Customer Reviews

Realty Check

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Chandelle and Penn have moved to Philadelphia for the summer so they can give their daughter some relief from her rebellious fifteen-year old offspring. They rent a house unlike any other anywhere on the planet because the home contains unique features. The back door leads to different times in earth's past while the front door enables travel to almost any city on the planet. When their granddaughter shows up, she is so enchanted and curious by the house that Lynn reveals the secrets of the house they know and love.

Since Chandelle is uneasy about being alone in the house or outside it, they arrange for Lynn's first cousin Lloyd and his Doberman Obsidian to stay with them. In the attic they find alien artifacts that allow them to understand any language and transmit a sound so if anyone goes missing it will be easy to find them. They keep finding out something new and vital about the house every day. The only questions left to answer are what is the purpose of the house and what does it want with them.

Adults and teens will definitely enjoy reading REALITY CHECK, a work that is pure entertainment. Readers will delight in solving the riddles of the house and empathize with the characters, as they stumble the hard way into learning the different facets of the house. Piers Anthony has written a work that is fresh, original and fascinating, but readers need to check their reality prior to entering the front page.

Harriet Klausner

I used to read the Xanth series several years ago, back in high school. I was actually a little bit disappointed with Realty Check in that I was expecting more comedy...I remember lots of puns and funny business from the Xanth series, this book really didn't have much of that.

I was also not so easily convinced that the characters would figure out the puzzles so easily! The character development seemed mildly weak, they just weren't beleivable at times. Lloyd, the 13 year old is introduced as an obnoxious little punk, but within a matter of minutes it seems he grew into a wise adult. Llynn was a bit too stereotypical, even admitting that she looks for 'bad boys'. The type of girl that likes a bad boy usually doesn't know or admit that they do.

Also the book had an almost creepy sexual tension at times, as there was plenty of sexual tension not only between cousins, but also between adults and minors. A few times it just left me wondering "huh?!" There was even a bit of sexual tension between 15 year old Llynn and Grandpa!

While I felt some areas of the book left much to be desired, it was really the imaginative and mysterious qualities I was looking forward to, and it came through big time there. I've recently been on a kick looking for stories that deal with time travel, dreams, and other fantasy related subjects. The simple idea that a house has doors that can open to any city in the world is a fascinating concept, and it's those ideas that I enjoyed most about this book. I don't want to give too much away that you can't read on the back of the book, but Piers Anthony is a very creative dude with a wild imagination, so if you're a bit of a dreamer you may well enjoy the book even if you agree with my above criticisms.

Piers Anthony is one of my favorite writers, and I don't think I have read anything by him that I disliked. This book is great, a chance to solve intriguing puzzles along with the characters in the book, which I enjoy. As he does frequently in other stories, Mr. Anthony shifts points of view between chapters, to round out the story. I volunteer with teenagers, and I kept thinking that this would be a great book for them, except for one part which gets a little explicit about some sex and torture. It's not "dirty", it's not tawdry, it's realistic and gritty, and I would think twice about letting young teenagers read it, which is really a shame. Otherwise, this would be a great book to read at the same time as teens and could start some great discussions.

Piers Anthony is one of my favorite fantasy authors. I'm a fan of his Xanth series, so naturally I felt compelled to pick up this book.

Penn & Chandelle are grandparents of a wild teenage girl, so they rent a house where they could spend some time with their granddaughter. The house is quite unusual.

The backdoor opens up to different worlds, the house is conscious and stocks itself with stuff that Penn & Chandelle like. Everything from food, clothing, hobbies, interests, tv, internet, anything that they need and want.

There is a holographic window that changes setting, and the house can "travel" to different locations in the world.

Soon their wild granddaughter Lynn joins them, along with her cousin Lloyd and his dob Obsidian. Penn, Chandelle, Lynn, Lloyd & Obsidian are soon discovering the house's many secrets and mysteries...

What's the house for? What does it want from its occupants? Well I sure am not going to tell you, your going to have to read to find out. I really liked how Piers Anthony weaved the story. He doesn't give anything away and the house's purpose is revealed in the last pages.

This book is somewhat risque with sex references, its not dirty but its somewhat risque. Kinda like when movies have sexual jokes, references, etc. Like the cousin Lloyd is a little lustful for his cousin since he's almost a teenager but that is no excuse...and Lynn flashes him...if you know what I mean.

Later on they take in some strangers and there is this girl who is many years older, but she's definately an adult. Anyway this girl was looking for a job, she was lied to and then taken into white slavery, the house & the others eventually find her & help her escape.

Lloyd develops a crush on her and then the other characters agree it would be okay if she was with Lloyd in an intimate way because she has no passport, no papers, & no identity. She can't return to her city because where she comes from its considered a cultural disgrace, even if it was not the girl's fault that she ended up in white slavery.

That was so sad to read but still I don't think that the characters should have agreed that it would be okay if she was intimate with Lloyd, after all he's a minor!!

I only recommend it for older teens & adults but its not something that I would read again, I think that Piers Anthony went too far in this book with the sexual risque situations.

I'm a great fan of Piers Anthony's so I had been watching this book for a while, waiting for the price to go down, when BOOM, the eBook arrived. Perfect! What a fun read, and well worth the wait!

If you like Piers Anthony fantasy series (Xanth / Bio of Space Tyrant), you will probably enjoy this stand-alone quick trip (literally) out the back door of a simple house an into the woods on a compelling and imaginative journey. The characters and plot are "pure Piers" - if you read his books you understand. I was happy to see is finally available for my Kindle!

I read this book in about 7 hours. It was a very fast paced, well written book. One word of caution: if you are of a conservative nature, this book may not be a good idea for you. For the rest of us, this is an excellent read.

This book starts with Penn and Chandelle, an elderly couple renting a house for a season to be closer to their granddaughter Lynn. But the main character is really the house. When they first inspect it, they find it is already stocked with food and clothes; even more improbably the clothes are in their sizes. But that's the least of the surprises from this house, which also has a back door that opens on a vast array of different landscapes, and a front door that can be set to relocate the house in different cities.

Exploring the house and its secrets becomes the main activity of Penn, Chandelle, Lynn, and her cousin Lloyd. Along the way they pick up new companions and ultimately discover the house's real purpose.

The story is unusual, enjoyable and not easily predictable. The characters are engaging but quite flat, and the author's hand in putting them through their paces, and particularly providing lessons and growth experiences for the two adolescents, is a little too visible.

I appreciate that in an era when SF/fantasy shelves are groaning under the weight of vast multi-volume epics that seem to start at about 1,000 pages and can run up to 10,000, Anthony has written a pleasant little book that tells its story without padding and gets to an ending in under 250 pages. This book is a perfectly good way to spend an afternoon, as long as you don't expect too much from it.

It could be accurately stated that this work leaves some things to be desired. More character development to start. But where the book offers us readers a few minuses, it is truly a hypnotic tale notwithstanding. Imagine yourself finding a house which is fully furnished - everything you would normally want is inside. What is more: it's FREE for a full month. Then factor in the house windows that look out onto foreign landscapes --- a front door that leads to every city or place imaginable in the world. From this conceptual framework alone, you can see how the author could have become so excited by the plot that he forgot about the characters.

I enjoyed this one most because I didn't have any idea as to what I might find on the next page. I love that thrill. Heck, it's why we read all these books, isn't it? The adventure and thrill of the unknown. Piers is the kind of author you can trust for a fun ride through an imaginative world. A+ for storyline / B- for character development. Enjoy!

Just what I needed, a fun, light-hearted book that didn't involve more conflict or hostility than what the story really NEEDED to progress. A book that was truly relaxing to read & characters that I enjoyed getting to know.
I look forward to possibly exploring some of Piers Anthony's other books & series, although there are still so many that aren't available in Kindle format yet, like out of the Immortals series.