Piers Anthony Books

"For Stile, life was a matter of shuttling madly between two worlds, with the problems growing greater on each. On the science world of Proton, he was a serf, trying to prove his right to exist by competing in the Great Games. On Phaze, where only magic worked, he was the Blue Adept, trying to master the powers of sorcery. And on both worlds, someone was trying to assassinate him. "Aside from winning increasingly difficult contests with no time to prepare, all he had to do was win the love of the Lady Blue, fight a dragon, discover the ultimate weapon - and of course, seek the paranoid Adept or the all-powerful Citizen who was trying to kill him! "And now, just when things were growing impossible, he had to fight a mortal duel with the unicorn Herd Leader, against whom his magic powers were useless!"

The Man Who Would Be Satan Parry was a gifted musician and an apprentice in the arts of White Magic. But his life of sweet promise went disastrously awry following the sudden, violent death of his beloved Jolie. Led down the twisted path of wickedness and depravity by Lilah the harlot demoness, Parry thrived--first as a sorcerer, then as a monk, and finally as a feared inquisitor. But it wasn't until his mortal flame was extinguished that Parry found his true calling--as the Incarnation of Evil. And, at the gates of Hell, he prepared to wage war on the master himself--Lucifer, the dark lord - with dominion over the infernal realms the ultimate prize!

Perplexed Prince Dolph, Xanth's precocious shapeshifter, should be in love but isn't. Nonetheless, he must chose between two fiancées--Nada the uninterested and Electra the uninteresting--or all three of them will suffer the most dire consequences. Luckily a convenient catastrophe has popped up to distract Dolph form his dilemma--the foal-napping of young Che Centaur by goblins. And the only one who knows where Che is is a nice but remarkably naive elf-like girl named Jenny from the World of Two Moons. If anyone can save the missing centaur ... she sure can't. Praise for Piers Anthony "Piers Anthony is one of those authors who can perform magic with the ordinary. . . . [He] is a craftsman." --A Reader's Guide to Science Fiction "Anthony's unflagging sparkle, verve and wordplay spin everyday trials of Mundane life into storytelling gold." --Publishers Weekly

When Zane shoots Death, he has to take the job, speeding over the world riding Mortis, his pale horse/limo, measuring souls for the exact balance of Good and Evil, sending each to Heaven or Hell instead of Purgatory. The new Thanatos is superbly competent, ends pain when he ends lives. But Satan is forging a trap for Luna, the woman Death loves.

Orb plays magic in her harp, but seeks Llano, the song that controls Life. Natasha is handsome, charming, teaches her more spell tunes, but is he Satan? Her mother Niobe, Fate, warns of a prophecy she will marry Satan, and offers her the job of Nature. ~Author's Note 12-pg, bio 1-pg.

"When the man Niobe loved was shot, she learned that she had been the target, in a devious plot of the Devil's. Hoping for revenge, Niobe accepted a position as one of the three Aspects of Fate, only to find that Satan's plots were tangled into the very Tapestry of Fate. Now the Evil One was laying a trap to ruin Niobe's granddaughter Luna, who threatened his plans, and he had tricked her son into Hell. Niobe's only chance to save her son and Luna was to accept a challenge by the Prince of Deceit, a challenge to be decided in Hell and in a maze of Satan's devising!"--Page 4 of cover

Sequel to: Split Infinity, and, Blue Adept. In the final volume, Stile finds himself faced with the responsibility for saving the two worlds, Proton and Phaze, which are out of balance and heading for disaster

Like On a Pale Horse, this second, complete-in-itself novel of the Incarnations of Immortality is a richly imagined and always fascinating story. And again, Piers Anthony adds to his gripping plot a serious, though-provoking study of good and evil. When life seemed pointless to Norton, he accepted the position as the Incarnation of Time, even though it meant living backward from present to past. The other seemily all-powerful Incarnates of Immortality—Death, Fate, War, and Nature—made him welcome. Even Satan greeted him with gifts. But he soon discovered that the gifts were cunning traps. While he had been distracted, he had become enmeshed in a complex scheme of the Evil One to destroy all that was good. In the end, armed with only the Hourglass, Norton was forced to confront the immense power of Satan directly. And though Satan banished him to Hell, he was resolved to fight on.

On the technological, decadent world of Proton, someone was trying to destroy Stile, serf and master Gamesman. His only escape lay through a mysterious “curtain” revealed by a loving robot. Beyond the curtain lay Phaze—a world totally ruled by magic. There, his first encounter was with an amulet that turned into a demon determined to choke him to death. And there, he soon learned, his alternate self had already been murdered by sorcery, and he was due to be the next victim. “Know thyself!” the infallible Oracle told him. But first he must save himself as he shuttled between worlds. On Proton, his fate depended on winning the great Games. On Phaze, he could survive only by mastering magic. And if he used any magic at all, the werewolf and the unicorn who were his only friends were determined to kill him at once!

Mym, an Indian prince in a land dominated totally by rajahs, assumes the role of War and, in his new incarnation, sets out to alleviate injustice and undermine the evil power of Satan

Alp, a 9th century Turkish war-chieftain, is whisked away from his tribe and his era at the moment of his death, and finds himself in 2332. This future is ruled by humans called the Galactics who preside over a live-action game where the participants can actually die. Against his will, Alp is forced to fight once more.

Implanted with a synthetic memory, a man begins to recall long-submerged thoughts and actions, finds that he has been living a sham, and becomes the target of the evil being who rules Mars

Proton and Phaze, parallel worlds of science and magic, are ripe with the seeds of revolution. Mach, a brave and sensitive robot from Proton, and his alternate self, magical Bane from Phaze, hold the power to link the two warring systems – or destroy them entirely. Both are prepared to save their worlds. But neither Mach nor Bane had anticipated the dangers of forbidden love ... with members of the opposite realm!

Paul is a monk, which is better than a warrior on the planet Tarot, where religions are wielded like swords.

Xanth was the enchanted land where magic ruled - where every citizen had a special spell only he could cast. It was a land of centaurs and dragons and basilisks. For Bink of North Village, however, Xanth was no fairy tale. He alone had no magic. And unless he got some - and got some fast! - he would be exiled. Forever! But the Good Magician Humfrey was convinced that Bink did indeed have magic. In fact, both Beauregard the genie and the magic wall chart insisted that Bink had magic. Magic as powerful as any possessed by the King or by Good Magician Humfrey - or even by the Evil Magician Trent Be that as it may, no one could fathom the nature of Bink's very special magic. Bink was in despair. This was even worse than having no magic at all..and he would still be exiled!

This contains: Possible to Rue; The Toaster; Quinquepedalian; Encounter; Phog; The Ghost Galaxies; Within the Cloud; The Life of the Stripe; In the Jaws of Danger; Beak by Beak; Getting Through University; In the Barn; Up Schist Crick; The Whole Truth; The Bridge; On the Uses of Torture; Small Mouth, Bad Taste; Wood You; Hard Sell; Hurdle; and Gone to the Dogs.

Cyrus, a naïve young Cyborg, faces a dilemma: his father, Roland Robot, wants him to lead robots, while his mother, Hannah Barbarian, wishes for him to marry a wild-haired woman like herself. However, Cyrus secretly aspires to write and direct plays. Seeking guidance, he approaches the Good Magician Humfrey, accompanied by his sarcastic companion, Don the Mechanical Donkey. Unfortunately, Humfrey reveals that Ragna Roc, a powerful bird, is using his magic to dominate Xanth, punishing those who resist. Unable to confront Ragna directly, Humfrey devises a plan that involves Cyrus's passion for theater—he must gather a troupe to perform a captivating play that could distract Ragna. Unbeknownst to Cyrus, his striking looks attract a group of beautiful maidens, including Tess Tosterone, Dusti the Dust Devil, Xina, and Acro Nymph. Among them are disguised princesses Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm, whose combined magic might challenge Ragna. However, a spy planted by Ragna knows the troupe's secrets, including Cyrus's forbidden love for one of the princesses. Only the enigmatic child Kadence and a cryptic clue—“Two to the Fifth”—may provide the key to liberating Xanth from Ragna’s oppressive rule.

Twice before, Milky Way Galaxy has been on the verge of extinction, and twice before, a heroic defender has come forward to throw back the invaders from Andromeda Galaxy. 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. Armed only with his hyper-intense Kirlian aura, he wages an almost single-handed battle against the greatest threat ever to face the galaxies. But first he must unravel the secrets of the Ancients—astounding secrets whose import could never have been imagined . . .  For a thousand years Sphere / of Andromeda was cursed by the other spheres because a representative, Llume of /, betrayed Andromeda during the Second War of Energy. As Kirlian Quest opens, a new threat has appeared on the horizon: the Space Amoeba, a fleet of alien ships one million stron­­g, whose intentions are definitely hostile. Herald the Healer, aural (but not literal) descendant of Flint and Melody, who is a / of Andromeda, has the chance to redeem his species’ honor and save the galaxy, but in order to do so he must solve the riddle of the Space Amoeba and of the Ancients themselves.

Melody, old Mintakan musical alien, keeps Tarot cards while saving universe. First willing transfer volunteer is busty human Solarian Yael. Enemy galaxy Andromeda forces transfers, damages hosts, Officers in Milky Way spaceship fleet. Bird of Dash is her Kirlian aura equal; his planet hides secret. Like her ancestor Outworlder Flint, foes give in to aura attraction.

Beloved by millions of readers around the world, Piers Anthony's Xanth novels are among the most popular fantasy adventures ever published. Demons Don't Dream begins a thrilling new Xanth sequence, as a pair of young adventurers play for the highest stakes of all: the future of Xanth--and of Earth as well!Drawn into Xanth by a harmless-looking computer game, two young people find themselves competing for a precious prize: Dug, who is beguiled by a beautiful serpent-princess, and Kim, who discovers her favorite fantasy realm has suddenly become frighteningly real.In a desperate race against time, Dug and Kim battle their way across the wondrous, perilous land of Xanth, testing their courage against dozens of fearsome obstacles (and their wits against a host of outrageous puns!) But when treachery, danger, and deceit place Xanth itself in peril, Dug and Kim learn that some things are more important than winning or losing.A breathtaking, madcap quest filled with fearsome monsters and far-fetched fun, Demons Don't Dream is vintage Xanth, an unforgettable escapade from fantasy's most imaginative storyteller.

The wanderer-monk Paul is trapped in a nightmare of dragons, demons, and spectacular lusts as the shimmering Animation curtain storms across the worldscape, changing fantasy into hideous reality. Reissue.

Earth sends a crack team of explorers to survey the natural resources of a wild and primitive -- a parallel world still in a dinosaur-dominated Paleocene period.

From the back cover: Herbivore - one who eats only vegetables Carnivore - one who lives by blood and flesh Omnivore - who feeds on all things to sustain life And so there were three; all human, all held together by a triangle of indeterminate love - the man of brawn, the cripple, and the woman. They were scientists on a troubleshooting expedition to the planet Nacre, the silent, dusky planet of multiform mushrooms and spore-clouds, where eighteen had died or disappeared before them. The trio were there to explore, to discover, to record, not really afraid, but then, not really prepared for the awesome secret of Nacre's mystical third kingdom of fungi.

A knight of ghosts and shadows! Jordan was a ghost in Castle Roogna now, spending his time with little five-year-old Ivy and watching his own past unfold on the magic tapestry. But once he had been a valorous knight, riding his ghost horse Pook on a fabulous and dangerous mission. He had been betrayed with a cruel lie by two wily magicians and the woman he loved. He had been killed at the end, and his bones had been scattered. Now he could not even remember where they had been buried. That was important, because Jordan's talent had been to recover from almost any injury, provided enough of his body could be assembled to grow together again. But all that had been four hundred years before. Nobody who was alive today knew or cared where his bones might be. It was hardly the proper ending for a gallant adventure!

Gloha is the only creature of her kind in all the world of Xanth, the beautiful offspring of a chance mating between a harpy and a goblin. As she grew to womanhood, she wondered where she would find the one true love with whom she could share her life.So, naturally, she sets off to find the Good Magician Humfrey to ask him for an Answer to the riddle of her heart's desire. But Humfrey, for mysterious reasons of his own, propels her instead on a perilous quest in search of truth, friendship, and, just possibly, happiness.

In the first book of a brilliant new series that rivals Xanth, fantasy superstars Anthony and Lackey join forces to create a marvelous fantasy quest that examines the war between the sexes and the ethics of desire.

Dor agreed to act as King of Xanth so long as Trent was gone for a week. But the weeks passed and Trent did not return. Dor knew he had to rescue his king but with no magic powers, how could it be done...?

Youth is Wasted on the Young Being grown up is a drag . . . or so thinks Lacuna, one of the mischievous Castle Zombie twins. So she makes the Good Magician Grey an offer he can't refuse. Thirsty for a taste of the Elixir of Youth, she'll help him outwit the evil Com-Pewter if he'll send her to Hell (in a handbasket, no less) to find Humfrey, the missing sorcerer. And while there, she'll learn the True History of Xanth (simplified) and help rescue a blushing Rose from the demon X(A/N)th . . . with the help of a gorgon or two.

Once upon a past. . . . Millie had been a ghost for 800 years. But now, restored by the magic of Xanth, she was again a maddeningly desirable woman. She could have had any man she wanted . . . except the one she did want, Jonathan the zombie. To grant Millie her desire, and to prove his right to rule Xanth in the future, young Magician Dor embarked on a quest for the elixir which would restore Jonathan to full life. But the potion could be found only in the past . . . so, through a magic tapestry, to the past he went, taking over the body of a barbarian warrior. The first person he encountered there was Jumper, a giant spider—a nightmare monster, but a staunch friend and much-needed ally in peril-haunted, ancient Xanth. Then Dor met Millie—800 years younger, but just as lovely. And he realized that, in his new body, he was no longer twelve years old . . .

Jessica of Capella and Heem of Highfalls are involved in a space race against enemy aliens where the consequences are win or die.

Ordered by King Trent to determine the source of Xanth's magic, Bink and his companions were harried by an unseen enemy determined to thwart them. When even their protector turned against them, Bink still managed to reach his goal and carry out the King's orders...but the king did not expect Bink's next act--to destroy utterly the magic of Xanth!

Five special people are the anchor points to a path across parallel universes. There is Darius, of the sympathetic magic…Nona, the ninth child of a ninth child…Seqiro, the telepathic horse…Provos, who remembers only the future…and Colene, the girl from Earth who learned that all dreams are possible.Held captive in Nona's home universe, Colene and her friends must help fulfill a dangerous prophecy—that one day women will take the power of magic away from the cruel men who control it. But first, Nona must cross the barrier to another universe…to that strange and unpredictable place called Earth.

Proton and Phaze, parallel worlds of science and magic, are ripe with the seeds of revolution. Mach, the brave but sensitive robot from Proton and his alternative self, magical Bane from Phaze, have the power to link the two warring systems - or to destroy them entirely.

The danger to Xanth was so great that only a night mare could offer hope! The Nextwave of barbarian warriors was invading Xanth from the north, ravaging and destroying as they advanced. But Mare Imbrium had her own problems. Ever since she had gained the half soul, the night mare had begun to mishandle her job of delivering bad dreams. Now the night Stallion dismissed her, exiling her to the day world with a message for King Trent: Beware the Horseman! She had no idea what that meant. But that was the way with prophetic warnings—nobody could understand them until it was too late. Then she met the Horseman. And she discovered that one who would right a night mare was a master of a bit and spur, and not a man to surrender her. For the night mare, it all began to be a horrible nightmare!

Smash, himself, was part ogre. Although ogres were considered so stupid they coud hardly speak, and spent their time eating young girls, seven assorted females had suddenly turned to him for guidance and saftety? In Xanth, one visit to the Good Magician Humfrey worked wonders....

In the virtual-reality computer game Killobyte, wheelchair-bound ex-cop Walter Tobin is a hero--and he can have the use of his legs restored. Diabetic Baal Curran is a beautiful princess--and she can forget the illness that drove away her boyfriend. But the game takes on a sinister reality when Walter and Baal are trapped in the system.

Sent to pierce the dream curtain of the Animation that turns fantasy into hideous reality, the wanderer-monk Paul finds himself on a trip to the ultimate and most terrifying fantasy of them all in this third novel of the Tarot series. Reissue.

Flint, green-skinned Stone Age native of Outworld, one of the Empire's most remote planets, has just killed the dinosaur Old Snout and saved his tribe. All he wants to do is enjoy his victory -- and his woman, Honeybloom. But the Empire has other plans. The alien envoy Pnotl of Sphere Knyfh has come seeking help from Sphere Sol in a shared galactic‑level crisis: Galaxy Andromeda has discovered the secret of energy transfer and intends to use it to steal the basic energy of the Milky Way Galaxy. Knyfh offers the secret of Kirlian aura transfer on the understanding that Sphere Sol will spread the technology to help create a galactic coalition to find and defeat agents of Andromeda. Sol's highest‑Kirlian individual is Flint, whose Kirlian aura of two hundred, high (though uneducated) intelligence, and eidetic memory make him the ideal agent. His task is complicated, however, by the fact that he is pursued everywhere by a high-Kirlian female Andromedan assassin, turning his mission into a combination of high-tech science, diplomacy, and espionage.

For a bored, young princess of Xanth, there's nothing more exciting than a Quest. Especially when all you do is sit around Castle Roogna. But when Ivy uses the Heaven Cent, it takes her not to the top of Mount Rushmost, where the winged monsters gather, not to the sea where the merfolk swim--but to Mundania, a world much like out own (that is, boring). It is here that she meets a young college student so dull that he doesn't even believe in magic, or princesses, or Xanth! Does he have a lot to learn. The thrilling climax to the trilogy started in Vale of the Vole and continued in Heaven Cent.

There is trouble in Xanth again—all kinds of trouble, in fact. The Gap Dragon had escaped from the Gap and was ravaging across the land. The forget-spell that had covered the Gap was breaking up into small forget-whorls that wandered about, giving amnesia to all they touched. Good Magician Humfrey might have had the Answer, but he had overdosed on water from the Fountain of Youth and was only a helpless baby. And Ivy, three-year-old daughter of King Dor and Queen Irene, as lost in the jungles south of the Gap. While Irene sought her without much hope, Ivy was wandering further into danger, her memories erased by a passing forget-whorl. Her path was leading her directly to where the Gap Dragon was seeking dinner.

Hope Hubris heinous tyrant and former insane dictator of the United States of Jupiter was overthrown by his wife. Deposed and sent into exile his finest hour is about to arrive. Still unbroken only he can shoulder the burden that is man's ultimate dream. To leave the confines of the Solar System.

This is the second in the series BIO OF A SPACE TYRANT, featuring the stages in the life of Hope Hubris, the Tyrant of Jupiter, and his beloved sister Spirit. Fired by raw courage, steeled by young might, he rose in the Navy of Jupiter to command a personal squadron loyal to the death. And it was death they faced - against piratical warlords of the Jupiter Ecliptic who laughed at the yourg commander's challenge...until they met the merciless fury of the warrior who would annihilate all obstacles in his path to immortal renown as the TYRANT OF JUPITER!

As a young man, Kevin Knight Hackleberry proved to be the Roundear of Prophecy: he liberated his own Kingdom of Rud from the cruel usurper Zoanna, and then went on to defeat the evil king Rowforth.... But now Zoanna and Rowforth have joined forces to take revenge on Kelvin....through his unborn child. Kelvin's beloved Heln lies helpless in prison...while Kelvin is trapped in a distant Frame World, a captive of the dread Chimaera.

The Earth is a dying world, overcrowded, polluted. Then a scientific breakthrough makes escape to the stars possible. A stampede to leave ensues, but what about those who are left behind?

Science fiction adventure from the creator of the New York Times bestselling Xanth series. An an alien occupies the body of a boy during the time of the Babylonian Empire and guides him to a strange and fantastic destiny. But both the boy and the alien must beware, for other aliens have arrived on Earth--and may have plans of their own. . . .

Cal, Veg, and Aquilon try to escape from a dangerous world ruled by murderous robots and return to their own dimension

Science fiction series, sequel to P̀olitician'.

A golem to the rescue! Grundy Golem was the size of an inconsequence, and nobody had any respect for him—including Grundy! To prove himself, he volunteered to ride the Monster Under the Bed to the Ivory Tower to find little Ivy’s long-lost dragon, Stanley Steamer. After many adventures, he reached the Tower, to learn that the evil Sea Hag kept lovely Rapunzel imprisoned there, her body destined to be used to maintain the witch’s immortality. Grundy managed to free the damsel, and they fled together. As the descendant of Jordan the Barbarian and Bluebell Elf, Rapunzel could become any size, even that of any Golem’s dreamgirl. But Grundy knew she was surely fated for someone better than he. Besides, the Sea Hag still pursued them to destroy him and get her back. And he still hadn’t found Stanley Steamer.

Prince Dolph, Xanth's precocious shape-shifter, searches for Humfrey, the missing sorcerer. Xanth Series.

When Esk, a young ogre-nymph-human, began his pilgrimage to the Good Magician Humfrey to rid himself of a seductive demoness, little did he know it would become a mission of mercy. A running river paradise and its harmless inhabitants were perishing in the wrathful wake of a greedy demon horde. Now it is up to Esk and his companions--a beautiful winged centaur named Chex and a brave burrower Called Volney--to search Xanth's treacherous reaches, gathering together a mind-boggling company of creatures to defend the precious Vale of the Vole.

CALIGULA OF THE STARS... Later he was to be accused of every crime and sexual perversion in the galaxy, but Hope Hubris began as an innocent boy. For daring to defend his sister against the violent assault of a wealthy scion, Hope and his peasant family were forced to flee Callisto, one of Jupiter's moons. Pursued by bloodthirsty scions across the airless desert, they barely escaped with their lives. Crammed into an illegal space bubble full of refugees hoping to gain asylum on jupiter, they had not reckoned on the barbaric space-pirates - who raped, robbed and murdered with no thought but to satisfy their bestial lusts. It would take all Hope's ingenuity to survive and the atrocities he was to witness would never die in his memory. There was only one way he could ever be rid of them... REVENGE

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. they have found a dragon's territory, where scales of purest gold, shed by the dragon, lie free on the ground for anyone with courage, or innocence, to take. And the words of Mouvar the prophet echo across Rud.

A fast paced, exciting adventure as a young man discovers that he is a part of an elaborate charade to recreate a specific time and place in history.

A Roundear there Shall Surely Be Born to a strong, raised to be free Fighting Dragons in his Youth Leading Armies, Nothing Loth Ridding his Country of a Sore Joining Two, then united Four Until from Seven there be One Only the will his Task be Done...

When a solar energy project goes wrong, the earth is engulfed in torrents of rain.

Alternate cover edition can be found hereMelody, old Mintakan musical alien, keeps Tarot cards while saving universe. First willing transfer volunteer is busty human Solarian Yael. Enemy galaxy Andromeda forces transfers, damages hosts, Officers in Milky Way spaceship fleet. Bird of Dash is her Kirlian aura equal; his planet hides secret. Like her ancestor Outworlder Flint, foes give in to aura attraction.

Earth is an energy-starved madhouse where spacers are hated as power wasters. But starship captain Shetland's life is dedicated to finding new energy sources--a search that takes him into deepest space and time where he and his crew discover the ghosts of their universe--and the most horrifying ghost of all.

A struggling art student on a distant world, trapped in the middle of an intergalactic battle against a tyrannical empire, looks for his salvation in an immortal, immensely powerful spirit called The Imago. Reprint.

Ein launischer Fluss im Gewebe des Raums hat einen schrecklichen Hurrikan in Xanth entfesselt, der überall Unheil und Wahnsinn anrichtet. In einer lächerlichen Form gefangen durch eine kosmische Wette, muss der Dämon X(A/N)th sich mit einer lästigen Füchsin namens Chlorine zusammentun, um Xanth vor dieser erschreckenden und stürmischen Bedrohung zu retten. Ihre Begleiter auf dieser chaotischen Quest sind eine unglückliche menschliche Familie - Jim und Karen Baldwin und ihre beiden jugendlichen Söhne, David und Sean - die aus der alltäglichen Welt nach Xanth geweht wurden. Gemeinsam erleben sie eine Reihe turbulenter Missgeschicke, während sie versuchen, Xanth davor zu bewahren, für immer vom Kartenmaterial gefegt zu werden.

Bereiten Sie sich auf ein spektakuläres Abenteuer vor, das von zwei der beliebtesten Science-Fiction-Autoren der heutigen Zeit geschaffen wurde. Piers Anthony, Bestsellerautor von Xanth, und Philip José Farmer, Hugo-Preisträger für Riders of the Purple Wage, vereinen ihr explosives Talent und ihre Vorstellungskraft, um eine fantastische Saga zu erschaffen, die von der modernen amerikanischen Gesellschaft bis zum ultimativen Kampf um die Seele des Universums reicht.

Auf Befehl von König Trent soll Bink mit seinen Gefährten die Quelle der Magie von Xanth ermitteln. Dabei werden sie von einem unsichtbaren Feind belästigt, der entschlossen ist, sie zu behindern. Als sich sogar ihr Beschützer gegen sie wendet, gelingt es Bink dennoch, sein Ziel zu erreichen und die Befehle des Königs auszuführen... doch der König hatte nicht mit Binks nächstem Akt gerechnet – die Magie von Xanth vollständig zu zerstören!

Jordan war jetzt ein Geist im Schloss Roogna. Obwohl er einst der tapferste Ritter war – bis er von zwei listigen Magiern und der Frau, die er liebt, verraten wurde. Jetzt, wenn er nur erinnern kann, wie er getötet wurde, wird er in der Lage sein, seinen Körper wieder zusammenzusetzen. Und er wird ungeduldig...

Verliebter Prinz Dolph, Xanths frühreifer Gestaltwandler, sollte verliebt sein, ist es aber nicht. Dennoch muss er sich zwischen zwei Verlobten entscheiden – Nada, die desinteressiert ist, und Electra, die uninteressant ist – oder alle drei werden die schlimmsten Konsequenzen erleiden. Glücklicherweise ist ein praktisches Unglück aufgetaucht, das Dolph von seinem Dilemma ablenkt – die Entführung des jungen Che Zentaur durch Goblins. Und die einzige, die weiß, wo Che ist, ist ein nettes, aber bemerkenswert naives elfengleiches Mädchen namens Jenny aus der Welt der zwei Monde. Wenn jemand den vermissten Zentaur retten kann... sie kann es sicher nicht.

Auf der Suche nach einer Lösung für ein verwirrendes persönliches Problem bittet die reizvolle Dämonin Metria den weisen Magier Humfrey um Hilfe. Doch bevor er ihr hilft, muss sie eine gefährliche Mission erfüllen: Sie soll das gesamte Xanth durchstreifen, um eine geeignete Jury für den Prozess von Roxanne Roc zu finden, einem bemerkenswert edlen und tugendhaften Vogel, der eines höchst unwahrscheinlichen Verbrechens beschuldigt wird.

Zwei Welten - das wissenschaftliche Proton und das magische Phaze - existieren nebeneinander. Nun ist Mach von Proton nach Phaze gewechselt und hat seinen Gegenpart Bane ersetzt. Beide müssen lernen, in Umgebungen zu überleben, die ihrer eigenen Natur fremd sind.

Das neueste Abenteuer im magischen Land Xanth. Gary Gargoyle, der magische Wächter des Flusses Swan Kee – der in letzter Zeit verschmutzt ist und austrocknet – muss einen Zauber suchen, der den Fluss in seinen ursprünglichen Zustand der Reinheit zurückversetzt. In Xanth führt die Suche nach einem solchen Zauber unweigerlich zum Guten Magier Humfrey.

GEISSER DER ECLIPTIK Er wurde durch gewaltsame Ungerechtigkeit von seinem Heimatmond Callisto vertrieben und machte sich auf, das epische Schicksal zu beanspruchen, das über Welten und Zeiten hinweg leuchten würde. Er sah seine Familie zerstört, seine Schwester in sexuelle Sklaverei verschleppt, seine schöne Geliebte getötet – und schwor Rache an den mörderischen Piraten, die die Jupiter-Planetoiden in einem Würgegriff des Schreckens hielten. Getrieben von rohem Mut und gestählt durch junge Kraft, stieg er in der Marine von Jupiter auf, um ein persönliches Geschwader zu kommandieren, das bis zum Tod loyal war. Und dem Tod standen sie gegenüber – den piratenden Kriegsherren der Jupiter-Elliptik, die über die Herausforderung des jungen Kommandanten lachten . . . bis sie der gnadenlosen Wut des Kriegers begegneten, der alle Hindernisse auf seinem Weg zu unsterblichem Ruhm als Tyrann von Jupiter auslöschen würde.

Als Esk, ein junger Ogre-Nymphe-Mensch, seine Pilgerreise zum Guten Magier Humfrey begann, um sich von einer verführerischen Dämonin zu befreien, ahnte er nicht, dass es zu einer Barmherzigkeitsmission werden würde. Ein fließendes Flussparadies und seine harmlosen Bewohner gingen im zornigen Gefolge einer gierigen Dämonenhorde zugrunde. Nun liegt es an Esk und seinen Gefährten – einer schönen geflügelten Zentaurin namens Chex und einem mutigen Gräber namens Volney – die tückischen Weiten von Xanth zu durchstreifen und eine verblüffende Gesellschaft von Kreaturen zu versammeln, um das kostbare Tal der Wühlmaus zu verteidigen.

Xanth war das verzauberte Land, in dem die Magie herrschte - wo jeder Bürger einen speziellen Zauber hatte, den nur er wirken konnte. Es war ein Land der Zentauren, Drachen und Basilisken. Für Bink aus dem Norddorf war Xanth jedoch kein Märchen. Er hatte keine Magie. Und wenn er nicht schnell welche bekam, würde er verbannt werden. Für immer! Aber der Gute Magier Humfrey war überzeugt, dass Bink tatsächlich Magie hatte. Tatsächlich bestanden sowohl Beauregard der Dschinn als auch die magische Wandkarte darauf, dass Bink Magie hatte. Magie, so mächtig wie die des Königs oder des Guten Magiers Humfrey - oder sogar die des Bösen Magiers Trent. Wie dem auch sei, niemand konnte die Natur von Binks ganz besonderer Magie ergründen. Bink war verzweifelt. Das war sogar schlimmer, als gar keine Magie zu haben... und er würde trotzdem verbannt werden!

Als die Makronen entdeckt werden, Atomteilchen, die sich ähnlich wie Neutronen verhalten, gelingt der Physik der entscheidende Durchbruch. Makronen können jede Materie durchdringen, sind also die ideale Trägerwelle im Universum. Zugleich treten sie mit den Gravitationsfeldern in Wechselwirkung, mit den Raumverformungen, die sie durcheilen, wodurch die Materie, die diese Gravitation verursacht, exakt abgebildet wird. Das bedeutet aber nichts anderes, als dass von jedem beliebigen Punkt im Universum ein fotografisch genaues Abbild gemacht, jeder Vorgang beobachtet, jedes noch so gehütete Geheimnis entdeckt werden kann, gleichgültig ob der Ort zehn Kilometer oder zehntausend Millionen Lichtjahre entfernt ist. Doch die Menschen sind keineswegs die ersten, die dieses "Schlüsselloch" entdeckt haben. Als sie das erste Makroskop in einer Umlaufbahn in Betrieb setzen, müssen sie feststellen, dass technologisch höher entwickelte Zivilisationen sich längst dieses Mediums zur Nachrichtentibermittlung bedienen - und dass sie gegen unliebsame Voyeure, die erwartungsvoll durch dieses Schlüsselloch starren wollen, wirksame Sicherungen eingebaut haben. Von jenseits des Universums kommt die Botschaft einer uralten Rasse - Und plötzlich gewinnen die uralten Symbole der Astrologen neue, unerwartete Bedeutung.

Sie können sich nicht vorstellen, daß es jemanden gibt, der dumm genug ist, sein ganzes Vermögen in ein wertloses Stück Land auf dem Mars zu stecken? Jemanden, der selbstmörderisch genug ist, in einem Supersonic-Überschall-Wagen an einem Rennen teilzunehmen, das keine Regeln kennt? Jemanden, der verrückt genug ist, sich als Mitarbeiter eines hypermodernen Bestattungsunternehmens probeweise einbalsamieren zu lassen? Jemanden, der abgebrüht genug ist, als Vertreter einer >Todesversicherung< unterwegs zu sein? Nun, dann lernen Sie Mr. Fisk Centers kennen und entscheiden Sie selbst, ob er ein Held oder ein Trottel ist - oder vielleicht beides!