Castle Roogna (Xanth Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Piers Anthony (Author) "Millie the ghost was beautiful..." (more)
Key Phrases: harpy forces, spider chittered, zombie ogre, Zombie Master, Castle Roogna, King Roogna (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Millie, a ghost for 800 years wants only one man--Jonathan, and he's a zombie. To prove himself, Magician Dor volunteers to get the potion that can restore Jonathan to full life. But he has to go back through time to do it, to a peril-haunted, ancient Xanth, where danger lurks at every turn....


From the Publisher
Piers Anthony [Xanth] -- Piers Anthony redefined the fantasy series when he launched his Xanth books--they're(quite simply) pun for the whole family!

--Veronica Chapman, Senior Editor

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; Unknown edition (June 12, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345350480
• ISBN-13: 978-0345350480
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,841 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 3 in The Xanth Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You'll never look at spiders the same way again, January 23, 2003

By	Tung Yin (Iowa City, IA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Castle Roogna" is the third in the "Xanth" series by Piers Anthony. Unlike the first two, which focused on Bink, this one focuses on Bink's son, Dor. Dor is a twelve year old Magician with the power to speak to inanimate objects or the dead -- which is quite useful as a means of gathering information. When Queen Iris tries to scare him with illusions of dragons or other horrible monsters, Dor is able to ask the floor if the creature is real, and when he's told it's not, he can walk through the illusion without fear.

Dor gets sent on a mission to find a way to bring zombie Jonathan back to life as a favor to Millie the maid. It's tough because Dor has a severe crush on Millie, due partially to the fact that her magic talent is sex appeal(?). But Millie loves Jonathan. To find the means to bring Jonathan back to life, Dor has to travel 800 years in the past through a magic tapestry.

Along on the ride is a giant spider named Jumper. Well, he was normal size in Xanth, but he got transformed into a six foot tall spider in the past. Disgusting? Maybe. But Jumper is incredibly loyal, mature, powerful, and genuine decent.

One of the really neat things about "Castle Roogna" is how well its plot fits in with the previous two novels ("A Spell for Chameleon" and "The Source of Magic") -- oddities like the Forget spell around the Gap (no one remembers the Gap) are explained by the end of this book in a satisfying way.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for teen or pre-teen, December 3, 2000

By	K. Morris (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I first got into the Xanth novels when I was 16 maybe. I loved them, and I loved this one most of all. I probably read it 4 or 5 times during my teen years and as a young adult.

This is a great book to encourage kids to read for pleasure. In my opinion, it is the best of the Xanth novels, but it should be read after A Spell for Chamelon and The Source of Magic, so readers will have a firm grasp of Xanth and who is who.

In this book Xanth is still a wonderous and dangerous place! Later books in the series turn Xanth into an environment suitable for toddlers. Ugh.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the last decent Xanth books, March 16, 2005

By	C. Gilbert "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Castle Roogna, the third in the Xanth books, is one of the last of the readable Xanth books in the series. From this point out, the series decays into a mudge of eeping nymphs with luscious flesh and awful puns.

I remember as a pre-teenager being captivated by a Spell for Chameleon and becoming an addicted Xanth reader. It was interesting to pick this book up again as an adult and realize that while my opinion of Anthony eventually declined, the first three books in the series are still pretty readable.

Xanth in the first three books is a really edgy place. People are often quite cold and their motivations obscure. Dor feels very real as a character, bearing his burdens of expectations and confusion as he struggles his way into the adult world.

The silly puns themselves are at a minimum in this book, with the exception of a couple of real groaners. (Gerrymander, oy!) The nice thing is that since the puns are not omnipresent they are almost funny when they do appear and do not spoil the read as a whole.

The first three books are still recommended for pre-teenagers. I am sure that they will enjoy them-- be a little aware that Anthony indulges in some fairly dubious gender stereotyping, so if you are very sensitive to that sort of thing you might want to read them first before you give these books as a present.