WILD OATS—A type of plant that fascinates young men, who like to sow them. Properly raised, they bring a Nymph who is bound to the man and is good for only one thing. That’s the attraction.
WILL-O’-THE WISPS—Faint lights that dance about at the edge of perception, they are great teasers who will lure unsuspecting people into trouble. Herman the Hermit was able to communicate with them, and with their help saved Xanth from a wiggle Swarming.
WOODEN GEARS—The great clock in the gourd that measures out time for every event in every dream. Once a Golem got in these gears, and …
WOODEN KNOB—An unidentified object that reverses the emotion of those who touch it, making enemies of friends and vice versa.
WORDS OF POWER—They command magic, but they must be properly pronounced, and few can do that. Examples: Schnzel (sneezing), Amnsha (loss of memory), Skonk (foul odor), Kxokk (summons a crocogator), Bansh (disappear).
WRAITH—A nocturnal ghostlike creature who roams at night.
WYVERN—A small flying dragon with a barbed tail and only two legs. Vicious. Not very smart, as any expendable weight is sacrificed in the interest of lightness, and the heat of their fires tends to fry what remains of their brains.
X
XANTH—A land of magic that has a suspicious resemblance to the Mundane peninsulas of Florida, Italy, Korea and the like. It is fashioned largely of puns, and everything makes sense in some magical way, such as Lake Wails supporting a whale with feet who makes the Prints of Wails. It has five Elemental regions and numerous special features, such as Mt. Parnassus and Lake Ogre-Chobee and the Isle of Illusions. Every person has a magic talent, of great or small extent, and most animals are magic. It is much easier to leave Xanth than to get into it. It represents the main link to reality for a number of zonkheaded Mundanes, such as the author.
XANTHIPPE—The Wicked Witch of the Wilderness, patterned after Socrates’ shrewish wife. She is associated with Xanthorrhoed Trees, the root plants of Xanth, and with yellow things. She has a son, Xavier.
XAP—Xavier’s steed, a golden yellow hippogryph.
XAVIER—Xanthippe’s son, a robust and decent man of yellow complexion, who can zap things by pointing a finger. He marries Zora Zombie.
Y
YAK—A mooselike animal, who will talk your ear off.
YANG—Evil Magician, and twin to Yin. He makes negative spells, deceiving by indirection. Nevertheless, he became King of Xanth, so must be respected. All the stray spell-objects of Xanth date from his reign, even those appearing before his time. He ushered in the Dark Age of Xanth.
YIN—Yang’s good twin, who lost out.
Z
ZOMBIE MASTER—The Magician Jonathan, who reanimates the dead to make zombies. Unlucky in love, he committed suicide and became a zombie himself for 800 years, but was subsequently restored to full life by a special elixir. He married Millie the Ghost and had two children, Hiatus and Lacuna.
ZOMBIES—The Living Dead, always sloughing off rotten bits of themselves. They were set by the Zombie Master to guard Castle Roogna, and normally rouse themselves from their graves only when the Castle is threatened. Living folk shun them, but zombies are not bad creatures, and could be almost alive if a living person truly cared.
ZORA ZOMBIE—A truly decent young woman who committed suicide when her true love was false, and was reanimated as a zombie. She was restored almost to life when she found love in the form of Xavier. Her talent is accelerating the aging process.
By Piers Anthony
Published by Ballantine Books
The Magic of Xanth
A Spell for Chameleon
The Source of Magic
Castle Roogna
Centaur Aisle
Ogre, Ogre
Night Mare
Dragon on a Pedestal
Crewel Lye: A Caustic Yarn
Golem in the Gears
The Apprentice Adept
Book One: Split Infinity
Book Two: Blue Adept
Book Three: Juxtaposition
Incarnations of Immortality
Book One: On a Pale Horse
Book Two: Bearing an Hourglass
Book Three: With a Tangled Skein
Book Four: Wielding a Red Sword
Book Five: Being a Green Mother
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PIERS ANTHONY, sometimes called Pier Xanthony, is the pseudonym of a Mundane character who was born in England in 1934, came to America in 1940, was naturalized in 1958, and moved to Xanth in 1977. He lives with his wife Carol and teenaged daughters Penny and Cheryl, who recently formed the “Anthony Ego-Buster’s Society” to shrink his swelled head when he gets too much fan mail, which he now answers at the rate of about two letters per day. His first story was published in 1963 and his first novel, Chthon, in 1967. His first Xanth novel, A Spell for Chameleon, won the August Derleth Fantasy Award as the best novel for 1977, and his fantasy novels began placing on the New York Times bestseller list with Ogre, Ogre and have continued since. He shifted from writing in pencil to writing on the computer, and Golem in the Gears was his first novel created on the machine; naturally the computer found its way into Xanth.
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