A Spell for Chameleon (Magic of Xanth)

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Everything's couched in such artless language, too, which just makes it worse. It's all "needs" "urges" "absolutely beautiful" "me tarzan, you jane." Even born mouth-breathers can write well (see: Lawrence Durrell, Henry Miller), so what gives? Not only does Bink manage to obtain healing elixir from Humfrey, but he also manages to find out that the Storm King has died. All the officials of Xanth, including the Council of Elders (which includes Bink's father Roland), arrive on the scene. The Council captures Trent, heals Chameleon, and offers Trent the kingship if he will marry Iris. The Storm King was allowed to remain King well past his prime because there was no suitable successor and by forcing Trent to marry (and presumably produce magician-caliber offspring) the council hopes to prevent that state of affairs from occurring again. Trent's first act as King is to deactivate the magical barrier between Xanth and Mundania and grant Bink (and non-magical folk in general including mundanes) amnesty. Trent's forces, who consisted of mundanes who wished to immigrate to Xanth begin to settle peacefully in various regions of the magical land. Bink then breaks up with Sabrina (who he had discovered was not right for him anyway) and marries Chameleon, as he has realised that he wants "variety" in a girl, and only Chameleon with her never-ending change in looks and intelligence will give him what his heart desires, and yet at the same time allow him to remain faithful to one person. Trent and Iris take up residence in Castle Roogna and set to work making it the new centre of government. Bink and Chameleon obtain a cottage just outside the Castle and Bink is given the title of Official Researcher of Xanth. King Trent gives Bink his first task: to discover the source of magic in Xanth, setting up the plot for the next book, The Source of Magic. Except it is very clearly stated that Bink loves her not just because he appreciates all her forms, but because HE WOULD GET BORED WITH JUST ONE TYPE OF WOMAN. He wants a beautiful woman sometimes, but he doesn't want a beautiful, smart woman because he distrusts beautiful, smart women (WHAT?). And he wants a smart woman, but again, she can't be beautiful, so he likes her smart but ugly phase. And of course, her average phase is just average, and he's fine with it coming around sometimes. Just...what? Really?

Not too far into the book, Bink finds himself an accidental participant in a strange rape trial. The trial is meant to be private and anonymous so as to protect the identity of the victim and the accused, which is an interesting and somewhat commendable thing to try. Except you can't really get anywhere in a trial and still keep everyone truly anonymous, and sure enough, this trial goes nowhere. The way it's done is three men, only one of which is the true accused (and one is Bink), act in tandem as the accused, so nobody knows which one it really is. Same for the victim side. Three women act in tandem as the victim and only one is the true victim. Only the bailiff knows who is really whom, and he's not revealing it per the court's effort to keep things anonymous. And this is what happens: As if she didn’t know. But as his mind formed the necessary words, his mouth balked. He knew what her answer had to be. No one could remain in Xanth after his twenty-fifth birthday unless he demonstrated a magic talent. Bink’s own critical birthday was barely a month away. He was no child now. How could she marry a man who was so soon to be exiled? Melissa de la Cruz grew up in Manila and now lives in California. She is the author of numerous young adult novels, including the books in the "Blue Bloods" series. The love interest's magical power? She has magical PMS. On her "lunar cycle" which is referred to as "the feminine cycle" in the same breath, she goes from being incredibly dumb but well, so pretty you can't help but rape her according to all this, to ordinary and average, to incredibly ugly and incredibly smart. The land of Xanth is a land of magic. Everyone has a magical talent, even some of the animals of the forest. Everyone, that is, except for Bink. And now that he's approaching adulthood, he has to find his magic...or face exile.Mister Ewing comes close to resorting to “funny voices” to differentiate the characters, but since some of them are non-human (harpies and other monsters are common in Xanth) that is not entirely out of character for them. The only voice I did not like was that of Fanchon who sounded like an old woman and not one of Bink’s age (Twenty-five, I think). Even there he had to make her voice unpleasant for reasons that become apparent while reading the book. I start reading the book, and I immediately have legitimate questions. We have the whole standard "we don't need to know what the men look like, but if we don't know the cup size of the female characters, she's not described well enough" situation. We have the "25-year-old" protagonist acting like a horny 12-year-old boy at best. We have a "boys will be boys" scene where his father laughs it off that Bink tried to "sew wild oats" which would have bound a nymph to him as the "fertilizer figure" (because he watered them with his own urine) so he could use her as a sex toy. There’s also aremarkable even by the standards of the 1970s obsession with sex. The first instance of Male Gaze shows up about seven paragraphs intothebook: Bink looked at the girl beside him as she stepped through aslanting sunbeam. He was no plant, but he too had needs, and even the most casual inspection of her made him aware of this. Sabrina was absolutely beautiful — and her beauty was completelynatural.

Bink smiled. These conversions weren’t real. It had assumed the forms of obnoxious little monsters, but not their essence. It could not sting, stink, or burn. It was a chameleon, using its magic to mimic creatures of genuine threat. Oh. “But he charges a year’s service for a single spell,” Bink protested. “I have only a month.” But that was not quite accurate; if the Magician identified a talent for Bink, then he would not be exiled, and he would have a year available. He was deeply touched by Sabrina’s faith in him. She did not say what others said: that he had no magic. She did him the immense courtesy of choosing to believe that his magic merely remained undiscovered. That was the point at which I messaged my friend, saying "Uh, when was the last time you read this book?"Chameleon thus embodies the nonsensical principle (typical of all Anthony's work that I have read) that a woman cannot be both attractive and intelligent. So, Piers Anthony is a pervert, a sexist pervert. That this particular book was written in 1977 is no excuse.

The King may be old and only dubiously aware of his surroundings but he’s also doctrinaire and inflexible. Bink is cast out of the Land of Point 1 Xanth, into the world of magiclessMundania. Ultimately, this is a series that you either "get" or you don't. And if you don't, then nothing I (or anyone else!) can say here will make any difference.Despite its apparent flaws, there are some genuinely touching moments, however fleeting. Perhaps, at its heart this is just a love story, perhaps not, but the essence of the book is really captured by the following line: A Spell for Chameleon was Piers Anthony's first book in his extensive Xanth series, which consists of 27 books. The Xanth series is considered a classic in the fantasy genre. A Spell for Chameleon focuses on the challenges Bink faces: making the hard choice between personal gain/happiness and remaining loyal to the country that exiled him, determining the nature of his magical talent, and discovering what it truly is that he wants in a woman. I should note, that I stopped reading this series after the fifteenth book (it is now up to 40 volumes) so it is quite possible that the later books improve and I just do not know it. In any case the first three stories are pretty good even with their flat characters after that you will need a stronger stomach for puns than I have (and that is really saying something!)