A Spell for Chameleon
First, no puns. The later Xanth novels were known for puns, bad names and creepy old guys sexualization of teenagers. But in the beginning, it was different. Bink is a a citizen of the magical land of Xanth. All citizens have magic, partly due to the magical land and partly due to exile of non-magical citizens. But Bink can’t demonstrate his magic, because he doesn’t know what it is. He goes to visit the good Magician Humphrey, who determines that Bink does have strong magic, but he can’t determine what it is. On his journey, Bink runs into Iris, a strong sorceress who can’t be king due to her gender.
But the aging king won’t accept Humphrey’s word and Bink is kicked out into the non-magical world of Mundania. Bink is captured by the Evil Magician Trent who was exiled to Mundania after trying to usurp the throne. Trent uses Bink to push his way back into Xanth, meet Iris and find out the secret for the three women Bink’s met in his travels. Along the way, Trent figures out what Bink’s magic is and why no one else was able to find it.
Overall the book is well done and Anthony does a good job hiding some scientific knowledge in the fantasy world. The characters are well drawn out and the twists are surprising, but make sense. It’s an interesting twist on the use of magic and the twist in how Trent is handled when he makes it back to Xanth is a wonderful idea. I love how Anthony puts magic everywhere in the land, not just in the people. Once upon a time, Anthony was a talented writer (and that cut off is somewhere around 1982) who could put together interesting ideas and characters into really good books. A Spell for Chameleon is a great example of the good Anthony. Highly recommended.
This is interesting – I remember reading Xanth as an early teen, and now I’m kind of embarassed by any of the Anthony I read. I mean, he literally had a book called “The colour of her panties”. But you’re right that the first books, particularly about Bink, were good. And Bink’s magic is great.