February 17, 2023
In Anthony's newest Xanth novel, the Dwarf Demon Talents is not doing his job of assigning a magical ability to each newborn. Instead, all babies are being born with the same talent, which is a terrible fate for the denizens of Xanth. To remedy this curse, Prince Nolan Naga, son of Mela Merwoman of The Color of Her Panties (1992) fame, is accosted by a baton of Protagonism, making him the protagonist of the story and fated for a great adventure. His quest is two-fold: he needs to mitigate the ""curse of talents"" while courting Queen Apoca of the Lips tribe, who is his ideal woman according to the Good Magician. As they must venture where puns run amok, the couple assembles a team--a flirtatious ghost, a girl who sees the right path, a pun-cursed handyman, and two telepathic insects--to help deal with the perilous Pundemic Region. Series fans will enjoy the plethora of groan-worthy puns along with the guest appearances of a variety of historical characters from the first three Xanth novels.
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