Source of Magic (Xanth)

by Piers Anthony

Book Overview

A quest for the source of power threatened to doom the land of Xanth As a ruler of a country steeped in enchantment, King Trent was naturally curious about the source of its magic. It made sense to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345350588
• Release Date: July 1987
• Publisher: Del Rey
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.8" x 4.1"

Customer Reviews

Bink goes adventuring

Piers Anthony's Xanth series is full of puns and light-hearted humor. "The Source of Magic" is the follow up to "A Spell for Chamelion." In the first book, Bink found his mangical talent. Now Bink is married and works as a magic researcher for King Trent. With his wife very pregnant and very angry, Bink is sent off on a quest to discover the source of the magic in Xanth. The adventurers with Bink are Crombie (a human soldier transformed into a griffin), Humfrey (a human Magician like Bink), Grundy (a golem), and Chester (a centaur). An their adventures, they encounter all sorts of creatures including a dragon, an ogre, a siren and a gorgon. Finding the source of magic forces Bink to make a difficult choice.

one of the best in Xanth

This is the second book in Anthony's Xanth series. The world of Xanth is build upon puns, all of the creatures and the landscape is puns taken from real life and used literally. The tone of Xanth is fairly light-hearted, and I've always considered this to be a light fantasy series (as opposed to the more serious and emotionally darker fantasy series). Bink found his magical talent in A Spell for Chameleon , is now married, and works as a magic researcher for King Trent. With his wife nine months pregnant and very angry, Bink is sent off on a quest to discover the source of the magic in Xanth. Bink will be accompanied by his friend, Chester the Centaur, the Good Magician Humphrey, and Grundy the Golem. Being only the second Xanth novel, this one is has a decent story and is well written. Even though I have read this before (years back), I still cared what happened to these characters. The quest for the source of magic is interesting, and the payoff when Bink finds it (as if he wouldn't) is worth the price of admission. This is an excellent Xanth novel with more drama than later books. This is one of the best in the series.

Great 2nd Book in Xanth Series

The Source of Magic is a great sequel to A Spell for Chameleon. A non-stop adventure with wonder and humor. The first 4 Xanth books make great reading material for teens, and really make reading enjoyable.After Centaur Aisle, the series degenerates. The stories and characters get poorer. Xanth loses all it's charm and cohesion after that point. The main characters are kids and kid like characters. Stick with A Spell for Chameon, The Source of Magic, Castle Roogna, and Centaur Aisle for the best of Xanth.

Magic, Dragons, Wizards, You Name It!

He does it again! Bink is back, with even more adventure. A few dragons here and there, magicians, (Especially old grumpy ones who don't like to let people into their castle) centuars, you name it. But this time Bink does something nobody expects. His quest: To find the source of magic. His decision: Well, I'll leave that up to you.......

The Source of Magic

Imagine yourself in a world where everyone has a magic spell. Now, picture yourself as someone on a quest to find the source of the magic. Now, imagine yourself with a centaur, a griffin, a golem, and a strange wizard. This is what happens to Bink, while his wife is throwing him out. He searches through all of the world of Xanth, with the help of his friends. He runs into all sorts of dangerous traps, but his magic talent saves him. However, where he goes, even all of his magic might not be enough to save him! When I read this book, I at first was just interested in the plot. Through the plot twists, I couldn't put it down. Near the end, where there are even more surprises, I almost burned the book. However, the end more than made up for the part that made me want to scream. All in all, The Source of Magic was a very worthwhile book to read.