A tribute to Piers Anthony, Xanth, and interactivity in fiction

[zhai]

I write this today to set you all free.

By way of disclaimer, and to start the story, as many of you already know, Piers Anthony did me the great honor of reviewing and blurbing Sword of Fire and Sea. My brief email interactions with him were part of a process I went through after selling Sword that helped convince me I was not a charlatan, and

Comments

[jirel]

Somehow, I thought I was the only one that ever read his notes at the back of the book. Stupid idea for many reasons and I'm not sure just how your conversation brought me to realize that they were popular with many people... See, I admit to not only reading the books but also the notes! And strangely enough, I started my reading history as an adult - no actually, I AM that old. LOL! I have to admit that the fact he lived in (and wrote about ) my home state of Florida always caused an extra thrill.

[zhai]

Funny thing, isn't it? Actually it seems most people read those notes and they had a beneficial effect both on their reading of future books and how they viewed the author.

I can bet living in Florida during Xanth-reading times would have been extra excellent!

[haikujaguar]

I loved this post!

[zhai]

Thank you for saying so!

[elenuial]

You know, I've never read Xanth, but I've never felt a particular need not to or had a hate-on for it. I didn't even know people didn't like the series, actually.

Puns are pretty great, so screw the haters!

[zhai]

Screw the haters indeed. I tend to leave puns to the masters, but they are pretty great.

[eclipsegryph]

I really enjoyed reading this... And I remember Xanth being one of my FIRST wholly recognizable fantasy worlds as a child. (That is to say, I loved knowing about the world and its history.) Hell, my friends and I even created a pen and paper RPG engine to role play in Xanth. :p

Though no matter what else he wrote, whether I liked it or not, "Letters to Jenny" will always seal him in as a great guy.

Thank you for writing this.

[zhai]

Thanks for reading. :)

omg, Xanth RPG. I've always thought the world would make a great MUD.

And yes, a solid third of the people I've talked to about Piers and Xanth recently have mentioned Letters to Jenny. The whole event touched a lot of people.

[kmarkhoover]

This was a fascinating insight into process and the nuts and bolts of writing, which always interests me. Thanks! :)

[zhai]

Thanks, Mark! Perhaps I will endeavor to write more of those!