The Secret of Spring

By Piers Anthony and Jo Anne Taeusch

Book Overview

Herb Moss is a nice young man. He's a Vegan. It's a good life, really; he's engaged to his childhood sweetheart Lily, has a job with his father's firm, and can look forward to a solid if unexciting future. And if he's bored and wistful every time he thinks about it--well, that's normal, isn't it? Surely, thinks Herb, a little romantic correspondence on the side can do no harm. Especially if Lily doesn't find out. Meanwhile, on a planet far away, a nice young woman named Spring only wishes she were bored. Spring's been living with her widowed father Gabriel, a practicing sorcerer, keeping house and helping out with the business. It's been a good life. But the evil wizard Zygote has learned of the existence of those secrets. And he'll do anything to get them, including the obvious. When Gabriel is killed, Spring takes refuge with the austere Order of Companions. There, grieving and lonely, she places a personal ad, looking for a pen pal who can discuss botany. Little does she know that she's actually placed a personal ad in Play Plant magazine, and that her new pen pal Herb thinks she's interested in romance. When Zygote closes in on her, Spring flees to the only friend she can think of: her buddy Herb. Trouble ensues--with Zygote following close behind it!

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812564871
• ISBN13: 9780812564877
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

I Married a Plant From Outer Space

If you're making up a best ten list this year, you'll need only nine more.

A good, lightweight story.

Spring is the daughter of Gabriel, a wizard who has discovered the secret of ultimate power, but he has an unscrupulous enemy named Zygote. To keep this secret from Zygote, he implants it in Spring and sends her away. To keep a step ahead of Zygote, Spring journeys to the home world of her pen pal Herb Moss, a part human/part plant man. However, even on Herb's world of Paradise #23, Zygote's henchmen aren't far behind.This book is quite charming with a romantic (and at times racy) storyline. There is a good deal of humor of the punning sort for which Piers Anthony is famous, and the mixture of magic and science fiction is quite interesting. However, the story is lightweight, and is easy to pick up and put down. It's a good story, but far from a great one. I'm glad I read this book, but I really can't see rereading it.

A good, lightweight story.

Spring is the daughter of Gabriel, a wizard who has discovered the secret of ultimate power, but he has an unscrupulous enemy named Zygote. To keep this secret from Zygote, he implants it in Spring and sends her away. To keep a step ahead of Zygote, Spring journeys to the home world of her pen pal Herb Moss, a part human/part plant man. However, even on Herb's world of Paradise #23, Zygote's henchmen aren't far behind.This book is quite charming with a romantic (and at times racy) storyline. There is a good deal of humor of the punning sort for which Piers Anthony is famous, and the mixture of magic and science fiction is quite interesting. However, the story is lightweight, and is easy to pick up and put down. It's a good story, but far from a great one. I'm glad I read it, but I'll never re-read this one.

Cute and irrespressable

When I found this book in my local library, I didn't go for it at first because, frankly, the spine looked bad. Awfully shallow of me, I know, but I finally did pick it up and read the inside cover, and I slipped it into my pile of books, including louisa may allcott and tamora pierce. I was honest with myself, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't read it, but I ended up doing so, and I was just as cute and funny as I hoped it would be. I recommend this book, but not as a profound and heart-stirring read, but more as a late-night grooving in the bathtub thing.

Cleaver and Funny.

The Secret of Spring is very cleaverly written with puns peppered throughout the story. The characters are funny and imaginative. The unusual ending is quite a surprise. A fun book.