Heaven cent Book

After a long period away from the Xanth series, I came across Heaven Cent and couldn't remember reading it. I hadn't and I had evidently missed several episodes since the last one I consumed. If puns are the lowest form of humor, the Xanth books are the lowest form of fantasy. I don't happen to believe that. I believe these pun-filled stories are like ice cream and candy'delightful in moderation, sickening in over-indulgence. Today, as I read Heaven Cent, I still groaned at the familiar puns like "skeleton key" as both pointing to a possible island or something related to a "literal" skeleton and those of questionable taste such as "picking a bone" with regard to skeletal procreation, but the word play was more capriciously exploratory than tediously forced and I appreciated that. If you don't like the idea of frivolous ideas like: "chocolate milkweeds" (the source of chocolate milk), literal "Gold Coast" (where, as with King Midas, even the food is gold), "night mares" (horses which carry bad dreams), and more.

One of the great joys of most Piers Anthony works that I've read is the way he re-mythologizes classical ideas from mythology, fairy tales, and the "canon" of fantasy literature. Indeed, his retelling of Sophocles' Electra in Heaven Cent is worth the price of admission. Though it occurs late in the story, I found it to be a delightful approach to the relationship that elicited the psychological term, "Electra complex." Indeed, one chapter in the book seems like a re-telling of "The Devil and Daniel Webster" but I wasn't expecting the character who took the "role" of the eloquent senator.

Of course, I also enjoy the supporting cast of characters like: Marrow Bones (the skeleton from the gourd), Magician Murphy (who can make anything go wrong), Onoma Topoeia (who functions just like her name sounds), Stanley Steamer (a cameo role for the Gap Dragon in this one), and, of course, his sister, Princess Ivy (who plays a pivotal role on many levels in the book without being engaged in the main quest).

As with most of the books in the series, this one deals with a quest. It doesn't exactly follow Joseph Campbell's "hero's journey," but it is, symbolically, a coming-of-age pilgrimage. The protagonist, Prince Dolph, discovers that adults are worth listening to, that girls aren't always the enemy, that being true to oneself is vital, and, "Because things are almost never as they seem to be. Disillusion is part of growing up." (p. 261) And, since Prince Dolph is a form-changer (not merely a shape-shifter, as it were), there are different types of solutions for each conflict. So, both the action episodes and puzzle episodes have near-endless variety.

If you need to know the plot, it begins with Dolph watching the Castle Roogna tapestry in order to try to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Good Magician Humphrey. He talks his parents into allowing him to try to solve the puzzle with "appropriate" adult supervision, but the quest goes further and further afield from the royal parents' expectations. Yet, Dolph learns (though not without sufficient failures) how to act with integrity and honor. When the quest requires him to find the "skeleton key" and the "heaven cent," he isn't quite sure what to make of those clues, but he valiantly keeps going until they are revealed. However, in one way he doesn't see the ultimate fulfillment of his quest in this volume while in another, he sees much, much more and the reader is assured that all will be well.

Fans of Xanth will have already discovered this one, but I rejoice that I returned to the land of laughs and word play'especially at this time of the year. I probably rated this one about a star higher than I normally would because it had been so long since I enjoyed an adventure in this series.