Dragon's Gold is the first novel in the Kelvin of Rud series. John Knight was a Terran and a fugitive from the Queen's dungeon when he meet Charlain while trying to steal her horse. Charlain was a fortune-teller and knew that John was coming and that they would be married, so they were wed the next day and had two children, Kelvin and Jon.

In this novel, Kelvin and his sister Jon are dragon hunting with Mockery, the mule they have just bought. Jon finds a scale and then another and then more, following the dropped dragon scales up and over the nearby hill. On the other side is a dragon, which she first thinks is dead, but then only injured. To resolve the problem, she bounces a stone off the dragon's snout with her sling and gets his attention. Now she decides that she is in trouble and yells for Kelvin. Coming down the hill, she falls in a hole and can't get out. Kelvin goes to her rescue and falls into the same hole.

The dragon doesn't see Jon when he comes over the hill, but he does see Mockery. As he goes after Mockery, Jon pops up, yells that he can't eat their mule, and bounces another stone off him. Now the dragon is after Jon again. When the dragon grabs Jon with his tongue, Kelvin and Jon drop a boulder on it. The dragon reflexively lets go of Jon and tries to pull his tongue out with no success. Kelvin sends Jon after the tent pole to use as a weapon. Of course, she has to ask why he wants the pole and then checks out the injury on Mockery where the dragon has pulled out the mule's tail, but finally she brings back the tent pole. Kelvin sharpens the pole and stabs the dragon in the eye, which causes the dragon to jerk up his head, with pole and Kelvin attached thereto. The resulting fall knocks Kelvin unconscious.

When Kelvin comes to, he finds himself up a tree, the dragon dead, and Jon busy prying off scales. They remove as many scales as they can reach without moving the dragon and start home. However, a bandit acosts them, steals the scales, and heads off to sell Jon to the Boy Mart (he hasn't yet noticed that Jon is a girl). Kelvin tries to stop him, but is totally ineffective. The only thing left for him to do is to follow Jon and the bandit, but instead he goes home and reports the kidnapping. The guardsmen identify the bandit -- a former guardsman -- but kick Kelvin out for wasting their time. The youngest guardsman, however, refers Kelvin to his father, Mor Crumb.

This novel is about a prophecy of the Roundear that will unite the kingdoms of Rud. Kelvin has round ears from his Terran father and so is supposed to fulfill the prophecy. He has fought a dragon, but he has a long way to go before he is ready to lead armies. His sword play needs a lot of work. So does his aggressiveness; Jon has more than he does.

This story is a magical quest tale, searching for the magical artifacts of Mouvar the Magnificent. On the way, Kelvin learns to fight and to be an effective leader. He has plenty of help, starting with Jon and Mor Crumb.

Recommended for Anthony fans and anyone who enjoys light adventure tales with a touch of humor.

I first read this book six years ago when I was twelve. Recently I was going through some old boxes and I found this old dusty book. I read it and just like that I fell in love with reading all over again.I definetly recomend reading all of the books in this series.(Dragon's Gold, Serpent's Silver, Chimaera's Copper, Orc's Opal, and finally Mouvar's Magic.)

I absolutely loved it!It was a truely imaginitive piece of work. I'd like to see more work of this caliber. A sci-fi / fantasy ride from start to finish.

I don't know what it is, but in this series, it seems that a weak title follows a strong one. Just like "Bearing an Hourglass" didn't come up to the level of "On a Pale Horse", so "Wielding a Red Sword" does not come up to the level of "With a Tangled Skein".

The basic premise of this novel seems more concerned with finding a permenant love interest for the main character than it does with exploring the role/nature of the Incarnation of War. Also expanded upon are the concepts of the "lesser incarnations"; a plot device which is (probably) necessary to explain the "Four Horsemen" which traditionally accompany War, but introduces a weakness in the integrity of the series as a whole.

Two interesting conventions are either exapanded upon or introduced. The first is the "tying together" of the various characters, hinted at in the first couple of books, but emphasized strongly in this volume. Now we know some of what happened to Orb, introduced in the previous volume as the daughter of Niobe. It certainly appears that Anthony intends to unite all the Incarnations in one family (or love) realationship. The other is the idea of an Incarnation defeating Satan by threatening to bring down the entire world. In the previous three novels, the title character's showdown with Satan never approached this level.

I enjoyed this book -- and enjoy this series -- but this is one of the weaker titles.

This was quite a surprise. I wasn't too sure about reading a book that dealt with war, but it is in fact about peace! This, the 4th in the ongoing "Incarnations" series, deals with Mars, the Incarnation of War. In this book, Piers Anthony actually almost attempts to validate war, in a way, and does quite a convincing job! Again, Anthony humanizes the role of the Incarnation by showing the problems and personality behind the man who would be War. What I really love about all these books in this series is that we learn about the Incarnations as the Incarnations themselves are learning about them! Once again, beautiful work by Piers Anthony.

Piers Anthony, in his continuation of the "Incarnations of Immortality" series, tries to answer that question. Each book deals with an aspect of reality - death, time, fate, nature, war, evil, good - by having an ordinary person take, get stuck with, or slip into the job of being the Incarnation of that aspect of reality and having to run it.

The series tackles many philosophical issues, while the writing is in a light, whimsical style and the setting is a world very much like our own, except that magic has the same status and commonality as science. "Wielding a Red Sword" is well-written, the characters are likeable, the plot is coherent, and it tackles one of the toughest topics in the series: war. Through various situations, the author tries to address the questions of what purposes does war serve, are any of those purposes valid under any conditions, and does any good come out of war ever?

Again, we have good, fun, reading, that is also thought-provoking. The story has enough twists and turns to make it interesting, along with the underlying philosophical questions addressed.

Perhaps slightly better than Virtual Mode, but not by much. Again, I recommend this for juveniles and not adults. It seemed to me that the book was really a series of short stories strung together. There is the initial conflict with the despots of Nona's world but Anthony gets away from that quickly but returns to it in the end to wrap things up. Darius is really a minor character in this book which is surprising. The sexual references are getting really old by now. Anthony's description of fractals is hard to follow, and I was a math major! An illustration in a future edition would benefit the reader in showing the layout of the Fractal Mode. On to Chaos Mode which will finish up this series. If there is another book in this series, I plan to steer clear of it.

This book is very interesting, covering a variety of topics from child abuse to in-depth discussion of fractals, love to culture, society to magic. Piers shows an acute knowledge of the scientific aspects of what he writes about. The book seemed to focus a little too much on helping Nona, and not enough about the MAIN characters, but this didn't detract from the book too much. The settings are varied, as always with Anthony, as are the characters. Anthony provides much insight to what Colene is thinking, which I think is the most interesting part of the book-- to see how she reacts mentally to things like stress, Darius, her parents, etc. There are heartwarming moments, and some interesting happenings back at good old normal Earth. Many different things happen, settings change quickly, minor characters come and go, but the plot runs smoothly enough and what the gang learns along the way is interesting and their adventures are still fun, sometimes amusing--they get stuck in one really odd situation in Nona's reality! If you read Virtual Mode and are interested in how Colene and Darius' relationship will grow and change, and how Nona plays into their scheme, and if Colene and Darius will EVER settle down back in Darius' home reality...this is a good book for you.

I think that people looking for a book that they can just chill with, litrally switch their brain off and read are going to hate this book. It has references to maths, explanations of magic, totally-twisty landscapes, in depth character profiles and a totally confusing multi-reality storyline. Oh, and some sexual references too, which might wake some up. This is the second book of the series that touched me, I love it and could recommend it (and have) to anyone. Read it, read them all! I await the arrival of my Chaos Mode book.. and whats this I hear about another!

its been quite a while since ive read any books and i usually dont like this kind, but i thought that i would try it, it was really cool.

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?

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 one was pretty good. After twenty years of no communication or anything between the frames of Phaze and Proton, Stile's son, Bane, makes contact with Blue's son, Mach, and they switch bodies so that they're both in each others frames in the other's body.

Then Bane falls in love with Agape from Proton and Mach falls in love with Fleta from Phaze and a bunch of problems arise.

I enjoyed this book.

This was my very first Science Fiction/Fantasy book. I picked this book up when I was 14 because the cover caught my attention, and I haven't stopped reading Science Fiction/Fantasy since. This is a really good book for someone new to the genre, or for younger people looking for a lighter Science Fiction/Fantasy read.

"Out of Phaze" is a great novel in the tradition of Piers Anthony, mixing technology with fantasy in two interesting parallel worlds. His constant references to sex is a welcome addition, challenging the terminally sheltered and adding more tolerance to the world of fiction. A great read!

This the second book in Piers Anthony's Cluster sci-fi series. It expands on the Tarot theme found in the first volume (and also in the Tarot series). This book is one of Anthony's first from almost entirely the female point of view, and he does a good job overall. The action is great, with many plot twists and tense moments. The problem is the epilogue, in which Anthony conducts one of his typical experiments in the psychology of sex. He equates friendship between females with sexual love in a way that turned me off. If you can swallow this, you will love the book. If not, you will be disgusted. If it were not for the epilogue, I would have given it 4 stars.

The adventure of the tarot continues. Being the second Cluster book, it is a story of saving the galaxy. A place where creatures can transfer without limitations. Melody must save the Milky Way Galaxy, being the vidle link between technology. She must survive in worlds unknown, alien to her. She surives where others fail, her aura completing her. The book is lucid, but is not as good as the prequil. I think the best quality the book has are the characters. Nearly all are amazing, from Slammer to Hammer to Melody in their various bodies. Four out of five star.

This is the story of Melody of Mintaka, an old neuter who resembles nothing more than a crazy pipe organ. Set apart by the amazing strength of her Aura, she is the only trustworthy being in the Milkyway Galaxy. Why? The greedy beings from Galaxy Andromeda have tipped the power balance and are possessing the Milkyway's most powerful people. Placed in the body of a buxom young woman, she must seek out the enemy hostages. How? With the imagery evoked by the Tarot. The story flows smoothly, steadily builds suspense and reaches a mind breaking climax. The descriptions are evocative, the dialog believable and the story sound. This is an edge-of-your-seater during the last half of the book. Its an all around good read for Sci-Fi fans. Wait until you see the Magnets!

Piers makes the point in the intros for several of these stories that they were rejected over and over or never even accepted for publication. Well, they should have stayed that way. This is a collection of desperate amateurish stories that would have been better left alone.

I absolutely LOVE this book! The stories are NOT amateurish... how could they be, coming from one of the world's most popular fantasy writers? :)

Wonderful book, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different than what is considered the 'norm' these days - very refreshing.

This really is one of the better collections of stories that I have read. However, I have probably read each story at least ten times. That just proves how captivating they are. I keep getting more after each reading. Of course, every story is not the greatest story ever, but all of the stories at the very least are good. And the great stories are truly amazing.

This and the three that precede it are some of the worst books I have ever read. I am absolutely disgusted with myself for having read them. My only consolation is that I checked them out at the library and I did not buy them. I wouldn't give 2 cents for these unless I was desperate for kindling. I kept hoping they would improve, as the first three were entertaining.

... I won't even go into the completely implausible climax. I couldn't even believe it by suspending reality.

I'm sorry Piers for saying this but I advise any who consider reading the Adept series to ignore the last four books and keep it as a trilogy. The first three (Split Infinity, The Blue Adept, and Juxtaposition) are a wild ride through a very interesting world(or should I say two worlds?) which I recomend reading but the story, I feel was finnished with those. The last four(Out of Phaze, The Robot Adept, Unicorn Point, and Phaze Doubt), though with some interesting aspects, for the most part add needless complication to the story and are a testament to Mr. Anthony's greatest flaw, the ability to quit while he's ahead. These books only drag a good idea into the ground.

As this series winds up, veteran Sci-Fi/Fantasy writer Piers Anthony leaves his readers on the edge of a new dilemma, with so many possibilities. However, we are only left to wonder about the next few milennia on Phaze, and what is to happen on the magic side of the universe. What new challenges, and new threats, must these characters endure? For me, this book leaves more questions, and less answers, but allows the reader his own story line to follow in his own mind. Thank you, Mr. Anthony, for one last wild ride on the dual world of Proton/Phaze!

Although this book carries Piers Anthony's name, and starts out in a traditional style of his (nude female character), I found it lacking his touch. Which is acceptable after you read his thoughts about the collaboration. Unfortunately his thoughts are at the very end of the book. I dislike authors who use fancy words, like 'cubit', instaed of just saying 'foot'. There are many words used that are either made up or archaic, and it doesn't help the story at all. All in all the story is a nice twist on the fantasy theme, but it does drag on a bit. Which is why I give it 3 stars...wortrh reading once.

I've not read much fantasy since childhood, but this book has opened me up to a new world. I had a hard time putting "Quest" down, and traded plenty of my sleep time in for it. But, that suited me well since it was more fun than dreaming anyway! The authors do an incredible job of depicting the imaginary world and inhabitants of Infinitera. I'd recommend this book to anyone who appreciates imaginative creativity at its best!

Here you've got an engaging story on a distant world, one which has fought already one war to keep it from destruction, and now faces another such challenge. Good characters with good characterization. A very good read and one heck of a way to start a writing career (James Richey). Keep up the good work!

If you are looking to see where Letters To Jenny ties in with the Xanth Series, don't.

The two have only one thing in common and that is Jenny Elfs portrayer...

Letters To Jenny is about a young persons life hanging in the balance after a cruel twist of fate and the hands of a drunk driver tried to end her precious life. I found most of the letters very insperational for her inner soul to heal, and hope to see what becomes of Jenny Elf in the Xanth series.

I gave this book 4 stars for the in depth information on the progress of this young persons daily tasks for life, and the heart of a wonderful writer to reach out and pull her back to the living.

It's folks like Piers Anthony and many others similar to him that help folks of all ages take a moment out of their hectic lives and dream of something more adventures.

I do not believe that Piers Anthony was being exploitive in his publication of Letters To Jenny as one previous reviewer thought. This is a non-fiction work as all prospective purchasers should be aware of. This is a series of letters Mr. Anthony wrote to a very sick young fan over a span of several years. The letters are touching and entertaining and make for an easy read. I for one enjoy knowing a bit about the person who wrote the book I am reading so I am glad to have this opportunity. If the author's true motive was money I doubt this would ever have been published. Non-fiction works by fiction authors rarely sells as well as fiction.

As a Deaf Education major, I can appreciate the fact that Mr. Anthony took time to write letters to Jenny. There are many authors who would not have done as much. This book is a delightful experience for anyone. I loved to read about what had gone on in his family and what he was currently thinking about. Rarely have authors made me want to repond to them on a personal level. Mr. Anothony did.

After reading Letters to Jenny, I decided to write to him - and he wrote back!! =)