'Xanth' is a
fantasy world created by author
Piers Anthony for a series of novels.
The series is noted for its
punny and humorous style. The author's habit of using (and crediting) reader notions is another factor in the popularity of the series, as it includes readers in the creation process. Anthony has gone so far as to create a popular character based on a young reader.
History
The name ''Xanth'' is in itself a pun, which matches the playful tone of the books. ''Xanth'' is both derived from the prefix for yellow, as well as the sound made by combining the last part of the author's first name and the first part of the author's last name ("Pier-XANTH-Ony"). Anthony has said that the coincidence of the word ''Xanth'' rhyming with a portion of his name was unintentional, and in fact he realized this only years after the series was first created.
Anthony commonly states that he originally intended for Xanth to be a
trilogy, and after the wild success of the first three books decided to expand the series to nine books. An extremely devoted fan base persuaded the author to continue writing the series, which is now open-ended. He has since declared, in the Author's Notes of ''Cube Route'', that this 27th book ended the first "trilogy" and that he was beginning a new one with the 28th, punning on the fact that 27 is the third power of three, i.e. three cubed.
The world of Xanth
Inhabitants and talents
Main articles: List of Xanth characters
Each human character in Xanth is born with a unique
magical ability, called a talent. With the exception of the
curse fiends, these abilities never repeat exactly in individuals throughout the entire history of Xanth (although nearly identical talents show up on occasion.) Though many are limited in scope, (called the "spot on a wall" variety), the series focuses mainly on individuals with "Magician" caliber abilities (one of the criteria for serving as King of Xanth).
In addition to the human characters, Xanth is populated by
centaurs,
demons,
dragons,
fauns,
gargoyles,
goblins,
golems,
harpies,
merfolk,
naga,
nymphs,
ogres,
zombies,
curse fiends, and all other manner of fictional beasts. Though initially introduced as obstacles to the human characters, some individuals from those groups become main characters in later books of the series.
As the series progresses, some of the half-human species are discovered to have the potential to possess magical talents. The centaurs of the primary centaur community,
Centaur Isle, exile any centaurs who demonstrate a magical talent (although some centaur communities are more lenient about possession of talent); however, they tolerate talents in "lesser" races such as humans. Goblins and harpies are shown to have the potential to possess half-talents, the complementary half existing in a member of the other species, (i.e., a goblin must team with a harpy for them to utilize their talent); the hostility between goblins and harpies proved a major obstacle to any serious effort by them to work together to develop these potential talents. Other non-human species are also shown to possess potential for talents.
Geography
Main articles: Geography of Xanth
Geographically, modern Xanth resembles the state of Florida. One major exception to this is the Gap Chasm, an enormous canyon a mile wide which completely bisects the country, though the position of the Chasm could technically correspond with the
Cross Florida Barge Canal, which, similar to the chasm, is generally forgotten except for those who stumble upon it. The Gap is guarded by a resident dragon, known as Stanley Steamer, and is crossed by means of treacherous bridges. Many of Xanth's other geographical features are puns on those of Florida (for example,
Lake Ogre-chobee and the
Kiss-Mee River). The
Florida Keys also exist, though they are, in Xanth, actual
keys. Other punnish features include the Isle of View ("I love you") and the Centaur Aisle created by a magician from the Centaur Isle. The
moon is close enough that flying creatures may land there; one side is sweet and
honeyish, the other has curdled and become
cheese, because it saw what was happening on Earth and Xanth. Plants may bear
fruit of all descriptions (pie trees and shoe trees are common) or they may be carnivorous (such as the tangle trees). Travel in Xanth is
risky.
Xanth has a connection with the normal world, which is referred to as "Mundania," its people are called "Mundanes". Although any citizen of Xanth can enter Mundania at any time through an isthmus in the northwest, Mundanes enter the isthmus in Xanth from random geographic locations and time periods throughout history. In other words, Xanth does not seem to be a fixed location in the world; and the timeline between Xanth and Mundania seems to jump backwards and forwards. For example, within a normal citizen of Xanth's lifetime, an American Mundane from 2007 could walk across the isthmus as well as an Egyptian Mundane from 3,000 B.C.; however, Mundanes seem to have trouble finding Xanth on a consistent basis, making any travel to Xanth a somewhat rare occurrence. Despite these seeming difficulties, Xanth was colonized in several waves by groups of invaders and nomads from Mundania over the course of several centuries. The series ties these colonization events to actual historical events on
Earth, most notably the
Punic wars.
The Adult Conspiracy
The Adult Conspiracy is one of the prominent features of the Xanth world. Nearly every book contains references to the Conspiracy and its effects, particularly those novels in which the main characters are children.
At its core, the Adult Conspiracy seeks to protect
children from knowledge that could bring them to great harm. The precise age for entering into the world of the
adults is age 18, corresponding to the
age of majority in most places. The primary principle that inducts children into the Conspiracy is the understanding of the secret of "
summoning the stork." In Xanthian terms, "summoning the stork" literally means to put out a call to summon a stork which will deliver to the couple a child. In
Isle of View, it is revealed that summoning the stork will release an "
ellipsis" (...) into the air to fly off to the stork. This is a play on the joke that all the "adult" things happen after a paragraph ends in an ellipsis. Most inductees actually discover the specifics of the act "by accident" after marriage, or under the influence of a love spring (a magical spring which causes two drinkers, not necessarily human, or even of the same species, to fall madly, and lustfully, in love with one another at first sight).
Other faculties of the Adult Conspiracy include:
★
Censorship of
foul language - All foul words contain the ability to cause negative effects (the wilting of plants, removal of curse burrs, etc.). These are automatically
bleeped when said in the presence of someone who has yet to be inducted.
★ Visual access to underwear - Because
underwear is so closely tied to
sexuality (even more so than nudity in Xanth), men become automatically "freaked out" when they view panties. This is made a common joke, most prominently in the novel ''
The Color of Her Panties'', and is often used by women to gain advantage over men. Panties only carry their effects when worn, but because of their nature, they are forbidden to be shown to children.
★ Inability to have childish fun - Children believe that once they join the Adult Conspiracy, they will no longer have pillow fights, eat sweets and drink tsoda popka (
soda pop), or want to have
fun. While this belief is exaggerated, the entry to the Conspiracy does cause the couple to lose their bed monster, inadvertently creating the appearance of losing all childhood spirit under the responsibility of Adulthood.
It is important to note that there have been occasions when children gained access to the Adult Conspiracy prematurely. One case is that of Jenny Elf, Che Centaur, and Gwenny Goblin, three children who had to be given access to the Adult Conspiracy when Gwenny received a pair of
contact lenses that corrected her poor
eyesight while giving her the ability to see others'
dreams (some of which could contain Conspiracy material). In one rare instance, a little girl was born with the magic talent of immunity to the magical censorship Adult Conspiracy, causing her family much distress. This was remedied with a vial of
lethe water which erased her
memory.
Mundania
Whenever Xanth characters visit the nonmagical land outside of Xanth, called Mundania, its natives (Mundanes) speak what sounds like gibberish to the Xanth characters. The gibberish can be translated by a simple replacement
cipher, depending on the Mundane language being spoken. Often, the language is a simple shift in the alphabet, a letter or two forwards or backwards (See
Caesar cipher). For example, the word "What?" is the Xanthan translation of "Xibu?" (one character after, when Mundanes speak modern English), "Vgzs?" (one character before, in the language spoken by King Oary in ''
Centaur Aisle''), or "Yjcv?" (two characters after, spoken by the
Avars, also in ''
Centaur Aisle'').
Trivia
There is a character named Xanth Filatine in the
Edge Chronicles. It is unclear whether or not the name is borrowed.
Also related
★ ''Encyclopedia of Xanth'' (1987, by
Jody Lynn Nye) a Crossroads Adventure role-playing game book
★ ''Piers Anthony's Visual Guide to Xanth'' (1989, with
Jody Lynn Nye)
★ ''Letters To Jenny'' (1993, nonfiction)
★ ''
Companions of Xanth'' (a
computer game described in and following the plot of ''Demons Don't Dream'')
Reference
★
Piers Anthony's Bibliography List
★ ''Ghost of a Chance'' (ISBN 0-8125-6450-2) (1988) by Jody Lyn Nye (A Crossroads Adventure in the World of Piers Anthony's Xanth)
External links
★
★
Xanth on Hipiers.com
★
Extensive 2005 Interview with Piers Anthony on the creation of Xanth
★
''I was a captive of Xanth'' a review of the long-lived series from
Salon (
December 7,
2000)
★
Xanthians Online the largest Xanth fan-based community and website
★
The Xanth Wiki
★
The timeline of Xanth
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