Customer Reviews

Golem in the Gears Golem in the Gears (Xanth Novels)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love the Xanth series and this one remains my personal favorite. Grundy is a great, unlikely hero. The resident lilliputian smart-mouth of earlier Xanth novels, he shows us here us that wise-acres have feelings too, as he goes on a great quest that may or may not bring him true love.

The thing I like about Piers Anthony's Xanth series are the things its detractors hate about it: its pure whimsy and silliness. Modern fantasy can sometimes be grim and self-important, whereas a trip to Xanth is anything-can-happen day.

I know of no books which I digest more easily than Anthony's Xanth series. They are full of silly sexuality, engaging cleverness, emotional frailty and eternal optimism.

The sharp and bold Grundy the Golem makes an excellent character because of his natural sarcastic personality, and his awesome talent. I recommend this book to anybody of any age who has ever loved fantasy books. It grips your imagination and will take you to heighths you never dreamed possible. Piers Anthony is the best!!!

I've read all of the books before this one, and I am starting on the next, Vale of the Vole. When Grundy went out in search of Stanley Steamer, I kept wondering if he would shoot his mouth off and get eaten by a neighboring creature. It didn't happen though. He did shoot his mouth off, but that's also what got him out of a whole mess of trouble. It was GREAT!!

During the ninth visit to the world of Xanth, Grundy gets to be the hero of his very own quest and, of course, to find everlasting love. What a great premise, eh?

Grundy has been known to us faithful Xanth readers since the very beginning. He was a golem created from string and cloth to be able to interpret any language into any other. In one of the previous books he gets to have his fondest wish granted and he is turned into flesh and blood. However, this creates its own problem as he is now the only one of his kind. He is very conscious of his diminutive size, and in compensation for that has adopted a very sarcastic conversational style in which he puts down everyone he meets. This sarcastic commentary on everyone and everything gets him into constant trouble.

The book starts with his getting entangled with some toads who do not like his words and attempt to eat him. He just barely gets out of that problem and decides that he should really do something meaningful to raise his stature amongst the residents of Xanth. This leads him to talk to Ivy who is missing her pet dragon (Stanley Steamer). Now that Grundy has a Quest, he goes to see the wise magician who, as usual, tells him only part of what he needs to know.

Grundy goes off on his quest to retrieve Stanley and hilarity ensues as is usual in Xanth books. Pun after pun rolls off the page and your face will likely be permanently fixed in a quasi-simle as Grundy grows up. First, he discovers that being nice to people yields better results than his heretofore sarcastic manner. Then, he discovers Rapunzel and saves her from the Sea Hag with the help of some unlikely creatures. The discovery of Stanley, his rescue from his place of captivity and the trek back to Castle Roogna are all told in a fun way that makes you pull for the heroes of the story while teaching life lessons and being punishly funny.

The ending of the story is also logical as Grundy finds his true love and saves both Xanth and many other locales by proving how smart he really is. Small size is no obstacle when you have a brain as large as his! Very fun and recommended reading to all.

Golem in the Gears, as well as the entire Xanth series, is a great book. I read Golem in 2 days, and all the books (so far) from A Spell For Chameleon to Man from Mundania in an average of 2 1/2 days each, and I'm still going!!I highly recomend the Xanth series to anyone and everyone. If you like books that capture you from the beginning, then Xanth's for you. ********** stars

Of all the Xanth novels, this one is my favorite. I liked Grundy from his first appearance in the series, and Piers Anthony has a way to make the characters seem very real and human where in many of the fantasy stories I have read, the characters are the steriotypical overly heroic hero and wimpy maiden (Which isn't always bad). I especially liked the romance in it, the Xanth novels turned me into a hopeless romantic when I was 11. This is a great Xanth book, with suspense, excitement, a great villian, and a "little" romance.

Typical fantasy quest in the style of Anthony or Pratchett with humor and surprises throughout. The saving grace comes at the end of the tale.

I enjoyed the book quite a bit, however, there was one thing I disliked about it. This goes for most of this authors books, but the majority of the characters all have an above average intelligence. It just makes the characters lack diversity, as well as making the book seem less realistic, although it is a fantasy novel.

With the exception of my prior statment, the book was marvelous - I paticuarly liked how they made Grundy golem a main character this time, because in previous books the main characters always seemed to be Bink or some relative of his.

Over all, I think this is a good book if you are a fan of this author or this genere. Its not the best book of his I've read, but it was good.

This is a lesson everyone can learn. Just because you have a big mouth doesn't mean you can't love.

This was one of the few books in the series I could not put down. You never forget Grundy, and I was pleased he got his own book. The sharp tongue(witted) and bold Grundy the Golem makes an excellent character. You will actually love his sarcastic personality. Grundy finally gets his own quest.