This book was given to me as an ARC for an honest review from NetGalley.
The world of Xanth is made of puns – and a virus threatens those puns. Of course before you get to the main story of the book you’re introduced to Kandy, a woman who is turned into a literal board of wood at a wishing well. Thankfully she doesn’t have to suffer too long, as she meets up with the love of her life. Being a board, things get complicated, quickly.
The two meet up with other characters along the way, including Com Pewter, and a basilisk. They partake in a quest to get rid of the virus, and meet up with many colourful characters along the way.
The book was highly sexualized and it felt almost needless. It was amusing hearing about men ‘freaking out’ and freezing any time they saw a flash of panties, but it felt like an overused mechanic that was just tossed in there randomly. I really enjoyed the world of Xanth, and the puns made me cackle in delight but again I felt the sex was something that was just thrown about whenever the author wanted a bit of shock value (which was often). Had these parts been left out of the book I would have personally enjoyed it a lot more.
Thankfully there are a few redeeming characters you meet up with along the way, and enough interest to keep wanting to read about the quest and see if the group is finally successful. If you’re familiar with the world of Xanth and the writing style of Piers Anthony then you may want to give this book a try, but otherwise it wasn’t quite what I was looking for.
3 / 5 stars
The Nomadic Reader 