# Xanth fans! Be not ashamed! REVEAL THYSELVES!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338 "2005-01-29T23:40:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/1 "2005-01-29T23:40:38Z")
Heh, heh. Okay, that was a bit over the top. But discovering that myself, **jayjay** , **Chronos** and **Otto** have apparently read more than a few Xanth novels has given me temporary leave of my senses. I thought I was the only one! Who else has read them? The series has had its ups and downs, but Castle Roogna is probably my favorite Xanth novel, although Golem In The Gears was the first one I read (then I went to the library and found A Spell For Chameleon, The Source of Magic and read them in order up until Man From Mundania, when I stopped reading them from some reason.) Favorite character is probably Grundy Golem, although I also have an affinity for the Zombie King. I only own Castle Roogna and Night Mare, oddly enough. I read all the others at my local library. I’ll close by mentioning I’ve always thought Xanth would make a pretty good TV series, but now I think I’d do even better on cable. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/2 "2005-01-29T23:47:51Z")
I read 'em all, up through _Man from Mundania_, maybe a couple past that. Checked most of 'em out from my high school library, back when. Bought a couple that the library didn’t have. And that’s all I’ll say, lest I be accused of thread crapping. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/3 "2005-01-29T23:51:27Z")
**Miller.** Oh, crap away. Bitch and rail, too, if you wanna. If you really did read all the way up to Man From Mundania I daresay you’ve EARNED it. ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/4 "2005-01-29T23:59:48Z")
Let’s see. My first one was Heaven Cent (the main character was 9, I was 9), but I’ve read all of them up to… uh… the one with the family in the RV driving around and picking up a motley collection of people for no good reason. Hoo boy. I heven’t touched them since. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/5 "2005-01-30T00:02:35Z")
I think I’ve read the series up through **Dragon on a Pedestal**. After that, I simply couldn’t take it anymore. The series started to decline, for me, right about **Centaur Isle**. It’s been a very long time since I read them, though, so I don’t remember many specifics. Looking at [the entire series](http://www.piers-anthony.com/xanth.html), I must say I am astonished that the series continued for as long as it did. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/6 "2005-01-30T00:18:27Z")
27 novels?! Kee-ripes. And so far, none of us here made it past the first 14? (Looking at **Darwin’s Finch’s** link, I just realized that I’ve read Isle of View and maybe even Question Quest, and Faun and Games looks real familiar – I just don’t recall them as well as all the others.) I’m not sure if the series declined so much as I lost interest in the relentless punning and started gravitating toward more “bolts and steel” sci-fi and veered away from fantasy. I think I quit reading the Elfquest and Pern Dragon books around the same time, too. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/7 "2005-01-30T00:23:29Z")
I think I missed a few on the way, but I read up to _The Colour of her Panties_ which is a strange _strange_ idea and title for a story. And because of that realisation, I looked back on the whole series in a different light. Coupling this with the fact that each book was just a way to jam in as many awful puns into some semblance of order as he could, plus his Author’s Notes always made him look like the most irritatingly annoying person in the world, I gave up on him with no regrets. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/8 "2005-01-30T00:32:10Z")
I got to the 18th (Geis of the Gargoyle) before giving up, although there’s a bunch before that that I missed. I struggled through that one, decided either they’d gone really downhill, or I’d outgrown them, and never bothered after that. I think Isle of View was the last one I actually enjoyed, and I mostly continued out of loyalty/habit after that. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/9 "2005-01-30T00:33:04Z")
Way back when, I got as far as _Vale of the Vole_ before giving up. In retrospect, I should have given up with _Centaur Aisle_. I agee with liking _Castle Roogna_ the best. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/10 "2005-01-30T00:43:01Z")
Oh, I read them quite a while ago. More of a phase really. I really enjoyed them when I was younger, and read up to _Roc and a Hard Place_. I’m still not sure if the material got tired or if I just outgrew it. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/11 "2005-01-30T00:48:12Z")
I wouldn’t call myself a fan. I read through Vale of the Vole, and only read that one because I had a bus trip and it was the only thing that loked good in the depot bookstore. I was wrong. I was also wrong, in the “magic rings” thread, about the Xanth novel in question. It was _Castle Roogna_, not _Crewel Lye_. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/12 "2005-01-30T00:59:55Z")
I used to read them as well, haven’t read any in a long time though. I can’t remember where I left off, somewhere after Harpy Time. I happen to love puns, even bad ones so I have no ill words for the series. I wasn’t reading it for hard sci fi, it was just very light and silly fantasy and just something to pass the time. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/13 "2005-01-30T01:45:37Z")
I’m taking down all your names. For when the cleansing comes. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/14 "2005-01-30T01:47:16Z")
Fine. My real name is “Turek from Riverdale.” Do me first. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/15 "2005-01-30T01:48:29Z")
:smack: That would’ve been funnier if I hadn’t misread your location… ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/16 "2005-01-30T02:03:31Z")
Hey! I’m clean. Relatively. I had the sense to stop after the third Adept book. ---
**Author:** ![the4thmooncat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce7236/32.png) [@the4thmooncat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the4thmooncat)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/17 "2005-01-30T04:12:29Z")
…maybe there’s something wrong with me? I’ve read all of the Xanth books except for Cube Root, and I liked them, and still check them out of the library every so often, and yes, still like them. ~ducks for cover please don’t hurt me~ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/18 "2005-01-30T04:27:03Z")
I started with “A spell for Chameleon” and finally bailed after “Isle of View”. Now I refuse to read anything by him. It’s safer. ---
**Author:** ![ninetypercent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@ninetypercent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninetypercent)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/19 "2005-01-30T04:34:35Z")
I’ve read most of them. Somehow, I’m not a fan. I heard there’s a Xanth movie coming out… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338/20 "2005-01-30T04:38:30Z")
I made it through the first 8 books, I think. Then they just got stupid. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xanth-fans-be-not-ashamed-reveal-thyselves/287338.md?page=2)