Customer Reviews

Vale of the Vole (Xanth Novels)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

5 stars!! This book has all the magic of Xanth and then some! Join 3 interesting characters on their amazing quests in the punny, exciting, and wonderful land! Travel into the realm of the gourd and encounter an amazing animated skeleton, head underground and explore the different kinds of creatures who reside there and see how they can help poor Volney who is looking to fix the Vale, find out how Cherie reacts to Chem and Xap's daughter, and much, much, more! If you are a Xanth reader, this is obviously a must-have, and if you are not then this will get you hooked! Remember to look for the other great Piers Anthony novels to suit your taste and quench your thirst for adventure- they're out there waiting for you to order, read, and enjoy them! As a more than satisfied fan of Xanth I truly suggest you do just that with this book....What are you waiting for?

Yet another great addition to the Xanth series:
1 A Spell for Chameleon (1977) by Piers Anthony
2 The Source of Magic (1979) by Piers Anthony
3 Castle Roogna (1979) by Piers Anthony
4 Centaur Aisle (1982) by Piers Anthony
5 Ogre, Ogre (1982) by Piers Anthony
6 Night Mare (1983) by Piers Anthony
7 Dragon on a Pedestal (1983) by Piers Anthony
8 Crewel Lye: A Caustic Yarn (1985) by Piers Anthony
9 Golem in the Gears (1986) by Piers Anthony
10 Vale of the Vole (1987) by Piers Anthony (this book)

I bought this book, and all the others before it, for my son. I read the entire series as a youth and thought he would love it. I was right! The humor is ageless, and my son is avidly devouring the series. If you read one, or all of the Xanth series, don't hesitate to buy for your young readers (age-appropriate, of course)

Xanth stories are fairly predictable: there is always a quest that normally involves a young man setting out to make his mark on the world. There are always magical creatures of unique types involved - who somehow all manage to speak English. There are references to the past history of Xanth: whether that is the Mundanian invasions, Castle Roogna, Magician Humfrey, or the current King and Queen of Xanth. And normally there is a lot of humor in either the situations encountered in the book or in the liberal use of puns.

This book falls flat on many counts.

The plot is the usual one. A young man (16 years old) goes on a quest, is joined by magical creatures, and finds love as the party overcomes one challenge after another.

On all other counts, this book is a bore. The plot feels recycled. Oh, the idea that the demons inhabit the Vale of the Voles and that therefore the Voles are asking for help in getting rid of the demons is new. But, how different is this than the other stories that we read in the Xanth series? We have travel through the gourd - repeatedly - to counter physical distance; we have demons impersonating anyone and everyone to drive the good guys off the path of goodness; and we have the predictable putting together a group of individual misfits who grow fond of each other as they accomplish the main task.

The old haunts are all there, but they only make cameo appearances. Normally, each book spends a chapter or two on how the hero's party makes it in to see Magician Humfrey and the difficulties in solving the three puzzles needed to gain access. In this book that is given short shrift - now, it is most likely that Piers Anthony is laying the groundwork here for a follow-on story, but it is very clumsily done. Castle Roogna, King Dor and Queen Irene barely make an appearance although the problem of the Voles should be one of the issues that they should tackle, no? The Gap Chasm and its dragon are mentioned and then dispensed with. So it goes with all the other parts of Xanth that we've learned about over the years.

So, how about the humor and puns? What humor? This story is so dry it reminds me of the skeleton hero - Marrow. There is absolutely no humor here except for some sophomoric attempts in creating sexual tension between Esk (the hero) and Bria (the Brassie lady)- you see, Bria keeps finding excuses to kiss Esk and he is embarrassed by it, while the Demoness Metria keeps trying to seduce Esk and he keeps resisting. This sexual theme is repeated through the story over and over again - so much so that it was annoying rather than cute.

Puns? Oh there were a couple. The Lost Path is where all lost items end up until they are found in which case they are no longer lost and therefore leave the path is the most interesting one of them all. That's it - nothing new is there. I suppose Piers Anthony grew tired of finding ways to incorporate his reader's suggestions into the stories so he just didn't but the book is much the lesser for this decision.

As you would expect, the party of adventurers overcome much adversity and this was another weak point. All of the hurdles they overcome are so clearly moral stories that it was sickening. Jeepers, do we really need to be pounded over the head with an obstacle that has the heroes facing their deepest fears and yet still managing to overcome them? And, they are the fear of failure or of fitting in? Blech!

So, in sum, a very disappointing entry in a series that has brought great joy in the past. Since there are many more Xanth books in print, I am hoping that this was a temporary aberration and that Piers Anthony regains the magic in the future volumes. This one is definitely a loser!

I Think this book is a great book for young men having trouble with temptation and a great book to read just for fun.

This book is immediately after the last of the "original" series of Xanth (Published by Del Rey) and it gets better and better. To the person who stated that it was for uneducated people, you need to read more of this series. About that Chester, Chet, Cherie, Chem, and Chex that is just ONE family of centaurs. All of them are related in some way, so they have a distinct name similarity. Get it? And not all centaurs are named with a C or a Ch, if you've read almost all of the series like I have. Well, back to the point. I found this book very interesting and kudos to piers for yet another well thought adventure through the magical land of Xanth.

This book was great and all, but what is the next book? I have looked everywhere to find it and have ended up with nothing!But I have to admit this book was great but I think it could use a little work on the age of the people Anthony is trying to make these books for.

Contrary to what other reviewers state, I find this book and Xanth in total better than Terry Brook's Shannarra for basically one reason: originality. T.B.'s fantasy novels are all imitations of Tolkien, thinly disguised. This one was also more reminiscent of the first Xanth novels, with fewer puns and a connection to the main characters of yore.

The story shows how hilariously funny Piers Anthony can really be. The characters are well thought up and have new and interesting magical talents which will help them to finish their quest. Brining in new information about the voles, diggels, squiggles, and wiggles was one of his best ideas. A must for any Anthony fan or any one seeking a great fantasy novel

I think Vale of the Vole by the author Piers Anthony is a very good fantasy book. It was also very funny at certain points. I love how Piers Anthony thinks up different fantasy creatures, for instance Nymphs, Ogres, Hippogriffs, Centaurs, Unicorns, Demons, Griffins, and Voles. My faviorte part was when Chex the Centaur learned to fly. The part that I hated was when Ivy, Esk, and Chex went to Castle Roogna. I hope you will read this wonderful book.