duane@anasazi.UUCP (Duane Morse) (02/06/86)
The jacket reads: "Grundy Golem was the size of an inconsequence, and nobody had any respect for him--including Grundy! To prove himself, he volunteered to ride the Monster Under the Bed to the Ivory Tower to find little Ivy's long-lost dragon, Stanley Steamer. After many adventures, he reached the Tower, to learn that the evil Sea Hag kept lovely Rapunzel imprisoned there, her body destined to be used to maintain the witch's immortality. Grundy managed to free the damsel, and they fled together. As the descendent of Jordan the Barbarian and Bluebell Elf, Rapunzel could become any size, even that of any Golem's dreamgirl. But Grundy knew she was surely fated for someone better than he. Besides, the Sea Hag still pursued them to destroy him and get her back. And he still hadn't found Stanley Steamer." The jacket is completely accurate. Unfortunately, you can pretty much guess how things turn out just by reading the jacket, and so the story never builds any suspense. This book is similar to the later Xanth novels: lots of small adventures, frequent puns, a few games, and an easily-learned lesson or two. It's pleasant enough, like a marshmallow, but don't expect much nourishment. A lot of characters from previous Xanth books appear here, such as Bink and Chester, but they are rather blandly portrayed this time around. One thing of interest, and the only reason I'll keep this book: the last chapter of the book is a nice lexicon of Xanth. I give this book 2.5 stars (good). By the way, the author notes that he has more Xanth novels in mind, but that he plans to write new "Adept" novels first. -- Duane Morse ...!noao!terak!anasazi!duane (602) 870-3330