Talk To Xanth Creator Piers Anthony

Not only is Piers Anthony one of the world's most popular fantasy authors (his books have been science fiction and fantasy staples for decades) but he has been using Linux and StarOffice 5.2 for the past year. This is your opportunity to ask Piers about either the technical aspects of using Linux and StarOffice to produce fiction or about his upcoming work (new Xanth novels coming soon!) or almost anything else. We'll forward 10 of the highest-moderated questions to Piers tomorrow, and will run his answers (verbatim, as always) as soon as he gets them back to us.

I have to agree-- Xanth got dumbed-down

[Anonymous Coward]

When I read A spell For Chameleon (and the Split Infinity series) I was totally blown away. But as I got older and kept reading the new books as they came out, it seemed that they started getting more sexual and less mature in some way.

Now don't get me wrong-- I LOVE immature, and I LOVE sexual-- just not from this type of book.. it starts getting a little creepy. After a while, I kinda stepped out of the Xanth series. I was SO excited at one time when the next one came out, and then all of a sudden I was like, "Blah, whatever."

Did I grow out of Xanth, or did Xanth just get dumbed-down? I think the latter, because upon rereading the originals, I was astounded by how good they were. Not so "here's a pun for a pun's sake" and more plot and character driven.

Well, I guess this is more of a comment than a question. If P.A. ever reads this-- please write towards an older audience-- you're such a fantastic writer, I mean really a legend, and when you're pandering we can feel it. Let the kids read up to your level.

Thanks, and thanks for the great reads.

Re:Women on covers of Xanth books

[dancomfort]

Anthony might have a little more say because of his success, but generally, authors have NO IMPUT into the cover design for their books. The cover is viewed as an advertisement for the book, and is designed and controlled by the advertising department.

Re:Women in Xanth books

[james_sorenson]

Even as a guy, I would like to see his response to this. In my experience, the reason for there being more female nudity than in men is that the woman has a much more elegant shape. No "external plumbing" to deal with. Most writers visualize what they write, and another man's jewels is something I really don't want to visualize. A woman, however, is a pleasant work of art throughout. I think one thing that fascinates my about Piers Anthony is that his nudity is not always sex-related. Panties are, of course, a different matter. Now, the whole "woman relying on a man" thing is something he seems to be guilty of. He creates a female character with plenty of independence and ability to spare, yet the story always seems to concentrate on her getting her man through vixen means. However, one could argue that he is making a point that most men are simple-minded lustful dogs, rather than making a statement about women's place in society. Despite the concentration on his choice of OS and word processor, I hope you get your question.

Utter Crap?

[billnapier]

Mr. Anthony, can you pinpoint exactly when your excellent work changed from actually being good to utter crap?

I used to read a lot of your works. "The Incarnations of Immortality" was ones of my favorites along with "Bio of a Space Tyrant". Those are the only novels of yours that I have kept. I enjoyed reading the Xanth novels, but after about the 25th or so, I realized that they just keep rehashing themselves over and over again. There is always the same formula, over and over again. When do you expect to do something original with the Xanth series, or have you completly given into just making money and stop writing good stories?

Re:Motivations for the switch?

[0x0d0a]

I remember one of his forewords talking about how he used CP/M and a custom-done word processor at one point. He's probably fairly technically experienced compared to what you'd expect from your Average Joe author. :-)

Anyone read Killobyte, his sci-fi VR book?

pedophilia, writing, and personal lives

[Anonymous Coward]

Firstly, it is probably safe to say you have never been abused:

Naturally I am in no way implying that you would ever act upon such an urge, but the writing you have given us is very close to an act in itself

Not hardly. There is a terrible difference between reading about any act, and the feeling of helpless terror of being abused.

Later in the series, I hazily recall a wealthy character who kept pre-pubescent girls for sex, then released them for service when they matured. The character was depicted in a very sympathetic light - he was just misunderstood.

He was portrayed in a sympathetic light, but not because he was misunderstood, but because he was voluntarily kind in a cruel world, and because many things separated him from others who might perpetrate the same acts. First, he would never touch a girl who did not submit voluntarily to his attentions -- most did it for ulterior motives, obviously, and just as obviously they could not 'knowingly consent', but nonetheless, they did not have the trauma of rape on their psyches as well. He lavished them with gifts, tutors, etc. -- the best he could buy. He was kind to their familiies. It was generally implied that he did not need to do so, but he did anyhow.

However, you have to be a student of the intricacies of the omniscient voice -- clearly, the sympathy is from the character describing the story, who having been one of his young girls, speaks positively. The protagonist is aghast that she is not outraged and affronted, in fact. The work could be regarded as a subtle indictment of the argument that a girl that young can consent -- because in the context of the story, the girls were clearly willing, even eager, and yet the same story makes it obvious that there were unimaginable pressures upon them making a true self-directed and conscious decision impossible.

Lastly, your ultimate question is both unenlightened and inappropriate:

I would like to know candidly whether you are attracted to underage women.

This is wrong on several levels. First, most men, when answering honestly, will admit some attraction to "underage" girls. The question cannot be asked without qualification. Almost all men have checked out and appreciated some 16 or 17 year old -- and perhaps younger -- girl. This should come as no surprise. Nature designed women to be attractive beginning near puberty, and once they begin to exhibit womanly characteristics, you can expect them to draw sexual attention. This is no commentary on the validity or wisdom of the laws regarding age of consent; but the point is, if he answered your question in the affirmative, it would merely serve to place him in the vast majority.

Secondly, it is just inappropriate to ask. His work speaks for itself. There is a huge difference between a written description of anything, and reality -- note the callous disregard for children most parents display showing them wanton sex and violence on TV and in the movies. And in a book, you've only your imagination, so if you are innocent, your own innocence can quite act the buffer. Note, also, that his books are not marketed as juvenile fiction -- and indeed, Bio and its like might be inappropriate for even some adolescents, so it is a good distinction.

In any event, your question utterly fails to separate the art and the artist, and then uses this as a justification to ask an accusatory question which serves to do nothing other than tar and feather the respondant. Even if he were fraught with pedophilic urges, what difference would it make? Would his work be any more or less dangerous depending on what he felt sexually? Of course not. And Slashdot readers should be wise enough to not accept such a tabloid-like troll, regardless of how well-phrased it is. Curiosity on the morbid topic might be expected, but that does not make for an acceptable interview question.

Underage?

[judd]

Listen up, US folks. In most of the world, including where I live, the age of consent is at least two years lower than 18. I am constantly jarred by references to child pornography and underage sex where the participants turn out to be 16 or 17. Try and be a little less inward-looking, please.