Well here it is our first ever book review. It's one very dear to me. Actually it is not so much a book review as a book series review. Xanth, the fantasy series by Piers Anthony,is about a magical Florida looking world, island, peninsula (yes all three) that is attached to a dreary place knows as Mundania, or Earth which has little(but not completly abscent) magic like rainbows. Everyone born there has a magical talant, ranging from changing the color of a small area of a wall slightly, to epic magician powers. It has its typical trolls, ogers, and the like, but rarely are they actually evil...hostile maybe but not generally evil, and even the worst ones tend to have decent members. Dragons arn't something to be slain, in fact one issue delt with the environmental impact that a reduction in the dragon popluation caused. It's hard to sum up an entire large, long running series. This is not a teen/tween/young adult series that follows the same group of characters that are within the age range of the reader. Main charcters range from single digits ages to triple, and that's when they are relativly human. Ogers, spiders, zombies, and demons all have had their place as main charaters in their own right. It also follows generations, you may read the adventures of a person in book 1, and work your way to their grandchildren. The typical but not exclusive formula is the main protagonist has a situtaion that they can not resolve on their own and so they go on a journey to Good Magician Humphry, the magician of information, to get advice. Often along the way they meet other people also going to see him. Upon arriving at Humphry's ever shape shifting castle, they must solve three obstacles, which are customized for each "person" as a way to weed those who don't have important Questions. On solving them all they then must either serve a year of their lives to Humphrey or provide some equivalent service. Often the Answear only makes sense till the end, but hey thats Humphry for you. And that is just the beginning. Adventures include things such as an invasion from Mundia, the loss of magic, Demon games, an assult on the line of rulers, and much more. Be warned bad puns are everywhere, and are a very basic magical element of Xanth. The protagonists however do suffer with you. Like I said this is an old and long series. You may be able find the more recent ones at your library for free. The older ones you may have to go to your local book store or buy online to get. Each book is stand alone enough that you can enjoy all on its own, but as previous characters and events have shaped Xanth significantly, their effects are carried on through and referenced by later books. Check out Xanth!