Customer Reviews

Centaur Aisle (Xanth Novels)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dor is growing up and King Trent is providing him with occasional opportunities to practice his Kingship skills as we all know from previous books that Dor is the designated heir for King Trent. So, at the beginning of the book, King Trent informs Dor that he will be going on a secret trade mission to Mundania and Dor needs to take over the Kingship while Trent is away. To camouflage everything, Trent tells everyone that he and Iris are taking a long needed vacation. The whole absence is supposed to be for only a week.

Dor takes over and finds out that being a King is not as easy as it seems. As a matter of fact, there are implications and complications for every seemingly minor decision that is brought to Dor's attention. So, Dor does the best he can and seems to do a fair job of it especially since his magical talent is very helpful! The week passes by and Dor is ready the give up his throne ... but Trent does not return!!!

Another two weeks pass by and Dor is beside himself with worry. Not only that, but Trent's daughter Irene is also sick with worry and since she is Dor's constant companion, it is hard for him to ignore the issue. Another factor that complicates life is that Dor is now 16 and Irene is 15 and she is developing into quite a beautiful girl while Dor is also developing into a man and is starting to notice that Irene has developed in some very interesting shapes and intriguing ways!

Finally, Dor and Irene cannot stand it any more and they resolve to search out where Trent is and rescue him if necessary. But, another complication arises, it seems that a new Magician has been detected in the very south of Xanth and that needs to be investigated immediately. This is especially important since the furthest southern point of Xanth is inhabited by Centaurs - it is called Centaur Isle - who believe that magic is obscene. With the potential complications of all of this, Dor and Irene collect their friends (Chester the Centaur, Grundy the Golem, and Smash the Ogre) and go off to check out what is going on in the south.

As is usual with Xanth stories, there are many marvelous and dangerous creatures that are encountered and many situations where the play on words leads to some wonderful imagery (for instance, light bulbs are planted in the fields and the brightest bulbs are the most desirable). In this case, Centaur Isle leads to the magic-infused Centaur whose magical talent is the creation of an aisle of magic in front and behind him. In other words, a Centaur Aisle! Dor is also a very creative speller and many people use this attribute when giving him hints. For instance, Trent tells Dor to always rely on his Honesty when needing to make a decision on where to do. This does not make sense to anyone until Dor writes it down as ONESTI which then is revealed as a kingdom in Mundania!

Adventure after adventure result and the happy crew goes from discovering the magical Centaur to finding where Trent and Iris are being held captive. It takes quite a bit of ingenuity and inventiveness on the part of Dor, Irene and Grundy to find Trent and Iris and release them and then set the world aright.

This is a standard Xanth book in its creativity, its word play, and its humor. The storyline itself is dead-serious of course, and the resolution leads to many other possible followups. It is a very enjoyable and quick read - a perfect story for the beach or if you are a commuter!

Centaur Aisle is one of the best books I have ever read. I've read all of the Xanth novels and Centaur Aisle is the prized one. If you like Harry Potter and you're waiting for the next book to come out, these books will keep you going!

Xanth is a great and very quirky series and this is my favorite book of the entire series. I think the earlier Xanth books were the best and this one was always great with its hints of romance and puns. Love this book.

This wasn't one of Anthony's better Xanth novels and while I liked the way Irene handled herself I don't particularly like the way Anthony tends to depict women. He may be sexest but the book was good enough to get over that and enyoy the charecters. I really liked the ogre who was delightfully stupid and the centaurs who were (usualy) painfully smart. And, no offense intended to the author, but couldn't he cut out just a tad of the smutty jokes and sexual inuendo so some if the younger reader's mothers, such as mine, will have less reasons to complain about their kids reading it? But if you don't mind that doen't let this review keep you from reading it.-Elia

16 year old Prince Dor must fill in as temporary king while King Trent and Queen Iris are away on business in Mundania. Two wweks pass, no Trent. Dor decides he (Trent) must have been captured. He gathers a search party, consisting of an ogre, a golem, a centaur, and Princess Irene, who is way more than willing to be Dor's Queen. The party set's off to the Good Magician Humfrey, to ask how they could rescue Trent. Humfrey tells them to seek the Centaur Aisle. So they set off toward Centaur Isle in the south. Mundania, of course, lay to the north. Ingenious plot, as always. Piers Anthony never fails to bring his immortal characters to life.

I'm a longtime Piers Anthony fan. When some of my earlier copies of his Xanth series began to become worn through multiple readings, I decided to order new copies for myself. However, it turns out that the publisher no longer produces this series with the same quality that they used to. The font is blurry and difficult to read; I ordered 4 new Xanth novels, and every one of them suffered the same problem.

Disappointed, I contacted the publisher directly with my concerns. They instructed me to email them the UPC codes for each of the books, as well as some other information about each book. Then, they told me to ship the books to them via UPS and to include a copy of my shipping receipt in the package. They told me that I'd be sent a check to compensate me for the amount of the return shipping.

A day after following the publisher's instructions, they've emailed me to tell me that the problem with the clarity of the books' text is the fault of the font they used; thus, they can do nothing for me except send me replacement copies of all 4 books that have the exact same problem.

I can't say how disappointed I am. I will never order Del Ray books again--at least, not until they correct their quality problems.

I really liked this book until the very end. Throughout the story Dor is gaining more confidence and realizing that he does have what it takes to be king. Then at the end when he is supposed to understand the situation with King Oary and act, his friends do it all for him as he is dumbfounded.
Other than that, the story was fun and the characters interacted very well.

Piers Anthony is not only a literary genius but his creative and fulfilling works got me through my formative years by providing an escape from life's harshness. There is a brightness to his creativity that is positively inspirational. I always walk away from his final pages feeling good about life and hungry for more books like this.
Xanth, the fictional land (or is it?) in which so many of Anthony's characters dwell, a real "hoot," and you will find yourself chuckling quite a bit from the many puns. You'll love the adventures of this book's hero and heroine and will, no doubt, develop a taste for Piers' writings in so many different series. Another series I really recommend is "Incarnations of Immortality." If you're just discovering Piers Anthony, then congratulations, you're about to have a really good time and have found an excellent escape like none you've known before.

I was very happy with the condition of the book as well as how quickly it got to me.

I highly recommend this book! I have read most of the Xanth Series by Mr. Anthony and would recommend it as a necesary step in the evolution of Xanth and the understanding of the land and its people. These are the key characters who set the stage for all of the future books. The twists in the plot and the fun of what Magic (albeit funny Magic) might be like in Mundania are hilariously, exotically absorbing and if you look at this fraom a point of view of how the stories relate back to this book you will realize how great it truly is! I know it is a little more serious and less light hearted than the first three Xanth Novels but it is exciting and fun nonetheless. I actually consider this one my pesonal favorite of the twenty some-odd titles in the series that I have read. I consider Xanth Novels as "Must Read TV" because they are so delightfully entertaining, one is able to be drawn in and can almost watch the series of events unfold. Punny or not these books are great fun and I hope everyone else has as great a time as I have had reading them. Enjoy the escape of your imagination!!