The previous Xanth books have been really bad, so this was a return to form. Unfortunately, a return to form only means drab pointless repetitive plotlines Xanth has already tread many times before. At least they weren't offensive, but they weren't interesting either.
The heroes' party had overwhelming power and tons of god-like allies they could always turn to in a pinch, while their challenges were strangely easy, some of the weakest and most meaningless bad guys Xanth has ever seen. Like usual the romances worked effortlessly and instantly, robbing any interest or drama that might have come from that corner, so you're really left wondering why on Earth this book exists. Obviously, to fulfill a quota. Piers Anthony wants to keep writing Xanth books, he knows fans are stuck with reading them because they want to see the ending to this 45+ book series they've already invested this much in, so he can keep stringing us along indefinitely.
At some point Piers Anthony will die of old age and I won't have to buy the latest Xanth book anymore, but until then our contest of wills continues.
Next up, I've already bought the new volume of Haganai's manga, volume 19. This is the first time the manga covers new material not covered by the translated portion of the books. Hopefully it will be more rewarding than Xanth.
Then I'll be all caught up on books until SAO's new volumes slated for a few days from now. The challenge was immense but my eyes and brain were up to the task and have caught up with all of October's releases.
Meanwhile, I've trimmed down my remaining music count to 654.
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