Customer Reviews

Demons Don't Dream (Xanth, No. 16)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have read almost all of his books and they are fantastic. If you are into Fantasy, you well love all of Peirs Anthony Xanth searies. He rules in Fantasy books and I recomend evryone to read his books, If you love cantaurs, fauns, nymphs, and other mystacal creatures, read Piers Anthony!

A very good book, showing how two worlds can be so distinct, yet come together and get along at some point in their history. Powerful story line, with great characters, and easy to follow, yet complicated in it's own punish way

I have read all of Anthony's Xanth novels up to Demon Lover and I find this one to be one of his best. In this one he involves Mundania and gives them a chance to interact with Xanth an idea i am sure all of his readers wishes could happen. I hope Xanth goes on forever for children and adults everywhere.

Like all Xanth novels, Demons Don't Dream is full of puns. With witty things from streams of consciousness to outstupiding ogres, the book had me rolling on the ground with laughter with every page. I recommend this book for not only fantasy readers but any reader who likes a good laugh. You follow two Mundanians as they go through a game called the Companions of Xanth, which is actually much, much more than a game...

This was the first Xanth book that I ever read, and I've been reading them ever since. Practically everyone I know that has read this book loves it! Piers Anthony writes awesome stories and I recommend this book to anyone that loves puns and magical lands.

Demons Don't Dream, by Piers Anthony. This book is a fantasy book about two people who go inside this computer game, and play it as if they were really in there. They are searching for "the prize" and they do not know what or where it is. At the beginning of the game, you have to choose a companion who knows the land and can tell you most things about the magical world. The main character is Dug (Doug) an average 15-16 year old male whose adventurous attitude keeps getting him in trouble. Dug is also quick on his feet, so he manages to get himself out of his problems most of the time. Kim is the other player who is smarter then Dug, but is more interested about seeing the world then "getting prize". Kim is amazed at the world, because of all the elves, trolls, dragons, and other magical plants and animals

Demons Don't Dream is probably a fun book, if you are between ages 7-10. It details the adventures of a some young adults who, through a computer game, enter the world of Xanth. Of course there is a computer game which was the inspiration for this book.

In the book, (and game), the reader has a "companion", someone from an older Xanth novel, lead them through Xanth. Whoever completes the quest first, will win a prize. Like all Xanth novels, everyone is good - even the Demons. There isn't much tension or surprises. Still the writing is fun and, as I said if you are younger, or have young kids, they may enjoy it more.

Those who are a little older, 14 or 15 maximum, probably would be happier, though, if they avoided this book. It is not for you. If you are older and want to read an Xanth novel, try one of the first three. They are still written for a younger audience, but they are very enjoyable for older people too.

I hate to say it, but I believe that this marks the nadir of the Xanth series. "Demons Don't Dream" and those that follow, lose sight of the earlier novels. I don't like stating this as I have been a huge Piers and Xanth fan for years. The biggest problem here is that Xanth is recognized in Mundania via the novels, and the residents of Xanth recognize that their world is full of puns.

In this story, for instance, two Mundanians are transported into Xanth via a computer game. One of the contestants knows a great deal about Xanth having read the series. I feel that this distracts from the fantasy of Xanth. I always felt that Xanth was completely unknown to most Mundanians. I guess Piers is a conduit between the two worlds. I think too much of Mundania is working its way into Xanth. In fact, his "Black Wave" from Mundania, could be misconstrued as borderline racism! In the next novel, a giant is stricken with bone marrow cancer--not the fantasy world that we expect from Piers!

I liked the idea that the people of Xanth took their puns as what they were having known no other explanation. We readers would chuckle at the phrasing, but the protagonists of the novels knew nothing else! In "Demons Don't Dream", puns are recognized as figures of speech by the denizens of Xanth taking away the double meaning to the reader. Even Magician Trent comments on the punny nature of Xanth in the next volume, "Harpy Thyme". It is also in "Demons Don't Dream" that Piers seems to be worried about using up all of his puns. Before, puns were integral to the story; here they are so numerous that they are often only mentioned in passing and usually feel forced.

If you read the other 1.74 quadrillion Xanth novels that precede this one, you will have to read this one and those that follow. Just prepare to be a bit disenfranchised by "Demons Don't Dream". No longer can a Xanth novel be pure `escapist' fiction.

I know that the Xanth books are not very deep or complex, but they are light-hearted and wonderful! The puns are great fun and I love all of the Xanth books! I'm an avid fantasy reader, and I have read about six Xanth books (and counting) and I love 'em all! Demons Don't Dream is a very original and interesting Xanth book! Very good (and quick) read! Enjoy!

The Xanth series is typically full of plays on words and geared towards young adults. The previous fifteen novels in the series were much more interesting than this one because they introduced various aspects of the magical realm of Xanth and its fascinating characters and punnish denizens. In this volume, the fun has disappeared and gone away.

The novel's plot is that a computer game is created, called "Companions of Xanth" and two earthlings are chosen randomly to play it. The two are 15 and 16 years old male and female players named Dug and Kim. Kim (the female) has read the Xanth series and so cannot wait to meet all those special characters that she knows about. Dug, is never interested in computer games, knows nothing about Xanth, and takes on the game on a dare from a good friend of his - losing his own girlfriend in the process. The game (er plot) itself is to travel through Xanth and find your way to the "prize" while being allowed to choose one of seven Xanth characters as yout companion. So, this is a standard computer adventure game situated in the Xanth universe, using Xanth as a guideline, and written about as if it was a book. That was probably one of the most annoying aspects of this book for me. There is simply nothing that would really make you care one way of the other about what is taking place, as you are reading the story of how others are playing a computer game.

Because of this simplistic plotting, all the Xanth characters that you may care to know about make only cameo appearances in this game and there is really no development of the Xanth universe at all. Clearly this was written to be a companion book to the computer game and is essentially a throw-away volume that is not necessary to understanding the world of Xanth.

The other main theme that runs through this volume, which was also a turnoff for me, was the overt political bent that the author took. One of the first adventures recounted is the destruction of the censorship Bigotry. Hmm, let's see, Bigotry establishes a censorship over a village with the promise that things would be better if only certain words were not spoken, but the real intent is to take over the populations. Jeez. The next episode in the same thread is a human migration to Xanth from Mundania (otherwise know as regular earth). This migration is one of a series but would distinguishes this one is that it is of black people who do not like how they are treated in the U.S. and are looking for a home where they would be treated equally to others. Throughout that thread, they are offered a place if they would become servants, etc.

I took away one star from my recommendation for those two reasons, but I kept the others because there is still a lot of fun with puns throughout the book and some of the solutiont to the challenges thrown at the reader are pretty clever. Oh, it is obnoxious to see how quick the Mundane teenagers solve some of the things thrown into their paths, but it was fun to read about Bubbles the Dog, and some of the other constructs that were placed in the book. Overall, this is not one of the better Xanth books, it might be the worst, but it was still an enjoyable read overall and that is why I left it at four stars.