Customer Reviews

The Dastard (Xanth, No. 24)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Dastard is on of Piers Anthony's better Xanth books. It has a lot of humor and too many puns (as usual), but the puns don't detract from the story. I have been waiting for the last 2 years for Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm to make an appearance as major characters and I really like their personalities. I would have liked them to star more as children (like Ivy did in Dragon on a Pedestal, my favorite Xanth novel), but maybe next time. Becka also proved to be a dynamic character. She had her dragon heratige to keep the Dastard in line, but also her morals and common sense to provide an alternate point of view from the Dastard and to move the plot along. Castle Maidragon was great fun and I hope it appears in future books. I'm glad Becka got her wish (though I won't say what it is). I thought the ending needed work and I would have prefered to see the Dastard work on using his talent for good. Over all, it was a terrific book and it kept me enthralled till the end.

Piers Anthony's Xanth series fills that void we all get when we just want to read for the pure pleasure and not have to "think". You know, like wanting to watch a light hearted movie where you don't have to follow an intricate plot line or keep track of who did what to whom and why. The Xanth series pokes fun at the mundane world. Anyone who lives in Florida will appreciate the way Anthony describes local landmarks with a pun-ish twist.

The Dastard didn't let me down. Piers Anthony is back with a great plot as well as a bucketful puns. I know, people have been saying that the Xanth books were becoming just one big pun and there wasn't really a story. I'll have to agree, but it was only a few books and they were still a GREAT read. But, be forewarned. The Dastard has not one, not two, but more plots and subplots than you'd ever dream of in Xanth book. Savor it slowly so you don't miss any of the fun.

I adore this series and eagerly await the next release. I fiercly guard by collection and only let very special people borrow copies after leaving an adequate replacement such as their car or deed to their house as collateral.

Whenever I hear someone talk about Xanth, I tend to hear the same nonsense over and over. That "After a spell for Chameleon" Xanth should have been stopped. NOT TRUE!

I have read ALL the books available in softcover and I have enjoyed them all. Do I think there are too many puns in some of the Xanth novels? Occasionally, yes. Do I think the series is something that should have been stopped? Heck no!

The Xanth series is great for what it is--light fantasy, with an OCCASIONAL serious comment tossed in (drunk driving, etc). The books are something to pick up, enjoy, and get away from your troubles for a short time. If you want so-called "serious literature" and try to gauge Xanth by that standard you will be seriously disappointed. But then again if you are foolish enough to use the wrong standards in judging things in life, you will have trouble in more than just reading...

Like many fantasy readers, I've followed Xanth from _Spell_ to the present with a kind of addicted disappointment. The first nine books were punny enough to make critics' eyes roll, but they shared a coherence and unity of plot that kept everything under control. Since Anthony's move from Del Rey to Avon and later to Tor Books, the plots have suffered from neglect and wordplay has taken over.

_Zombie Lover_ and _Xone of Contention_ strengthened my suspicion that Anthony spends more time lately assembling reader-suggested puns and plot twists than he does coming up with his own material. I was expecting more of the same with _The Dastard_, but as the Author's Note informs us, Anthony used up his supply of reader suggestions sometime during the first draft of _Dastard_. The result is a delightful throwback to what made the first nine books so enjoyable. The story line is suspenseful, the characterization is effective (no small feat when your protagonists are two mirror-image sets of triplets!) and no deus ex machina comes in at the end to finish things off and baffle the reader.

Don't misunderstand me--I'd still rather reread _Centaur Aisle_ than _The Dastard_. But this latest offering is a definite improvement and an enjoyable read.

Love Piers Anthony books! This book was punningly funny! The story was delightful...the ending perfect! I thought that some of the puns were distasteful, yet it must be expected at some point in time. The story kept me captivated, right until the end! Who knew what would happen next? I have read the whole series and will continue to do so!

I started reading the Xanth novels because of a recomendation but after a while, I got hooked! These books, by Piers Anthony, are full of terrible puns and deep characters. Xanth is a magical, pun-filled land close to the Mundane Florida. In Xanth, everybody has one "talent," or magial thing that they can do (Like a girl named Chlorine can poison water). In this story, there is a souless man called the Dastard who's talent is going bck in time and doing things. He uses this talent to make people's lives worse. For instance, if you had made an important discovery, he would ask you about it until he figured out how to prevent it, in which point in time, he went back and stopped it. The three princesses Melody, Rhyme, and Rythm were prophesied to stop him, along with Beka, the dragon-girl, but there is a problem. Beka is already with the Dastard and the 3 princesses are only six years old! The princesses must change places with their older selves from another world so that they can stop the Dastard. I wont tell you the ending; even the most brilliant mind will be surprisd. Like Anthony"s other books, this is light reading! I recomend this book to anybody of a mature enough mind, especially over 12.

this was given as a gift. My son just loved it. Thanks for the speedy service.

Xanth #24: The Dastard, by Piers Anthony

While most people in Xanth have a magic talent, many of the talents are minor - the "spot on the wall" variety. Usually only Magicians and Sorceress' have powerful talents, such as being able to transform any living creature into something else.

Anomy has a useless magic talent - the talent of stupid ideas. Frustrated by this, he sells his soul to a demon for a much more powerful talent - the ability to rewrite history. With his new talent and soulless self, Anomy changes his name to the Dastard, and sets out to erase happy people and events all over Xanth.

Three bored princesses, Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm, happen to see the Dastard erase a happening in the magic tapestry in Castle Roogna. The princesses are bored and see this as an opportunity for an adventure; and their parents let them go see the Good Magician to find out how to keep the Dastard from ruining Xanth. He tells them that they need to exchange their four-year-old selves with their seventeen-year-old selves from Ptero, and off they go on an adventure that includes Becka, a dragon-human crossbreed, Sim, who will one day be the smartest bird in the universe, and the Sea Hag, an evil, centuries old spirit.

In "The Dastard," Anthony provides more of what Xanth is about - fun fantasy. In my opinion, the story is somewhat darker than many in the series, as the Dastard has a talent he puts to evil uses, and with no soul, he has no conscience. The Sea Hag also adds to the darker story, as she possesses young women and uses them their bodies to seduce and control men. But of course there's the classic happy ending, where everyone gets what they want, but for a while you're unsure of just how it's going to happen.

3/5.

This is the worst Kindle version of anything I've purchased. The 2nd or 3rd paragraph of each chapter is misplaced into the last paragraph of the previous chapter.

Otherwise...A good read. This is closer to the orginal Xanth style than any of the later books.

The Dastard By: Piers Anthony ©2000 TOR Publishing 298 pages
Evil as the devil, the Dastard is nothing but trouble. The Dastard, a book in Piers Anthony's Xanth series, is about a young man, The Dastard, who gave up his soul to Lord Xanth in exchange for the power to go back in time and change events. The Dastard is searching for a princess to marry. Xanth is a magical world within Florida where all naturally born citizens have a magic talent. The Dastard is accompanied by Becka, a 14-year-old girl with the talent of turning into a fearsome dragon. The two of them soon encounter a woman who can turn into a soup-er star and numerous other women the Sea Hag, a demoness who sucks the souls out of girls, took control over. Three four-year-old princess, Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm, transform into their twenty-one-year-old selves to help defeat the Dastard.
The Dastard shows one main theme: good or bad, life is an obstacle course with people in your way. Not everyone is satisfied by the objectives and actions of others.
The Dastard is a wonderful book for fantasy and adventure lovers alike. I loved this book because of the story's constant momentum. Anthony just throws out the adventures one after another. Anthony's unique style of switching the perspective from the princesses to the Dastard creates an unsustainable suspense at the end of every chapter. Can Becka or the three princesses stop the dastardly man? Find out through the magical people, humorous puns, and constant time travels of The Dastard.