Centaur Aisle

Rating:
Summary: great, like the rest
Review: 16 year old Prince Dor must fill in as temporary king while King Trent and Queen Iris are away on business in Mundania. Two wweks pass, no Trent. Dor decides he (Trent) must have been captured. He gathers a search party, consisting of an ogre, a golem, a centaur, and Princess Irene, who is way more than willing to be Dor's Queen. The party set's off to the Good Magician Humfrey, to ask how they could rescue Trent. Humfrey tells them to seek the Centaur Aisle. So they set off toward Centaur Isle in the south. Mundania, of course, lay to the north. Ingenious plot, as always. Piers Anthony never fails to bring his immortal characters to life.

Rating:
Summary: disappointing first half, great second half
Review: Book 4 of the Magic of Xanth

Prince Dor is 16 years old and is struggling with his continuing education. King Trent wants Dor to gain experience in governing, so when the time comes that Trent must make a diplomatic trip to Mundania, he leaves Dor in charge for the week. Dor does well enough for that first week, but when King Trent and Queen Iris do not return, there is cause for concern. Dor wants to go directly to Mundania to find Trent, but the Council forbids it. They do, however, agree to let Dor and some friends (Princess Irene, Grundy the Golem, Chet the Centaur and Smash the Ogre) travel to the south of Xanth to learn about the new Magician that recently appeared.

The first part of the book is the adventure through Xanth down to Centaur Isle. I found this first half to be the least interesting part of the book. It didn't appear to be much different that similar sections in the first three books, plus there didn't seem to be much progress. It just seemed juvenile (even more so than usual). Even though Dor is twice as old as he was in Castle Roogna, he acts the same.

Upon arrival at Centaur Isle, this book got interesting and I cared more about the story. Aspects of centaur society were introduced and fleshed out, and the identity of the new Magician was revealed. This also set up the trip to Mundania to rescue King Trent (if nobody saw that coming, I'll be very surprised). Even though I found the first half of the book to be uninteresting, the quality of the second half more than makes up for it. While I don't believe this is one of the best books of the series, it is redeemed by the ending of the novel. Centaur Aisle is not great, and barely passes for good, but it is a decent read in the Xanth series.

Rating:
Summary: disappointing first half, great second half
Review: Book 4 of the Magic of Xanth

Prince Dor is 16 years old and is struggling with his continuing education. King Trent wants Dor to gain experience in governing, so when the time comes that Trent must make a diplomatic trip to Mundania, he leaves Dor in charge for the week. Dor does well enough for that first week, but when King Trent and Queen Iris do not return, there is cause for concern. Dor wants to go directly to Mundania to find Trent, but the Council forbids it. They do, however, agree to let Dor and some friends (Princess Irene, Grundy the Golem, Chet the Centaur and Smash the Ogre) travel to the south of Xanth to learn about the new Magician that recently appeared.

The first part of the book is the adventure through Xanth down to Centaur Isle. I found this first half to be the least interesting part of the book. It didn't appear to be much different that similar sections in the first three books, plus there didn't seem to be much progress. It just seemed juvenile (even more so than usual). Even though Dor is twice as old as he was in Castle Roogna, he acts the same.

Upon arrival at Centaur Isle, this book got interesting and I cared more about the story. Aspects of centaur society were introduced and fleshed out, and the identity of the new Magician was revealed. This also set up the trip to Mundania to rescue King Trent (if nobody saw that coming, I'll be very surprised). Even though I found the first half of the book to be uninteresting, the quality of the second half more than makes up for it. While I don't believe this is one of the best books of the series, it is redeemed by the ending of the novel. Centaur Aisle is not great, and barely passes for good, but it is a decent read in the Xanth series.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely one of the best Xanth novels!
Review: Centaur Aisle is one of the best books I have ever read. I've read all of the Xanth novels and Centaur Aisle is the prized one. If you like Harry Potter and you're waiting for the next book to come out, these books will keep you going!

Rating:
Summary: A Bridge Between Books
Review: Centaur Aisle is probably my least favorite Xanth novel. It takes dor, Irene, Arnold and whole bunch of other people into Mundania to hopefully start trade with a kingdom there. In my opinion this book serves a better purpose, a link between Castle Roogna and Ogre Ogre, two of my three favorite Xanth books.

Rating:
Summary: Okay...
Review: first of all, based on the plot and content and stuff i thought this book was very good. it was funny and everything and had everything you could want in a book, but thats not why i give it 5 stars. its because of the incredible writing competency that anthony showed here. He got a good plot going and then held it together and wrapped it up so thoroughly and cleanly that even i couldn't find a single thread of loose end (ooh, i made a metifor) piers anthony is BY FAR the best author i have ever encountered

Rating:
Summary: A bridge
Review: Here is another one of the Xanth series. Once again we have the puns we seek (though some tend to lean torward the smuuty this time). We have Dor and company going into Mundania to hopefully start trade with a kingdom there. This book serves as link between Castle Roogna and Ogre Ogre. Two of the 6 books written extremely well in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Good Adult Fantasy
Review: I agree with most of the comments of the previous reviewers. This is a really good book, as are most of Anthony's Xanth novels. This is a book that can be read easily by younger people as well as adults. However, this is not a Harry Potter look alike. This book may be written so that it can be read by eleven or twelve year olds but it should not necessarily be read by them. This book has some light sexual encounters that may be unsuitable for younger readers. This does not ruin the novel but does change the target audience somewhat. A good book, if not the best of the Xanth series.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I really loved this book. I have read the first 4 xanth books, and so far this is probably my favorite. I'm building up on my xanth collection so that one day I will have read them all. Anthony is a great author and I recommend him to any hardcore fantasy readers.

Rating:
Summary: A magical read.. not intended for the youngins'
Review: I started the Xanth series when I was about 13. I got as far as Centaur Aisle and stopped, not because I dislike the series, but because after Centaur Aisle, every time I went for a Xanth book, it was the one I took. I must have read this book four billion times that summer. As soon as I finished it, I turned back to page one, every time. I picked it up again the other day to sustain me until the fourth Harry Potter book (AMAZING series) comes out. I think what captures me in this book is the idea of a group of young teenagers (OK, the Golem Grundy isn't a teen, but he's small..) going out into the big bad world and saving the day. Which is ironic, because I wouldn't recommend this book for young kids; it seems like every time you turn the page Irene is showing off her panties, ripping Dor's clothes off, or inviting him to cop a feel. She's quite worldly for fifteen. But this book is still fun, and that's what it's all about. Brief synopsis: King Trent and Queen Iris head out on a diplomatic mission to the magicless world of Mundania, leaving sixteen year old and future king Dor in charge of the kingdom of Xanth. But when the set date for their return comes and goes, Dor and Irene (the king's daughter) begin to worry. With their young friends Chet the Centaur, Smash the Ogre and Grundy the Golem they head South on a rescue mission.. Mundania, of course, lying to the North. This book is a fun and easy read for anyone looking for a laugh and a good adventure, and I would definitely recommend it.