for the body but a waste for the mind, is the whole of Tod’s life—and it isn’t for him. So when a trail appears out of the blue, gambling on fate, he follows it through the city, across the country, and into a realm of adventure and uncertainty. Navigating the path, Tod encounters a mix of creatures—human, nonhuman, and others, something else altogether. They come from alternate realities.

The classy dame who walks into fledgling private eye Philemon's office is like Venus in motion and is most definitely a Witch. But dealing with Supernaturals - or "Supes" for short - is Phil's beat, since he himself is a shape-changing Were. And this sexy sorceress is offering him the "friendship of her thighs" to investigate a murder, so how can he possibly refuse? But the Warlock slaying in question turns out to be only the first in a series of homicides, because someone - or something - is picking off Supes like insects.

Saved from death at the hands of the Emperor Ddwng, would-be lovers Colene and Darius and their companions - Provos, a woman who remembers only the future, and Sequiro, a telepathic horse - stumble into yet another dangerous reality where despots rule with a cruel and heavy hand. Held captive, the friends must combine their unusual talents in a daring escape that leads them on adventure after adventure with the most intriguing characters.

The Cluster series of adventures is set in a future focused on colonization of distant planets, where every living thing has a Kirlian aura that can be measured. Through transfer, a refinement of mattermission technology, the minds and personalities of individuals with high auras can be sent to animate bodies that are physically distant. The first three novels in the sequence, Cluster, Chaining the Lady, and Kirlian Quest form a linked trilogy.

At once grand in scope and intimate in human detail, Isle of Woman tells the story of a man and a woman born at the dawn of human history, separated by fate, yet united by an unquenchable passion that even time could not conquer: Blaze, the fire worker who raised his kind of savagery, and Ember, the beautiful green-eyed woman who forever haunted his dreams.

Anthony and Margroff continue the saga of young Kelvin of Rud, a child of prophecy, whose adventures and destiny should keep listeners locked in from start to finish.

Life as the king of Agrabah is never boring, especially when the dashing Sinbad the Sailor requests a ship to save his kidnapped wife. Aladdin, never one to run from danger, agrees to help and accompanies Sinbad as they set sail to accumulate enough treasure to ransom the sailor's wife. Soon they run afoul of zombies, sirens, demons, nymphs, evil djinns, and a dastardly plot to take over his kingdom.

This is the sixth volume of stories in this series. This time there is one about the idealized love of a man for a mute wild girl, and another about an older woman who takes a hot young lover. There is one brief essay relating to my own relationship to writing. There are two story sets, one with an older man and young woman, the other relating to a fearsome god. The shortest story is only 500 words; the longest is 13,600 words. Some are erotic as hell, others not. In short, there should be something here to intrigue or offend any taste.

Viscous Circle is a story about a strange and inhuman race of beings and an experimental attempt to transfer into creatures that seem only slightly sapient. They are ultimate pacifists who take the form of magnetic disks that float through space and simply demagnetize and destroy themselves when faced with unpleasant thoughts.

When Kelvin was a child, his mother read to him from the Book of Prophecy and he asked what the poem meant. Now he was about to learn. The Kingdom of Rud languishes under the heel of a usurper; an evil sorcerer has taken the throne in the name of his wicked daughter. Even deep in the forest, away from all power, the people tremble and await the day of prophecy's fulfillment. It cannot come too soon: Charlain and her children are soon to lose their home to the tax collector. But Kelvin and Jon have other plans. 

Sixteen-year-old Dug has yet to be impressed by a computer game, but that's before he gets hooked by Companions of Xanth-and the beguilingly beautiful princess-serpent he's chosen to guide him. Nada Naga has her work cut out for her keeping Dug's eyes on the magical prize . . . and off of her human form.

Mute is science fantasy of mutation and psi: special mental powers. The protagonist, Knot, is a double mutant: He has a physical deformity, and the psi power to make others forget him. He's satisfied with his life - until the lovely Finesse walks into his life to recruit him for a dangerous galactic mission. She is aided by two small animal mutants: a telepathic weasel and a clairvoyant crab.

The New York Times bestselling author returns to his acclaimed fantasy series as an ordinary insect tasked with mapping the entirety of Xanth. Nicolas Nickelpede is an average insect in almost every way—apart from his remarkable skill of clairvoyance. When he's approached by a beautiful human...