A Spell for Chameleon (Magic of Xanth)

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a small lizard perched on a brown stone. Feeling threatened by the approach of human beings along the path, it metamorphosed into a stingray beetle, then into a stench-puffer, then into a fiery salamander. Xanth is rich in magic and rich in magical creatures, plant and animal, happy to chow down on acareless, powerless human. Bink’s quest becomes that much more difficult when he encounters the beautiful but extraordinarily stupid Wynne, her propensity for wandering into danger compensated for only by her amazingtits.

Poor Bink! Each human Xanth has their own unique magical gift. Bink appears to be one of the few exceptions, with no discernible magical talent. Not only does this place him at aconsiderable disadvantage to his fellow humans, but it will cost him his place in Xanth. Human law mandates exile for those withoutmagic.

A Spell for Chameleon

I don't like them for the writing quality. Even after all this time, Anthony still has trouble putting a sentence together, or making his dialogue sparkle or creating a convincing character (either male or female!) Not even for the puns, although they are rarely a disappointment (although lately he has taken to shoe-horning entire paragraphs of them together as though he wants to get them out of the way.) And when he uses one for a title, it's always a doozy: who else would dare to call a novel Stork Naked?! All throughout his life, Bink has been bullied and teased for being a "spell-less wonder", a freak who cannot perform magic in a society where every citizen has one magical talent, ranging anywhere from Magician-level magic such as storm-summoning to "spot on the wall" magic, which is the term for useless magical talents such as projecting a colorful spot on the wall. If Bink cannot demonstrate his talent soon, he will be exiled to Mundania, a land where there is no magic at all. I grew up in a Filipino household, in a culture where a girl's getting her period is a cause for celebration. When I got mine at 11, my parents had a party – it was mortifying even as they tried to convince me there was absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. So I found it fascinating that a woman's moods and unpredictable nature could be handled in such an easy and light-hearted way in fiction. Maybe my parents were right after all. I think someone has serious issues with women. I just don't understand how anyone can say Piers Anthony himself isn't sexist. Say all you want that he just isn't good at writing women (although that on its own is a sign...); the problem here is that he doesn't think women are people. He clearly has a fixation with rape and possession that's not healthy.

s British Fantasy Award-winning ASpell for Chameleon is the first volume in Piers Anthony’s seemingly endless Xanthseries.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? 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.