To be fair, the vine around Smash’s head really didn’t do anything.
–Cliffy
So the author has written himself into his books, is that what you’re saying? 
My Freaked out by Piers Anthony thread, from almost 4 and a half years ago.
A Spell for Chameleon was superb, I thought. Then The Source Of Magic left me feeling, no more than halfway through, that things were getting silly, and it never hit the same heights again. Despite that I carried on at least to Golem in the Gears and later acquired Demons Don’t Dream, but I echo all the thoughts of those who say that it was getting childish by then. (FTR, I was rising 24 when I read the first book.)
…The pun I would have sent in related to the dime which, instead of causing someone to stop when they trod on it, instead turned into a voracious Triassic reptile with a large fin on its back. Someone can fill in the blank, perhaps?
Mine, too. I was given a used copy of Castle Roogna as a gift one year and soon went in search of the previous novels. I read it up to Demons Don’t Dream, but I didn’t really like any of the novels much past Centaur Isle (although I thought Man From Mundania showed some sign of being interesting).
The Xanth computer game tied in with Demons Don’t Dream was a fair hoot.
I posted above that I stopped reading with Demons Don’t Dream. Just yesterday I saw Geis of the Gargoyle on my bookshelf and I think I maybe did read it, so I guess I got further than I thought.
–Cliffy