Roogna

Greetings from rural Freeman, South Dakota. I'm here visiting my brother after a little business meeting in Sioux Falls on Thursday. I had an opportunity to take in the local golf course, as well as finish reading "Castle Roogna."

Castle Roogna, the 3rd book in the Magic of Xanth series by Piers Anthony, is a book I started reading a number of years back. 7th grade, I believe. I had borrowed it from a friend, and not having read the first 2 books in the series, became lost, confused, disoriented, and probably a little nauseous as well.

Fast forward a few years. I read the first two books and found this story to make a profound amount of better sense now. It concerns the fantasy realms of Xanth, which coincidentally looks a lot like Florida, but also Magic, time-travel, bad puns, and an assortment of mythological creatures.

In short, I found this particular tale a not as interesting as the first two. Perhaps the formulaic quest plot - a staple of Xanth - to be just more of the same, with some new but rather familiar characters. I suppose the book makes for a good diversion for a few hours, but this wasn't my favorite of Xanth books.

Matt