Customer Reviews

Up In a Heaval (Xanth, No. 26)

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

 

 

Up In a Heaval (2002) is the 26th Xanth novel. As usual, the plot is just a framework for the characters and puns. The hero is Umlaut, a facsimile, whose talent is emulation.

Umlaut "accidently" takes shelter at the Zombie castle. As he is mucking out the dungeon, Umlaut uses 19 questions to discover that the male dragon is really Sesame, a female Sea Serpent. They also discover a pile of long overlooked Snail mail and meet Sammy the Cat. Umlaut is charged with delivering the mail and both Sesame and Sammy join him in an extended tour of Xanth locations and personalities while the demoness Metria tries to distract and obstruct them.

At the isle of cats, the trio meet Claire Voyant, the knowing cat, who also joins them. In Euphoria, they meet Surprise, the daughter of Grady Golem and Rapunzel, who becomes Umlaut's sweetheart and keeps visiting him in various ways during the journey.

Umlaut is faced with many temptations and doubts in his travels, but perseveres despite all. Of the many puns encountered, Ptero-bull stands out, but other groaners abound. Naturally, Anthony tells all, or at least enough, in the Author's Note.

This book is for Xanth fans and those who are not too proud to groan at a real stinker of a pun. A really fun book.

-Arthur W. Jordin

A bet between Demons Xanth, Jupiter, and Fornax sends Umlaut on a quest to deliver messages sent from our Earth to Xanth. Although Umlaut is a construct, he is endowed with excellent ethical judgement and good luck in finding friends. Demoness Metria will do anything to stop the quest because her son's soul is at risk.

Umlaut's quest takes him through Xanth and into contact with characters familiar to readers of the Xanth series, as well as introducing new characters. Author Piers Anthony delivers a rich assortment of the bad puns that readers of this series delight in. The Xanth series is also known for its sexual teasing (say PG-13). I thought that UP IN A HEAVAL did a good job delivering the tease without dramatically overstepping the bounds of taste. Umlaut's romance with Surprise was teetered at the edge between sweet and sensual--about right for a teenage relationship.

Umlaut was an interesting character because of his compassion. Although he lacked a lasting reality (being a construct of the demons for the sake of their game), Umlaut had a conscience and a drive that made him sympathetic.

A book for my grand daughter's collection. It was mailed to her and she loved it. Thanks

I laugh so much I cried. This was a great book.

A magificant book to read, as well as the other fascinating Xanth series. I really think this book opens the mind to explore new imaginative things, a wide variety of creatures, and the great puns of course. The story line is really creative with the mixture of mundanes and talents, and as well as different spells and characters. Was really a good book to read, I recommend it to all fantasy readers.

Mundane snail mail ending up in Xanth is forwarded to Demon Jupiter. Irate by what he receives, Demon Jupiter hurls his dreaded red spot at Demon Earth. If he throws a strike, Xanth will be destroyed.

Umlaut, who now knows that all good deeds including forwarding snail mail leads to adventure, learns from the Good Magician that he must deliver the remaining mundane mail to hope to avert the disaster he started. Umlaut accompanied by his pals Sesame Snake and Sammy Cat begin the treacherous trek to save Xanth by delivering the mail even as other demons try to manipulate his raging hormones.

The twenty-sixth Xanth tale (Grafton has a few to catch up) is the usual pun per line tale that shows Mr. Anthony has no piers when it comes to irreverent "adult conspiracy" humor that sends readers diving off the dock into a wild fantasy play on the English language. The story line is typical of the Xanth tales, but during the Myth-Adventures with no Asprin for pain relief, many of the participants in the glory of Xanth make an appearance. Though newcomers might struggle in the realm of punning, fans will delight in this comic endeavor as Mr. Anthony shows his usual amusing cat tail of a tale

Harriet Klausner

Up in a Heaval is as good as the last few Xanth books. In my opinion, that means not really that good.
I have been reading Xanth for years, and I loved the earlier books. The more recent ones though...I haven't been as fond of.
Mainly, the story and the characters seemed shallow. The plot was messy, and hurried, and just not very interesting. And what was the point behind the letters in the first place? We never find out who this woman was, or how she's solved any of her problems. In my mind, this is one major loose end that is left hanging.
As always, there are puns, and odd talents, and strange creatures and happenings, but they appear seemingly at random, and with no connection to the story or the characters.
The Demons are back in this book, and I, for one, am getting a little tired of them. Thought we'd all seen the last of Fornax? Think again.
The plots involving the Demons are all the same. Demons are contesting, Xanth wins out in the end. Predictable in the extreme.
The story is very rushed, and nothing connects the way it should. It has a totally random quality that I don't like. Sure, Xanth is a little crazy, and unpredictable, but this is just silly and pointless.
All in all, if you liked the last few Xanth books, you should like this one as well, but if you are a fan of earlier Xanth...Well, this book won't have much appeal.

and as typically unrecognized for its new levels of depth by some

In Swell Foop and Up in a Heaval, we continue the challenges of the demons.
actully its not a new theme
its been visited many times throughout the history of xanth, so how this can be a shocking new twist for some longtime readers of xanth is beyond me.
I think the past two novels added an interesting twist to Xanth books up to this point.
we went from a typical fantasy world that left its dark age into a period of adolescence. everything was sweet and interesting and new. now it enters its teen years, where xanth as a world it seems finds direction. fine maybe i'm looking too into it but stay with me here
the xanth stories often detail the journey of a single man or women on a tale of self-discovery, love, and adventure
it was very personal, very specified to the world of the individual
Swell Foop and now Up in a Heaval show a new aspect
That is the aspect of the demons and their games, related to Xanth, mundania, and such in a way that is analogous to the nature of the greek pantheon and the lives of men in Greek mythology. yes yes, i know Xanth is much more fun and less bloody then that but hang with we, i'm still building up to my point.
the interesting aspect i found everything BUT shallow is it added the element of a greater force
a divine guidance
this notion that we may be the people of the world, but there are greater powers that guide our existance (or at the very least toy with it)
this is what the past two Xanth novels introduced to me
to make the parallels even stronger in my opinion is the way Swell Foop left the Demons intrigued by emotion, something they did not understand but now want to feel to its fullest. similarly the greek gods were known for their indulgences.

so that brings us to the background bones, i won't bore you with specific details (though i prolly bored you with others), but this new territory of human (in level, not necessarily in species) characters caught in a game of greater divine powers adds an interesting new backdrop for Xanth. we always knew of Demon earth, but now the game is larger, more complex, making the individual human character seem that much smaller in relation. yet ironically, like in old tales of epic heroes, it comes down to thw human characters to decide the outcome.

as a person who likes to see a series of literature grow and develop, especially since its been bless with series longevity, i see this new twist as something interesting to see. to se how piers anthony uses it now, and to see how he builds upon it, to create a Xanthian version of a epic hero perhaps

but, like any greek mythology, to start in the middle of the tale is difficult, so you may wish to go back to the beginning verus starting here

and for those who absolutely cannot change and wish to remain in stasis with the fond memories of the way it used to be. i say this is different, and may not please you as the lder novels did