Customer Reviews

Hasan

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This is quite the good story. Apart from Anthony's usual fixation on large breasts and illicit sex and his predilection for justifying the most villianous of characters, this story makes for outstanding light reading. I enjoyed it: don't let the above rating fool you.

While I admit the story and characters are simplistic, I rarely look for depth when reading Piers Anthony novels. Most of his earlier works are written to appeal to a younger crowd. This book is told straight out in simple language a tale of adventure with an appropriate mix of heroism, sex, stupidity, love, and conflict. Hasan is admittedly one-dimensional, but that is to be expected of a poor young man who has been exposed to nothing but goldsmithing in his life...until he meets up with a crafty magician who cons Hasan into trapping himself on a mountaintop. This turns a blessing in disguise when his only means of escape leads to the gilded, isolated abode of a dozen beautiful and wealthy princesses who adopt him as their brother. He learns much from them but still never quite loses his naivety through the story. But this same naivety ultimately keeps him on his pursuit to rescue the marvelously pretty, artificially-winged woman he meets, marries, and then loses to a wrathful queen of the Isle of Wak (also, incidentally, inhabited entirely by beautiful women). Several help him in his quest, including a hardened but compassionate military general witch and an arrogant but humorous djinn. The book reads quickly...great to breeze through and then give to a friend, and a nice paperback to keep on your shelf afterward.

Anthony admits in "Bio of an Ogre" that a lot of his fantasy inspiration is from the Arabian Nights. Here he tries a similar story in his style. You are better off buying The Arabian Nights in an unexpurgated edition -- yes, that means that when the hero sneaks into the harem, he really does it with the ladies. Its easy to see that Anthony's bold sexual themes derive from the inspiration of his source. However, the book lacks a certain dimensionality to the characters, as if this is an early work when he was an uncertain writer. I don't remember much of the story or plot, and that says it all -- its a throwaway imitation. Get the original source!

This book is very interesting. A little different than his other novels, but definately worth reading.