Abigail G. reviewed on 1/30/2006 + 9 more book reviews

Castle Roogna" is the third in the "Xanth" series by Piers Anthony. Unlike the first two, which focused on Bink, this one focuses on Bink's son, Dor. Dor is a twelve year old Magician with the power to speak to inanimate objects or the dead -- which is quite useful as a means of gathering information. When Queen Iris tries to scare him with illusions of dragons or other horrible monsters, Dor is able to ask the floor if the creature is real, and when he's told it's not, he can walk through the illusion without fear.
Dor gets sent on a mission to find a way to bring zombie Jonathan back to life as a favor to Millie the maid. It's tough because Dor has a severe crush on Millie, due partially to the fact that her magic talent is sex appeal(?). But Millie loves Jonathan. To find the means to bring Jonathan back to life, Dor has to travel 800 years in the past through a magic tapestry.

Along on the ride is a giant spider named Jumper. Well, he was normal size in Xanth, but he got transformed into a six foot tall spider in the past. Disgusting? Maybe. But Jumper is incredibly loyal, mature, powerful, and genuine decent.

One of the really neat things about "Castle Roogna" is how well its plot fits in with the previous two novels ("A Spell for Chameleon" and "The Source of Magic") -- oddities like the Forget spell around the Gap (no one remembers the Gap) are explained by the end of this book in a satisfying way.

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