STARMONT READERS GUIDE 20 BY: MICHAEL R. COLLINGS SERIES EDITOR: ROGER C. SCHLOBIN

This book is not from Piers Anthony, but about him and his writing dated 1983

The Xanth series is on a downward spiral toward childishness. Kind of Sad, I loved Spell.

Some authors work on bulk. The problem is that once an author is established (s)he can write and write and no one seems to care if the writing turns to junk. Copper is a perfect example. The cliches are forced and painful. The writing isn't too bad, but there's nothing there to make a reader care. The characters have no depth, and the basis of the entire plot is unimaginative. The idea might have been interesting in book one (and I stess MIGHT HAVE) but by the third installment of the series, we really need something fresh and new. Not rehash. Anthony will continue to churn out 2-3 books per year. His name is firmly established and bookstores eat up big names. But until he sits down, thinks up a good idea and takes the time to pull it off, don't bother. Personally, I'd take my chances with a brand new author. You know a new author can't publish this kind of empty junk.

Piers Anthony is the best author ever! Only he could make his books in such an imaginative manner!

Anthony took a basically good Niven-ish novella he wrote years ago called "Ghost Galaxy" and larded it with the type of writing he has unfortunately become known for recently: anything goes, no ground rules plots that throw in everything but the kitchen sink.
Interesting experiment- pick up this book and read chapter 2, then flip back and read the last chapter. It's like two entirely different books.
If you'd like to read something by Anthony, try one of the early Incarnations series books.. the one featuring Death is outstanding.

OK, this is not the best Piers Anthony story in the world, It is reminiscent to the early pulp Science Fiction style (which I enjoy).

However, there is a message in this book which will be found as a more subtle theme in many of his later books. A message of exploring the basis of reality and how our perception of that reality can shape exactly what we define as real.

It is to me an exploration of the mind where Mr. Anthony takes a premise of "what if" and then creates a fictional world in which that premise is real and valid, then as the story develops we learn exactly how valid that premise really is.

I recommend this to hard core fans of Piers Anthony who wish to beter understand him and his writing. You will find this theme again in the Tarot series played out in a much better format.

This was the first of Anthony's books that I read. I found it to be interesting and give the push to read more of his books. It had a little of everything to it, the suspense, the romance, the adventure everything a Sci-Fi book should have.

I found Volk very disappointing. The book is poorly written and full of trite cliches. Mr. Anthony is certainly capable of better. He seems to have an ideological axe to grind but should have checked his facts more closely. The historical 'facts' presented in his last chapter are untrue and have been negated by reputable historians including John Keegan and Steven Ambrose. Spend your money on a different book. I wish I had.
Barnes & Noble refused to show this review.

This book is written so poorly. Anthony should have spent a month or more actually reading through the book and questioning things, instead of writing it and leaving it at that. Is it even remotely believable that after Quality falls in love with Ernst that she tells his former fiance, "Oh, I know a perfect guy for you, (who just happens to be my former fiance) if only you could meet ..." And of course, they do meet, oh-so coincidently. That is just one example of things working out too neatly to be satisfying. Half the book reads like poor journalism, the other half like an adolescent attempt at literature. I hate to be harsh on Piers, but dang it, I want to see him go back to writing REAL novels, with real characters, real conflict, and a real plot.

Piers Anthony bills Volk as a politically incorrect novel of the forbidden love between a Nazi officer and the Quaker fiancee of his pre-war American friend. Volk nicely brings out some of the ironies of WWII: that not all Nazis subsribed to their party's ideology, and that the Allies also engaged in practices as barbarous as the Nazis did.

Unfortunately, the novel does little more than play around with some of these ideas or the characters themselves. The storyline covers a six- or seven-year period, but little in the novel reflects that. Nor is it particularly unsettling when the Quaker woman is captured by Nazis for smuggling Jews; nor can the reader really feel that woman's anguish at the compromises wartime forces on her.

Additionally, the book is rather poorly edited; while Xlibris allows authors to circumvent the big publishing houses to get their books into print, it apparently doesn't provide editing services. In the case of Volk, Piers Anthony would have been better off hiring a freelance editor or giving the book a closer second read himself.

Volk is readable, but disappointing. Unless you're a tremendous fan of Anthony's writing, you're unlikely to finish Volk after you put it down.

Ok, I admit it. I went through a Piers Anthony phase. It is one of those things in my youth that I really regret. Part of the reason (though admittedly only a small reason) that I became disillusioned with this writer was because of this autobiography.

Piers Anthony defines a whole knew level for self-pity. He takes minor instances in his childhood, like when his parents let his sister use his tricycle, and makes them out to be traumatic events in his life. He then goes on to talk about his adolescence. Look Piers, its too bad that you were slow to develop, and that you had a problem with bed wetting, but my man, many people have had it a lot worse.

Anyone who reads this novel will come to realize how egotistical Anthony is. They will learn how sensitive he is to minor criticism, how he thinks the world of himself for being a vegetarian.

Oh well, if you are actually considering buying this novel you have obviously been bitten by the Anthony bug and there is very little I can do for you. But, when you too are one day tired with the high-master of hack, don't say no one ever warned you.

The life of a writer is not as boreing as we have thought. In his autobiography "Bio of an Ogre" Piers Anthony puts his own special twist and spin on things. By writing his own story he managed to get the whole story out in a style unique only to him. He depicts his story starting with his first memories, and finally ending just after his fiftieth year. He tells how his family moved from place to place untill he finally moved to America and started writing. Of course his works got rejected time and again untill his first publication and his first love. From then on he explains his stories and the stories behind them. Including Xanth, the Adept series, and Bio of a Space Tyrant. Along with many other works he has become one of the number one best sellers in America and in Europe. So if you enjoy Piers Anthony or are looking for something different then try Bio of an Ogre I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

...short story by Phillip K. Dick, "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale", which is vastly superior to the dreadful film, and possibly even more superior to this hack novelization -- which at least, thank God, doesn't have any half-naked centaur chicks in it...

This is an excellent book for those who saw the movie and thought "This idea had potential." The Piers Anthony version of this story is superior to both the movie and the screen play. This book gives insight into the mind of a alien race and what it might expect from a species that considers itself mature enough for space travel. Mr. Anthony puts a relatively new face on the oft used concept of colonialism extended to interplanetary colonization. We see that the downtrodden are not always forgotten. We are also given the opportunity to wrestle with the question, of what makes a person themselves; is it ones actions(past, present, or future) or is it ones thoughts and ideas (remembered and forgotten). While the "Total Recall" story is taken from a short story entitled, "We can remember it for you wholesale." Piers Anthony offers a fresh look at the timeless concepts.

I love Piers Anthony, I love fantasy and science fiction, I love the blues, and I love to play guitar, so I thought this book looked interesting. Turns out that it's the ... ... that ever .... Obviously Ron Leming is unable to get over past failed relationships, hippy-ism, and theophobia. He sees no hypocrisy in constantly bashing mainstream religions but then pushing his own set of ethics and morals. And a world where there is no Fender? Or what about Gibson, man? That's no world for me.

I too read the Authors notes and appreciate that this is more Leming than Anthony...It IS an enjoyable read though. I suffered through unfamiliarity with the music quoted throughout the book - lyrics always mean more married to the metre of a melody.
I enjoyed it though....

If you are looking for Piers Anthony's lighter PG rated material or think sex is a four letter word; this won't be the book for you. However, get this book to understand what the Blues music means to the people who play and enjoy a fantasy adventure. The abundance of very loving sex in it is true to the Blues culture.

Recognized some of the Texas characters which made the Tejas of the book plausible and more enjoyable for me. This book doesn't fit properly into any one genre. It is a cross between a socio-historical novel, science fiction, and a fantasy adventure.

The book reads like a good Blues song. It is simple on the surface with emotional depths and a directness that reveals the truth of human nature. Very enjoyable.

If these are Cthulhu's heirs I contest the will. This was summarilly the worst expression of Lovecratf's weird fantast genre. The imbecilic overtones and dishwater plots reflect more the 1980's "Nightmare on Elm street" style of teenie slasher films far closer than any resemblance of the erudite and late Mr. Lovecraft.

It is a sheer marvel that these works could be published under the aegis of the continuation of Lovecraft's deeply intricate world and mythology. The book is an insult, it demeans use even as liner for a parakeet cage.

This is volume 4 from Chaosium's series of Cthulhu Mythos fiction. The Cthulhu Mythos was created by H.P. Lovecraft in a series of short stories published in the 1920's and 30's. In this mythology, the earth was previously inhabited by alien, "godlike" entities who will return "when the stars are right". Many writers have added to the underlying mythology since Lovecraft's death including Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, and Brian Lumley. This book contains little that is of the quality you'd find from those authors. This volume contains 16 new works of fiction & 2 stories from the 60's, one by Hugh B. Cave and one by Ramsey Campbell. These two older stories were the only ones I enjoyed very much. Many of the rest were extremely amateur. You can find on the WWW short stories of equal quality that will cost you nothing. Overall, not a book I would recomend.