A Spell for Chameleon

I can see how this book is a landmark in fantasy history. It is one of those 101 on how to write a basic good adventure fantasy story. Every fantasy book should look up to this and at the very least be better.

The story is simple, the characters easy to like. Xanth is a small realm situated somewhat inside our own, but inaccessible by normal means. In this world, everyone has exactly one magical talent. Talents never repeat. And to keep living here, this talent must have manifested itself by the time you're ~22 years old, or else you're banished from Xanth. It doesn't matter how stupid and useless your magic is, as long as you have one. So you have a very small population with a wildly diversified array of magical talents, ranging from transmutation to changing the color of butterflies at will.

Bink is a citczen of Xanth, one who is near his 22 birthday and hasn't yet found his magical ability. Everyone else he knew got theirs when they were still a child. They used to tease and prank him merciless on account of this. Bink compensated the weakness in one aspect of his life to strentht the others. As a result he became strong, agile and intelligent. He needed to adapt in order to stand up to his bullies, and as a result, he turned out to a better man for it.

Banishment for Bink would mean to not only loose his homeland, the only place he ever knew, but also to be kept away from his parents and his girlfriend whom he loved. There is still a chance for him though. The good magician Godfrey, who is probably the strongest magician in Xanth, may have a way to help him to reveal his power. For a price of course, the good magician is expensive as hell.

So Bink sets up on his quest to find the good magician. The way is long and perilous. He finds himself in all sorts of dangerous situations, and meet a whole lot of wonderful characters. And along the way, the world of Xanth is revealed to us, together with the fantastic magic of its inhabitants.

Among the things I liked about the book is the logical explanation of things. Through an evolutive point of view, magic is explained to us. Plants have developed the magic most suitable to make them prosper in their environment. The flora of a forest can make the travelers passing through it to feel very comfortable, so much that they don't ever want to leave it. That way, its predators can feast on its flesh. A carnivorous tree might be able to make it rain so that unaware prey take shelter in its cover.

“May we stop for a drink?”
“Not here! Anyone who drinks from that water becomes a fish.”
“A fish? Why?”
“The river is trying to restock itself.”

Busted centaurs, mischievious sorcerers, gnomish magicians, evil ex-magicians turned general, dragons, mermaids, haunted castles, zombie crocodiles and a whole lot of other things awaits Bink on his adventure.

A “hmm” book. On the one hand, this is a very good effort of imagination; a world where everything is magical, from the animals to the rocks. On the other hand, it is spectacularly misogynist. Granted this was written at a time when attitudes were different, but it still seems incredible that every female character is largely defined by her appearance (and the rape “trial” beggers belief). At several points it is explicitly stated that women are not as capable as men. At times I was left wondering if this was meant to be satirical, but, no, it appears this is meant to be taken at face value.

There is a certain curiosity value to the book, which is the only thing that kept me reading until the end, but I wouldn't look down on anyone for jumping ship once they had felt they'd had enough.

I'm giving this 3 stars, since the basic story is good and, if it wasn't for the skincrawling sexism, would easily be a 4 star book. I can see this being popular with unenlighted 15 year old boys. If you have an academic interest how not to write female characters, give it a try, but don't feel guilty if you bail once you get the gist.