Rating: 
Summary: Gotta love Xanth
Review: Summary on back of book: "To Xanth's precocious shape-shifter Prince Dolph, searching for Humfrey, the missing sorcerer, is a perfect chance to see the world. Setting off with his faithful companion Marrow, an enchanted skeleton, he will penetrate an island of illusion...excape a goblin kingdom...outwit a husband-hungry mermaid...nest-sit for fiery dragons...and find romance with a slinky princess--all on his way to discovering a magic coin with the answers!"I LOVE Anthony's Xanth series, and of all his characters, Prince Dolph, Nada, and Electra are my three favorites. The love story that occurs among the three is riveting. If you read any of the several books in this fantastic series, read Heaven Cent--and make sure that you catch the conclusion to their dilemma in Isle of View!
Rating:
Summary: Gotta love Xanth
Review: Summary on back of book: "To Xanth's precocious shape-shifter Prince Dolph, searching for Humfrey, the missing sorcerer, is a perfect chance to see the world. Setting off with his faithful companion Marrow, an enchanted skeleton, he will penetrate an island of illusion...excape a goblin kingdom...outwit a husband-hungry mermaid...nest-sit for fiery dragons...and find romance with a slinky princess--all on his way to discovering a magic coin with the answers!" I LOVE Anthony's Xanth series, and of all his characters, Prince Dolph, Nada, and Electra are my three favorites. The love story that occurs among the three is riveting. If you read any of the several books in this fantastic series, read Heaven Cent--and make sure that you catch the conclusion to their dilemma in Isle of View!
Rating:
Summary: Characters & Talents are awesome
Review: The best thing about Piers Anthony's Xanth novels are the young men and women who battle with the right and honoirable thing to do. This one stands out among 23, along with A Spell for Chameleon, Castle Roogna, Ogre Ogre, and Question Quest. Dolph's talent of shape-changing makes it a lot of fun. I like when the dragon and merwoman have two different concepts of the fire-water-sand game. Nine-year-old kids with awesome talents who get to hug hot women are lots of fun to read about. Five stars.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good, Filled w/ Suspense
Review: This is an great book like all others in the Xanth Series. As a fantasy lover, i think this comes close to my favorite Xanth book. This book narrates the story of Dolph's quest (Ivy's little bro) and how he happens to be stuck between two girls. Really i think it is quite simple to solve the problem, but if u want to see what i mean read the book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best fiction series ever made!
Review: This is one of the best books in the Xanth trilogy. Nine-year-old Prince Dolph is on a quest to find the Good Magician Humphrey. Everyone had been looking for the Good Magician, and so far no one had a clue where he went. But Dolph was determined to find out. With his trusted companion Marrow Bones, Dolph went out for an adventure. His books are very punny and have lots of adventure, and even more so in this book.
Rating:
Summary: I loved it
Review: THis was the best book ever. It had a great plot and it was full of humor and excitement.
Rating: 
Summary: Suitable for the YA set
Review: When I first read Heaven Cent, I couldn't put it down. I thought that Dolph's quest for the Good Magician, aided by designated Adult Companion Marrow Bones (a skeleton), was one of the best stories I had ever read. Over the course of his quest, the pre-teen Prince Dolph learned about ends and means, the importance of honor, and the torment of conflicting obligations. But when I first read this book, I was 13 years old. A novel that fascinated an adolescent mildly amuses a twenty-something. The twenty-something finds Dolph's commitments less onerous than perceived, his romantic entanglements (dare I say) juvenile, and his assertion of adulthood belied by his disregard for another individual's life and happiness. Clearly, I'm not really in the target audience any more. So when I comment on this book, I have to step a little outside of myself. I have to consider it from the point of view of a pre-teen ... but I still find it wanting on several levels. First, characterization is two-dimensional at best and the plot is almost totally linear. While I understand that a book targeted at pre-teens will inevitably be less complicated than a novel targeted at the more adult set, I believe that Anthony seriously underestimates his readers' intellectual capacity here. The characters, especially the "good guys" tend to share the same basic qualities of decency, honor, and goodness ... in roughly the same measures. Even many of the "bad guys" turn out to be good guys (except the goblins), leaving little in the way of a believable, meaty antagonist -- or a multifaceted protagonist, for that matter. To his credit, Anthony does add a degree of depth to Dolph, successfully guiding his protagonist from pre-teen self-centeredness to teen self-centeredness, but the other characters seem ... hollow and unchallenged. Their fears often turn out to be unfounded and their challnges often turn out to be less than challenging. The plotting leaves a little to be desired. Anthony has adopted a "means and ends" theme as his great ethical question for this novel. Unfortunately, he consistently answers this question with a resounding "no." Anthony also glosses over those situations that might answer this question with a "yes," hollowing out the characters' ethical dilemma. Additionally, the plot has a rather contrived, linear feel to it. Dolph and Marrow walk, sail, or fly from challenge to challenge, meeting each challenge in turn, and dismissing it, except for the delicate matter of Dolph's romantic entanglements, which Anthony saves for another novel, even though the answer to Dolph's dilemma is as obvious as scales on Nada Naga's snaky skin. Setting-wise, expect standard Xanth fare. Fortunately, Anthony penned this novel long before the puns totally took over Xanth; the puns here are confined to either helpful areas of the plot or are ancillary devices, used sparingly. I cannot recommend this Xanth novel to anybody who is an adult reader. For any fantasy reader above 15, Carol Berg, Orson Scott Card, and Tad Williams are far more appropriate -- and far more talented -- writers.
Rating:
Summary: Suitable for the YA set
Review: When I first read Heaven Cent, I couldn't put it down. I thought that Dolph's quest for the Good Magician, aided by designated Adult Companion Marrow Bones (a skeleton), was one of the best stories I had ever read. Over the course of his quest, the pre-teen Prince Dolph learned about ends and means, the importance of honor, and the torment of conflicting obligations. But when I first read this book, I was 13 years old. A novel that fascinated an adolescent mildly amuses a twenty-something. The twenty-something finds Dolph's commitments less onerous than perceived, his romantic entanglements (dare I say) juvenile, and his assertion of adulthood belied by his disregard for another individual's life and happiness. Clearly, I'm not really in the target audience any more. So when I comment on this book, I have to step a little outside of myself. I have to consider it from the point of view of a pre-teen ... but I still find it wanting on several levels. First, characterization is two-dimensional at best and the plot is almost totally linear. While I understand that a book targeted at pre-teens will inevitably be less complicated than a novel targeted at the more adult set, I believe that Anthony seriously underestimates his readers' intellectual capacity here. The characters, especially the "good guys" tend to share the same basic qualities of decency, honor, and goodness ... in roughly the same measures. Even many of the "bad guys" turn out to be good guys (except the goblins), leaving little in the way of a believable, meaty antagonist -- or a multifaceted protagonist, for that matter. To his credit, Anthony does add a degree of depth to Dolph, successfully guiding his protagonist from pre-teen self-centeredness to teen self-centeredness, but the other characters seem ... hollow and unchallenged. Their fears often turn out to be unfounded and their challnges often turn out to be less than challenging. The plotting leaves a little to be desired. Anthony has adopted a "means and ends" theme as his great ethical question for this novel. Unfortunately, he consistently answers this question with a resounding "no." Anthony also glosses over those situations that might answer this question with a "yes," hollowing out the characters' ethical dilemma. Additionally, the plot has a rather contrived, linear feel to it. Dolph and Marrow walk, sail, or fly from challenge to challenge, meeting each challenge in turn, and dismissing it, except for the delicate matter of Dolph's romantic entanglements, which Anthony saves for another novel, even though the answer to Dolph's dilemma is as obvious as scales on Nada Naga's snaky skin. Setting-wise, expect standard Xanth fare. Fortunately, Anthony penned this novel long before the puns totally took over Xanth; the puns here are confined to either helpful areas of the plot or are ancillary devices, used sparingly. I cannot recommend this Xanth novel to anybody who is an adult reader. For any fantasy reader above 15, Carol Berg, Orson Scott Card, and Tad Williams are far more appropriate -- and far more talented -- writers.
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