Anthony, Piers 1934-
ANTHONY, Piers 1934-
(Robert Piers, a joint pseudonym)
PERSONAL: Born Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob, August 6, 1934, in Oxford, England; immigrated to United States, 1940, naturalized U.S. citizen, 1958; son of Alfred Bennis and Norma (Sherlock) Jacob; married Carol Marble, June 23, 1956; children: Penelope Carolyn, Cheryl. Education: Goddard College, B.A., 1956; University of South Florida, teaching certificate, 1964. Politics: Independent. Hobbies and other interests: Tree farming, archery.
ADDRESSES: Home—Inverness, FL. Office—c/o Author Mail, Tor Books, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—[email protected].
CAREER: Novelist. Electronic Communications, Inc., St. Petersburg, FL, technical writer, 1959-62; freelance writer, 1962-63, 1966—; Admiral Farragut Academy, St. Petersburg, teacher of English, 1965-66. Military service: U.S. Army, 1957-59.
MEMBER: Authors Guild, Authors League of America, National Writers Union.
AWARDS, HONORS: Science fiction award, Pyramid Books/Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction/Kent Productions, 1967, for Sos the Rope; British Fantasy Award, 1977, for A Spell for Chameleon.
WRITINGS:
SCIENCE FICTION
Chthon, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1967.
(With Robert E. Margroff) The Ring, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1968.
Macroscope, Avon (New York, NY), 1969.
(With Robert E. Margroff) The E.S.P. Worm, Paperback Library (New York, NY), 1970.
Prostho Plus, Berkley Publishing (New York, NY), 1973.
Race against Time, Hawthorne (New York, NY), 1973.
Rings of Ice, Avon (New York, NY), 1974.
Triple Detente, DAW Books (New York, NY), 1974.
Phthor (sequel to Chthon), Berkley Publishing (New York, NY), 1975.
(With Robert Coulson) But What of Earth?, Laser (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1976, corrected edition, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1989.
(With Frances T. Hall) The Pretender, Borgo Press (San Bernadino, CA), 1979.
Mute, Avon (New York, NY), 1981.
Ghost, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1986.
Shade of the Tree, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1986.
(Editor with Barry Malzberg, Martin Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh) Uncollected Stars (short stories), Avon (New York, NY), 1986.
Total Recall, Morrow (New York, NY), 1989.
Balook, illustrated by Patrick Woodroffe, Underwood-Miller (Novato, CA), 1990.
Hard Sell, Tafford (Houston, TX), 1990.
(With Roberto Fuentes) Dead Morn, Tafford (Houston, TX), 1990.
MerCycle, illustrated by Ron Lindahn, Tafford (Houston, TX), 1991.
(With Philip José Farmer) Caterpillar's Question, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1992.
Killobyte, Putnam (New York, NY), 1993.
The Willing Spirit, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1996.
Volk Internet 1996, Xlibris (Philadelphia, PA), 1997.
(With Clifford Pickover) Spider Legs, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1998.
(With J. R. Goolsby and Alan Riggs) Quest for the Fallen Star, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1998.
(With Julie Brady) Dream a Little Dream, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1999.
(With Jo An Taeusch) The Secret of Spring, Tor Books (New York, NY), 2000.
(With Ron Leming) The Gutbucket Quest, Tor Books (New York, NY), 2000.
Realty Check, Xlibris (Philadelphia, PA), 2000.
"OMNIVORE" SERIES; NOVELS
Omnivore, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1968, reprinted, Mundania Press (Cincinnati, OH), 2004.
Orn, Avon (New York, NY), 1971.
Ox, Avon (New York, NY), 1976.
"BATTLE CIRCLE" SERIES; NOVELS
Sos the Rope, Pyramid (New York, NY), 1968.
Var the Stick, Faber (London, England), 1972.
Neq the Sword, Corgi (London, England), 1975.
Battle Circle (contains Sos the Rope, Var the Stick, and Neq the Sword), Avon (New York, NY), 1978.
"CLUSTER" SERIES; NOVELS
Cluster, Avon (New York, NY), 1977, published as Vicinity Cluster, Panther (London, England), 1979.
Chaining the Lady, Avon (New York, NY), 1978.
Kirlian Quest, Avon (New York, NY), 1978.
Thousandstar, Avon (New York, NY), 1980.
Viscous Circle, Avon (New York, NY), 1982.
"TAROT" TRILOGY
God of Tarot, Jove (New York, NY), 1979.
Vision of Tarot, Berkley Publishing (New York, NY), 1980.
Faith of Tarot, Berkley Publishing (New York, NY), 1980.
Tarot (contains God of Tarot, Vision of Tarot, and Faith of Tarot), Ace Books (New York, NY), 1988.
"BIO OF A SPACE TYRANT" SERIES; NOVELS
Refugee, Avon (New York, NY), 1983.
Mercenary, Avon (New York, NY), 1984.
Politician, Avon (New York, NY), 1985.
Executive, Avon (New York, NY), 1985.
Statesman, Avon (New York, NY), 1986.
FANTASY NOVELS
Hasan, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1977.
(With Robert Kornwise) Through the Ice, illustrated by D. Horne, Underwood-Miller (Novato, CA), 1989.
(With Mercedes Lackey) If I Pay Thee Not in Gold, Baen (New York, NY), 1993.
"MAGIC OF XANTH" SERIES; FANTASY NOVELS
A Spell for Chameleon, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1977.
The Source of Magic, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1979.
Castle Roogna, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1979.
The Magic of Xanth (contains A Spell for Chameleon, The Source of Magic, and Castle Roogna), Doubleday (New York, NY), 1981, published as Piers Anthony: Three Complete Xanth Novels, Wings Books (New York, NY), 1994.
Centaur Aisle, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1982.
Ogre, Ogre, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1982.
Night Mare, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1983.
Dragon on a Pedestal, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1983.
Crewel Lye: A Caustic Yarn, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1985.
Golem in the Gears, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1986.
Vale of the Vole, Avon (New York, NY), 1987.
Heaven Cent, Avon (New York, NY), 1988.
Man from Mundania, Avon (New York, NY), 1989.
(With Jody Lynn Nye) Piers Anthony's Visual Guide to Xanth, illustrated by Todd Cameron Hamilton and James Clouse, Avon (New York, NY), 1989.
Isle of View, Morrow (New York, NY), 1990.
Question Quest, Morrow (New York, NY), 1991.
The Color of Her Panties, Avon (New York, NY), 1992.
Demons Don't Dream, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1993.
Harpy Thyme, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1994.
Geis of the Gargoyle, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1995.
Roc and a Hard Place, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1995.
Yon Ill Wind, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1996.
Faun and Games, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1997.
Zombie Lover, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1998.
Xone of Contention, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1999.
The Dastard, Tor Books (New York, NY), 2000.
Swell Foop, Tor Books (New York, NY), 2001.
Up in a Heaval, Tor Books (New York, NY), 2001.
Cube Route, Tor Books (New York, NY), 2003.
Currant Events, Tor Books (New York, NY), 2004.
"INCARNATIONS OF IMMORTALITY" SERIES; FANTASY NOVELS
On a Pale Horse, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1983.
Bearing an Hourglass, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1984.
With a Tangled Skein, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1985.
Wielding a Red Sword, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1986.
Being a Green Mother, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1987.
For Love of Evil, Morrow (New York, NY), 1988.
And Eternity, Morrow (New York, NY), 1990.
"DRAGON'S GOLD" SERIES; FANTASY NOVELS
(With Robert E. Margroff) Dragon's Gold, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1987.
(With Robert E. Margroff) Serpent's Silver, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1988.
(With Robert E. Margroff) Chimaera's Copper, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1990.
(With Robert E. Margroff) Orc's Opal, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1990.
(With Robert E. Margroff) Mouvar's Magic, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1992.
(With Robert E. Margroff) Three Complete Novels (contains Dragon's Gold, Serpent's Silver, and Chimaera's Copper), Wings Books (New York, NY), 1993.
"APPRENTICE ADEPT" SERIES; SCIENCE-FICTION
Split Infinity, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1980.
Blue Adept, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1981.
Juxtaposition, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1982.
Double Exposure (contains Split Infinity, Blue Adept, and Juxtaposition), Doubleday (New York, NY), 1982.
Out of Phaze, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1987.
Robot Adept, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1988.
Unicorn Point, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1989.
Phaze Doubt, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1990.
"MODE" SERIES; SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY NOVELS
Virtual Mode, Putnam (New York, NY), 1991.
Fractal Mode, Putnam (New York, NY), 1992.
Chaos Mode, Putnam (New York, NY), 1993.
DoOon Mode, Tor Books (New York, NY), 2001.
"CHROMAGIC" SERIES; NOVELS
Key to Havoc, Mundania Press (Cincinnati, OH), 2003.
Key to Chroma, Mundania Press (Cincinnati, OH), 2003.
Key to Destiny, Mundania Press (Cincinnati, OH), 2004.
"JASON STRIKER" SERIES; MARTIAL ARTS NOVELS
(With Roberto Fuentes) Kiai!, Berkley Publishing (New York, NY), 1974.
(With Roberto Fuentes) Mistress of Death, Berkley Publishing (New York, NY), 1974.
(With Roberto Fuentes) The Bamboo Bloodbath, Berkley Publishing (New York, NY), 1974.
(With Roberto Fuentes) Ninja's Revenge, Berkley Publishing (New York, NY), 1975.
(With Roberto Fuentes) Amazon Slaughter, Berkley Publishing (New York, NY), 1976.
"GEODYSSEY" SERIES; HISTORICAL SCIENCE FICTION
Isle of Woman, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1993.
Shame of Man, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1994.
Hope of Earth, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1997.
Muse of Art, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1999.
OTHER
Steppe (science fiction/history), Millington (London, England), 1976, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1985.
Anthonology (short stories), Tor Books (New York, NY), 1985.
Bio of an Ogre: The Autobiography of Piers Anthony to Age Fifty, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1988.
Pornucopia (erotic fantasy), Tafford (Houston, TX), 1989.
Firefly (novel), Morrow (New York, NY), 1990.
Tatham Mound (historical fiction), Morrow (New York, NY), 1991.
Alien Plot (short stories), Tor Books (New York, NY), 1992.
Letters to Jenny (nonfiction), Tor Books (New York, NY), 1993.
(Editor with Richard Gilliam) Tales from the Great Turtle, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1994.
How Precious Was That While: An Autobiography, Tor Books (New York, NY), 2001.
The Magic Fart (erotica), Mundania Books (Cincinnati, OH), 2003.
Also author of novel The Unstilled World. Contributor to Science against Man, edited by Anthony Cheetham, Avon (New York, NY), 1970; Nova One: An Anthology of Original Science Fiction, edited by Harry Harrison, Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 1970; Again, Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1972; Generation, edited by David Gerrold, Dell (New York, NY), 1972; and The Berkley Showcase, edited by Victoria Schochet and John Silbersack, Berkley Publishing (New York, NY), 1981. Also contributor, with Robert E. Margroff under joint pseudonym Robert Piers, of a short story to Adam Bedside Reader. Contributor of short stories to periodicals, including Analog, Fantastic, Worlds of If, Worlds of Tomorrow, Amazing, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, SF Age, Vegetarian Times, Twilight Zone, Books and Bookmen, Writer, Gauntlet, Chic, Far Point, Starburst, Vertex, and Pandora.
ADAPTATIONS: Macroscope, A Spell for Chameleon, The Source of Magic, Castle Roogna, Through the Ice, Chaos Mode, Virtual Mode, and Fractal Mode have been adapted to audio cassette.
WORK IN PROGRESS: Pet Peeve, a novel in the "Magic of Xanth" series, to be published by Tor Books, 2005; other novels in the "Magic of Xanth" series; Climate of Change, a novel in the "Geodyssey" series.
SIDELIGHTS: Prolific author Piers Anthony is widely known in the science-fiction and fantasy genres for his many popular series—including the ongoing "Magic of Xanth" novels—and his various novels and collections; he has published more than one hundred books since 1967. "I am an SF writer today," he told Cliff Biggers in a Science Fiction interview, "because without SF and writing I would be nothing at all today."
Within a childhood affected by illness and isolation, Anthony escaped by immersing himself in books. "From the time I was 13, I had been hooked on science fiction," Anthony recalled in an interview with the Science Fiction Radio Show (SFRS) published in The Sound of Wonder. "It's what I did for entertainment. It was a whole different world, multiple worlds, each one of them better than the one I knew. And so when I thought about writing [science fiction], I thought I could be original because I had read everything in the field."
Among the traumatic events of Anthony's youth were his family's moves to Spain when he was five and to the United States the following year, the loss of his cousin to cancer at age fifteen, and his parents' divorce when he was eighteen. As members of the Quaker faith, his parents were involved with the British Friends Service Committee during the Spanish Civil War, and Anthony spent the first years of his life in England under the care of his grandparents and a nanny. When he and his sister joined his parents after the war, they "seemed like acquaintances rather than close kin," the author recounted in an essay for Something about the Author Autobiography Series (SAAS). The family soon moved to the United States, where Anthony found it difficult to fit in. He often had to deal with bullies at school, and this compounded the alienation he suffered because of his parents' divorce. "The dominant emotion of my later childhood was fear," he recalled in his essay. "Fear of bigger kids at school, of a monster in the forest, and fear of the corpse. Fear, really, of life. I hated being alone, but others neither understood nor cared, so I was alone a lot. That is, often physically, and almost always emotionally. Today when I get a letter from a reader who feels almost utterly alone, I understand, because I remember."
In addition, the young Anthony had difficulty at school. "Everyone in my immediate family was academically gifted except me," he explained in SAAS. "I was the dunce who made up for it all, pulling the average down." It wasn't until he was an adult that he discovered his academic problems had been due to some type of learning disability. "In my day things like learning disabilities or dyslexia didn't exist, just stupid or careless children," he wrote. Nevertheless, encouraged by his parents, who read and told stories to him, Anthony became a regular reader. "I think that nightly reading, and the daytime storytelling when we worked together outside, was the most important influence on my eventual choice of career. I knew that books contained fascinating adventures, and those stories took me away from my dreary real life," he recalled.
Anthony began to write at age twenty, deciding in college to make writing his career. He told Holly Atkins of the St. Petersburg Times, "I did not know I wanted to be a writer until I needed to decide on my college major. I thought about it overnight and realized that writing was it. From that point my ambition never changed, though for several years I had to take mundane jobs to support my family. Finally my wife went to work, so that I could stay home and write full time; that's when I started selling stories, and later novels. Now I write all the time that is available." After eight years of submitting stories to magazines, Anthony sold his first piece, "Possible to Rue," to Fantastic in 1962. In the next several years he worked variously as a freelance writer and English teacher, but finally decided to devote all of his time to writing. His first published novel, Chthon, came out in 1967. It received numerous award nominations and caught the attention of both critics and readers in the science fiction genre.
The novel traces the escape efforts of Aton Five, a man imprisoned on the planet Chthon and forced to work in its garnet mines. A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented that Anthony has combined language, myth, suspense, and symbolism to create "a bursting package, almost too much for one book, but literate, original and entertaining." Those elements—and Anthony's liberal use of them—would become his trademark. In a detailed analysis of Chthon and its sequel, Phthor, in his study Piers Anthony, Michael R. Collings noted Anthony's many references to mythological symbols. Literary references are present as well, exemplified by the resemblance of the prison caverns of Chthon to Dante's depiction of Hell in The Inferno. To Books and Bookmen contributor Leo Harris, in Chthon, "Anthony has created a whole new world, a dream universe which you find yourself living in and, after a while, understanding. Very poetic and tough and allegorical it all is, and it will rapidly have thee in thrall." While Chthon focuses on Aton's life, Phthor follows Aton's son, Arlo, who symbolizes Thor of Norse mythology. "The mythologies embedded in Chthon and Phthor go far beyond mere ornamentation or surface symbolism," Collings related. "They define the thematic content of the novels. Initially, there is a clear demarcation between myth and reality. Yet early in Chthon Anthony throws that clear demarcation into question."
Anthony won a prize in a contest jointly sponsored by Pyramid Books, Kent Productions, and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction for Sos the Rope, the first entry in the "Battle Circle" series, which is Anthony's first trilogy. Sos the Rope is based on a chapter of his 1956 B.A. thesis novel titled "The Unstilled World." The titles of Sos the Rope and the other installments in the series are characters' names; the trilogy's warriors are named after their weapons. The first novel explores the efforts of a group of radiation survivors led by Sos as they attempt to rebuild their society after the Blast. Yet the resulting Empire soon becomes a malevolent force and Sos sets out to destroy it. The novel speaks against the dangers of centralized civilization and overpopulation: millions of shrews, like the Biblical plague of locusts, invade the area and consume every living creature within their reach. Eventually the horde destroys itself with its enormity and its wholesale pillaging. The shrews' rampage and ultimate demise serve as a metaphor for humanity's overcrowding and abuse of the environment. Humankind, like the shrews, will be decimated when it outgrows the Earth's ability to sustain it. In Var the Stick and Neq the Sword, the "Battle Circle" story is completed. Collings observed similarities to the epic works of Homer, Virgil, and John Milton in "Battle Circle," which "investigates the viability of three fundamental forms of epic: the Achilean epic of martial prowess; the Odyssean epic of wandering; and the Virgillian/Miltonic epic of self-sacrifice and restoration."
The "Omnivore" trilogy provided a forum for Anthony to further his exploration of the dangers humankind continues to inflict upon itself, and introduced his support of vegetarianism. "Like 'Battle Circle,' Chthon, and Phthor," Collings observed, "'Omnivore' deals with control—specifically, with controlling the most dangerous omnivore of all, man." Three interplanetary explorers, the herbivorous Veg, carnivorous Cal, and omnivorous Aquilon, play out Anthony's views. The three journey to the planet Nacre, reporting back to investigator Subble and subsequently revealing to readers their adventures and clues to the secret threatening to destroy Earth. In the sequel, Orn, the three explorers venture to the planet Paleo, which resembles the Earth of sixty-five million years past, and encounter Orn, a creature whose racial memory endows it with the knowledge of its ancestors and enables it to survive the changes bombarding its planet. In Ox, the final volume of the trilogy, Veg, Cal, and Aquilon gradually uncover the existence of a sentient supercomputer while exploring alternative worlds. As with Anthony's other books, reviewers noted that the "Omnivore" volumes contain substantial discussions of technical and scientific issues. A Publishers Weekly reviewer described Ox as "a book for readers willing to put a lot of concentration into reading it."
The similarly challenging Macroscope, described by Collings as "one of Anthony's most ambitious and complex novels," seeks to place humanity in its proper context within the galaxy. The book enhanced Anthony's reputation but, due to a publisher's error, was not submitted for consideration for the important Nebula Award and lost one crucial source of publicity. Nevertheless, Macroscope was a milestone in Anthony's career. In a Luna Monthly review, Samuel Mines observed, "Macroscope recaptures the tremendous glamour and excitement of science fiction, pounding the reader into submission with the sheer weight of its ideas which seem to pour out in an inexhaustible flood."
Beginning with the "Cluster" series, Anthony began expanding beyond trilogies. "Cluster" became a series of five novels, while "Magic of Xanth" has grown to about thirty titles and been supplemented by the companion book Piers Anthony's Visual Guide to Xanth. "Magic of Xanth" and the "Apprentice Adept" series, which had seven entries published between 1980 and 1990, were originally planned as trilogies. In the case of the "Xanth" books, Anthony attributes his decision to continue the series to reader response. "We did a third [Xanth novel], and said, 'Let's wrap it up as a trilogy and not do any more,'" Anthony remarked to SFRS. "Then the readers started demanding more, and more, and more, and finally both the publisher and the author were convinced. It's hard to say 'No' when the readers are begging for more."
A Spell for Chameleon, the first of the "Xanth" books, marked Anthony's branching-out from science fiction into fantasy. Although one early work, Hasan, was fantasy, it was Chameleon, his second fantasy novel, that established Anthony in the genre. The switch to fantasy came as a result of Anthony's much-publicized split with his first publisher, Ballantine Books. The author told SFRS, Ballantine "was sending me statements-of-account that were simply not true. I sent a letter demanding a correct statement and correct payments. Rather than do that, they blacklisted me for six years." Anthony moved to Avon Books; six years later, with a new administration at Ballantine, he found himself invited back and wanted to give Ballantine another chance. His contract at Avon, however, prohibited him from writing science fiction for another publisher, so he decided to try fantasy. Anthony knew and liked the fantasy editor at Ballantine, Lester del Rey; Ballantine's Del Rey imprint went on to publish the first nine "Xanth" novels as well as the early "Apprentice Adept" and "Incarnations of Immortality" entries. Anthony differentiates between his science fiction and fantasy works in their content as well as their popularity. "For the challenge and sheer joy of getting in and tackling a difficult problem and surmounting it, science fiction is better," Anthony explained to SFRS. "But if I need money, fantasy is better." He later added, "I talk about writing fantasy in the sense of doing it for the money, but I also enjoy it. If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't do it for the money."
The "Xanth" series was still continuing over two decades after its first book appeared. The novels in the series are generally less complex and easier to read than Anthony's earlier works, and they appeal to younger readers as well as adults. A Spell for Chameleon, a 1978 Hugo Award nominee, introduces Bink, who tackles another recurring topic in Anthony's novels: maturity and control. The first "Xanth" installment chronicles Bink's growing-up; his son, Dor, and subsequent generations of the family feature in later books. The land of Xanth closely resembles Anthony's longtime home state of Florida in size and shape, and its place names are often wittily twisted versions of Floridian ones. In Xanth, everyone and everything—even a rock or tree—has a magical talent, except Bink. Chameleon follows Bink on his quest to discover his talent or face exile to the boring, powerless land of Mundania. In the process, Bink gains not only knowledge of his talent but emotional maturity as well. Bink sets out on another adventure in The Source of Magic, in which he is assigned to discover the source of all magic in Xanth. In Castle Roogna, Bink's son Dor travels 800 years back in time to rescue his nurse's boyfriend. Throughout each book, Bink and Dor encounter innumerable illusions and feats of magic. "Anthony apparently decided to invest his magical land of Xanth with every fantastical conception ever invented," a reviewer for Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine remarked. "It has quests, enchanted castles, riddles, unicorns, griffins, mermaids, giants (not to mention invisible giants), zombies, ghosts, elves, magicians, man-eating trees, enchantresses, and a host of inventions from Anthony's own fertile mind."
"The Magic of Xanth" continues with Centaur Aisle, Ogre, Ogre, and Night Mare, the next "trilogy" of "Xanth" books. The first of these finds Dor filling in for Xanth's King Trent while he and Queen Iris take a trip to Mundania, a good experience for Dor since he will one day become king. When the king and queen fail to return, Dor sets out on another adventure. Anthony once again explores the process of maturing, as Dor leads a search party through Xanth and into Mundania, and falls in love with Princess Irene. In Ogre, Ogre the half-human, half-ogre Smash must protect the half-human, half-nymph Tandy. A stupid, insensitive creature at the beginning of the tale, Smash gradually acquires more human traits until he finally realizes that he is in love with Tandy.
Other entries in the series further develop Anthony's portrait of the fantastic land of Xanth, with storylines including the rescue of the kingdom by a creature responsible for delivering bad dreams (Night Mare), the adventures of three-year-old Princess Ivy, lost and wandering in the forest with newfound friends Hugo and the Gap Dragon (Dragon on a Pedestal), the diminutive Golem's quest to rescue a lost baby dragon and prove himself worthy of attention (Golem in the Gears), Prince Dolph's protest against the Adult Conspiracy that keeps children ignorant of adult matters (Heaven Cent), Princess Ivy's trip to Mundania in search of Good Magician Humfrey (Man from Mundania), and the search of Gloha, Xanth's only half-harpy/half-goblin, for advice from Magician Trent to further a quest for her true love (Harpy Thyme). In the opinion of Fantasy Review contributor Richard Mathews, the "Xanth" series "ranks with the best of American and classic fantasy literature."
Anthony's use of puns and other language tricks is a hallmark of the "Xanth" novels. "In Xanth," Collings noted, Anthony "incorporates much of this interest in language in furthering the plot and in establishing the essence of his fantasy universe. In Xanth, language is literal, especially what in Mundania would be called metaphors." As a result, the critic continued, "bread-fruit bears loaves of bread; shoetrees bear shoes in varying sizes and styles; nickelpedes are like centipedes, only five times larger and more vicious; and sunflowers are flowers whose blossoms are tiny suns blazing at the top of the stalk—a potent weapon if an enemy looks directly at them." In a Voice of Youth Advocates review of Ogre, Ogre, Peggy Murray observed that the "sophomoric humor and bad puns" in Anthony's stories "have tremendous appeal with YA fantasy readers." In fact, Anthony's readers sent him some of the puns used in Harpy Thyme. Sarasota Herald Tribune writer Cindy Cannon commented of Anthony's "Xanth" wordplay, "Where else will you hit an imp ass, eat pun-kin pies, see a river bank lien or meet a character named Ann Arky?" She summed up the series by saying, "I can't think of a better place to meet up with centaurs, merfolk, zombies, ghosts, magically-talented humans and assorted half-breeds of every shape and kind than in one of Piers Anthony's many Xanth novels."
Cluster, the first novel in the series of the same name, was published in the same year as the first "Xanth" book. Intergalactic travel and adventure are the subjects of the "Cluster" books, in which Anthony introduces the concept of Kirlian transfer, a type of out-of-body travel that requires much less energy than the outmoded "mattermission." The Kirlian transfer and other innovations are fundamental to the outcomes of the First and Second Wars of Energy, described in the first two "Cluster" volumes, and to the battle of an intergalactic force against the space amoeba in Kirlian Quest. "More than anything, the Cluster series is an exercise in enjoyment" for Anthony, Collings remarked. The author apparently relishes the opportunity to create bizarre beings and situations unlike any the reader has experienced.
The original "Cluster" trilogy led to Tarot, published in three volumes as God of Tarot, Vision of Tarot, and Faith of Tarot. In fact, Anthony originally wrote Tarot as the ending to Kirlian Quest and intended that the two be published as one volume. Anthony emphasized in his interview with SFRS that Tarot is not a trilogy, but "a quarter-million-word novel." The novel was published not only in three parts, but in two different years. "It bothered me because I feel that this is the major novel of my career," Anthony remarked in SFRS. "Split into three parts and published in two years—it washed me out totally. I had no chance to make a run for any awards or anything like that. It was simply gone." He resents referrals to the book as a trilogy because this term implies that each volume is a full novel, when in fact each is one-third of a novel. Brother Paul, a character introduced in the "Cluster" trilogy and featured in But What of Earth?, is the central figure in Tarot, in which Anthony attempts to develop a definition of God. Collings acknowledged that the "brutality, horror, and disgust" present in the book, while expressed in many other Anthony novels, are combined in Tarot with religious references, a controversial strategy that offended some readers. Tarot "is certainly not for the squeamish, nor is it altogether for those who enjoyed the first installment of Tarot civilization in the Cluster novels. Anthony himself admits this," Collings noted.
Anthony returned to pure fantasy in the "Incarnations of Immortality" series, which begins with On a Pale Horse and is set in "a world very much like ours, except that magic has been systematized and is as influential as science," a Publishers Weekly reviewer related. The abstract concepts of Time, War, Nature, Fate, and Death are all real people—the Incarnations—and all are involved in the battle of Satan against God. Diana Pharaoh Francis, a contributor to Contemporary Popular Writers, observed that On a Pale Horse "may be the best of Anthony's fantasy novels. . . . The characterization and dramatization are superbly handled and engage the reader. Besides clever social commentary, it provides a good read." In Bearing an Hourglass, a grief-stricken man agrees to take on the role of Chronos, the Incarnation of Time, and soon finds himself locked in a battle with Satan. Booklist reviewer Roland Green commented that "even people who may disagree with [Anthony's] ideas will recognize" that the religious and ethical aspects of the series are "intelligently rendered." Subsequent volumes feature the Incarnations of Fate (With a Tangled Skein), War (Wielding a Red Sword), Nature (Being a Green Mother), Evil (For Love of Evil), and finally, Good (And Eternity). "This grand finale showcases Anthony's multiple strengths" including his humor, characterizations, and themes, a Library Journal reviewer concluded.
Virtual Mode is a novel "to which teens relate well," Anthony remarked. Published in 1991, Virtual Mode introduces the "Mode" series, in which characters traverse the universe through the use of "skew paths" anchored by other people. As the anchors change, the paths and destinies of the travelers are affected and new stories are presented. In Virtual Mode, Darius of Hlahtar ventures to Earth to bring the girl he loves, the suicidal Colene, back to his universe. Together Darius and Colene discover that they must build a skew path to complete the journey. Publishers Weekly writer Sybil Steinberg described Colene as "a clearly defined character, virtues, flaws and all" who is "brought fully to life in this skillful, enjoyable book."
Another work with appeal to teen readers is MerCycle, Anthony's story about five people recruited to pedal bicycles under the waters of the Gulf of Mexico on a secret mission to save the Earth from collision with a meteor. The novel was originally written in 1971 but then shelved after Anthony was unable to find a publisher for it. After he was established as a bestselling author, Anthony returned to the manuscript and revised it extensively. The story deals heavily with themes of human nature and survival: the bicyclists experience being "out of phase" and "phased in" to other Earth life, are kept unaware of their mission, and meet up with Chinese mermaids. "The result," reported a New York Times Book Review critic, "is an engaging tall tale, spun out of the most unpromising raw material." Also of interest to youths is Tatham Mound. The story of fifteen-year-old Throat Shot, a sixteenth-century native of the land that would eventually become the state of Florida, Tatham Mound is based on an actual Indian burial mound discovered in north Florida and features historically accurate reconstructions of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto's march across the region and his battles with the Indian tribes of the area. A Library Journal reviewer found Tatham Mound a "heartfelt tribute to a lost culture" and a "labor of both love and talent."
Likewise based on history, but spanning eight million years, are the works in the "Geodyssey" series. Isle of Woman is made up of a series of vignettes that center on two prehistoric families who are reborn into succeeding centuries up to twenty-first-century America. Library Journal contributor Jackie Cassada called Isle of Woman Anthony's "most ambitious project to date." Shame of Man explores evolution one generation at a time, beginning with families of gorillas and chimpanzees on through the species of homo sapiens that has evolved by 2050 A.D. Called "speculative fiction" by Voice of Youth Advocates reviewer Kim Carter, Shame of Man encompasses more than twenty-five years of Anthony's research in "history, archaeology, anthropology, and human nature," as well as showcasing some of the author's personal theories on these subjects.
Virtual Mode, Tatham Mound, and Shame of Man exemplify Anthony's desire to produce works of lasting value along with those written simply for entertainment. While he wants readers to enjoy his work, the author hopes also to provoke contemplation of the serious issues he presents. "I'd like to think I'm on Earth for some purpose other than just to feed my face," Anthony remarked to SFRS. "I want to do something and try to leave the universe a better place than it was when I came into it."
In How Precious Was That While, a sequel to his earlier volume of autobiography, Bio of an Ogre, Anthony "tacitly and emphatically acknowledges that his readers mean more to him than critics, publishers or editors," according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer. He is devoted to his many readers, and often spends two days a week answering their letters. The book also contains many of Anthony's strong opinions, including his continuing distrust and dislike of Dallas, Texas, because President John F. Kennedy was assassinated there. Anthony also takes on publishing executives with whom he has had disagreements over the years. Booklist's Roland Green called the autobiography "a frank, eye-opening memoir."
Evaluating Anthony's career in the St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers, Andy Sawyer drew attention to the author's loyalty to his fans, remarking that Anthony's "large body of fantasy is viewed (together with his growing propensity for 'series' novels) as a surrender to commercial pressures and fashionable trends. To some extent this may be so, although this judgment would neglect the part played by Anthony's own writings in creating the market for a particular form of fantasy. In fact, he has created a fiercely loyal readership (whom he frequently addresses directly in lengthy afterwords to his novels) and much of this loyalty is due to his provision of a type of escapism which embodies an easily grasped symbolism." Writing in Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers, Lesa Dill concluded: "While entertaining his readers with his inventive word play, numerous literary allusions, apt symbolism, humorous satire, and wild adventures, Anthony effectively conveys his personal convictions about man's responsibilities in and to the universe."
BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:
BOOKS
Collings, Michael R., Piers Anthony, Starmont House (Mercer Island, WA), 1983.
Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 35, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1985, pp. 34-41.
Contemporary Popular Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1997.
Lane, Daryl, William Vernon, and David Carson, The Sound of Wonder: Interviews from "The Science Fiction Radio Show," Volume 2, Oryx (Phoenix, AZ), 1985.
St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996.
St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers, 4th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996.
Something about the Author Autobiography Series, Volume 22, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1996.
Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1994.
PERIODICALS
Analog, January, 1989, p. 182; August, 1992, pp. 165-166.
Booklist, July, 1984, p. 1497; May 1, 1999, Patricia Monaghan, review of Muse of Art, p. 1582; October 15, 1999, Roland Green, review of Xoneof Contention, p. 424; April 15, 2000, Ray Olson, review of The Gutbucket Quest, p. 1527; October 15, 2000, Roland Green, review of The Dastard, p. 426; March 1, 2001, Roland Green, review of DoOon Mode, p. 1232; September 1, 2001, Roland Green, review of How Precious Was That While, p. 42; October 1, 2001, Roland Green, review of Swell Foop, p. 304.
Books and Bookmen, April, 1970, pp. 26-27.
Computimes (Malaysia), May 3, 2001, "An Old Sci-Fi Book with Foresight."
Fantasy and Science Fiction, August, 1986, pp. 37-40.
Fantasy Review, March, 1984, pp. 24-25.
Horn Book, October 6, 1989, p. 84.
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, September, 1979, p. 18.
Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 1993, p. 1034; August 1, 2001, review of Swell Foop, p. 1075.
Kliatt, November, 1992, p. 13.
Library Journal, December, 1989, p. 176; August, 1991, p. 150; September 15, 1993, p. 108; October 15, 1998, p. 104; January, 1999, p. 166; October 15, 1999, Jackie Cassada, review of Xone of Contention, p. 111; May 15, 2000, Jackie Cassada, review of The Gutbucket Quest, p. 129; October 15, 2000, Jackie Cassada, review of The Dastard, p. 108; April 15, 2001, Jackie Cassada, review of DoOon Mode, p. 137; November 15, 2002, Jackie Cassada, review of Up in a Heaval, p. 106.
Luna Monthly, September, 1970, p. 22.
New York Times Book Review, April 20, 1986, p. 27; September 13, 1992, p. 28.
Publishers Weekly, June 5, 1967, p. 180; July 26, 1976, p. 78; September 2, 1983, p. 72; July 25, 1986, p. 174; August 29, 1986, p. 388; May 29, 1987, p. 73; February 10, 1989, p. 58; August 11, 1989, p. 444; August 25, 1989, p. 58; April 20, 1990, p. 61; May 11, 1990, p. 251; August 10, 1990, p. 431; December 21, 1990, p. 57; January 4, 1991, p. 61; October 18, 1991, p. 55; July 20, 1992, p. 237; November 29, 1993, pp. 57-58; September 5, 1994, p. 96; September 21, 1998, p. 79; December 14, 1998, p. 61; April 26, 1999, p. 61; September 27, 1999, review of Xone of Contention, p. 78; March 6, 2000, review of The Secret of Spring, p. 88; May 1, 2000, review of The Gutbucket Quest, p. 55; October 2, 2000, review of The Dastard, p. 64; March 5, 2001, review of DoOon Mode, p. 66; July 23, 2001, review of How Precious Was That While, p. 59; August 27, 2001, review of Swell Foop, p. 59; November 4, 2002, review of Up in a Heaval, p. 67.
St. Petersburg Times (St. Petersburg, FL), July 13, 2001, p. P5; March 11, 2002, Holly Atkins, "Fantasy Flourishes in Florida Forests," p. D4.
Sarasota Herald Tribune, November 26, 2000, p. E4; July 23, 2001, p. 59.
Science Fiction, November, 1977, p. 60.
Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 1983, p. 44; December, 1992, p. 290; August, 1994, p. 152; February, 1995, p. 343.
Writer, August, 1989, pp. 11-13, 35.
Writer's Digest, January, 1991, p. 32.
ONLINE
Piers Anthony's Web site,http://www.hipiers.com (April 25, 2004).*