Crewel Lye, by Piers Anthony
Jordan the Barbarian has been dead for 400 years. He believes that he can live again, for his magical talent is healing: no matter how severe the injury, it can heal with time. The only problem is that he does not know where his bones are, so he’s out of luck. But Princess Ivy is bored, so Jordan may just get lucky. For Ivy has a Magician class talent and she is very willing to exert it on his behalf. Jordan believes that if he watches the magic tapestry he may be able to remember his life, and possibly discover where his bones are. So ensues the tale of Jordan’s life, which was ended because of a crewel lye.
Who likes adventure? (ooh, pick me, pick me!) Who likes barbarians? (ooh, they’re my favorite people!) Then this is the book for you!
On a more serious note, this book does contain a lot about barbarians. Not of the Mundane variety, however. Jordan the Barbarian has a very useful magic talent: accelerated healing. Even if he’s got an arm chopped off he’ll be full functional in a day or so. I mean, talk about helpful. It actually gets difficult to count how many times Jordan dies. It makes you wonder if he’d be any more careful if he knew he couldn’t regenerate.
Crewel Lye has definitely got some really great funny moments. Jordan keeps referencing the Barbarian Publicity department, and somehow that always got a hoot out of me. Jordan is a dumb barbarian, but he is not as dumb as everyone thinks, because the Barbarian Publicity department likes to keep a proper image. I kid you not. It is for this reason that I continue to read Xanth books, campy and corny as they are. Once in a while Anthony comes up with a truly wonderful inventive idea that he pulls off in the strangest fashion. You will not find high-jinks like this short of Douglas Adams. If you’ve got a spare moment, pick it up. This type of book is described as (in the words of the Gorgon actually about Castle Roogna) ‘a good cheap historical novel…it has lots of sex and sorcery and a really stupid barbarian hero.’ Enjoy the read.
Who likes adventure? (ooh, pick me, pick me!) Who likes barbarians? (ooh, they’re my favorite people!) Then this is the book for you!
On a more serious note, this book does contain a lot about barbarians. Not of the Mundane variety, however. Jordan the Barbarian has a very useful magic talent: accelerated healing. Even if he’s got an arm chopped off he’ll be full functional in a day or so. I mean, talk about helpful. It actually gets difficult to count how many times Jordan dies. It makes you wonder if he’d be any more careful if he knew he couldn’t regenerate.
Crewel Lye has definitely got some really great funny moments. Jordan keeps referencing the Barbarian Publicity department, and somehow that always got a hoot out of me. Jordan is a dumb barbarian, but he is not as dumb as everyone thinks, because the Barbarian Publicity department likes to keep a proper image. I kid you not. It is for this reason that I continue to read Xanth books, campy and corny as they are. Once in a while Anthony comes up with a truly wonderful inventive idea that he pulls off in the strangest fashion. You will not find high-jinks like this short of Douglas Adams. If you’ve got a spare moment, pick it up. This type of book is described as (in the words of the Gorgon actually about Castle Roogna) ‘a good cheap historical novel…it has lots of sex and sorcery and a really stupid barbarian hero.’ Enjoy the read.
posted by Tai Schutz | Thursday, December 07, 2006
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