The Secret of Spring

Anthony, Piers; Taeusch, Jo Anne

ISBN 10: 0312864647 / ISBN 13: 9780312864644

Published by Tor Books, 2001

About this Item

first US print/edition hardcover in mylar protected dust jacket. nice copy, I purchased it new, unused; no marks, not remaindered, not exlib, dj price intact, number line down to 1, first edition stated, etc.fiction hardcover.

Seller Inventory # 3302

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Secret of Spring
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312864647
• ISBN 13: 9780312864644
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: New
• Seller catalogs:
  • science fiction

About this title

Synopsis

The daughter of a practicing sorcerer takes out a personal ad for a man who can discuss botany and attracts Herb, an unsuspecting Vegan who has grown bored with his comfortable life

Reviews

Best known for his pun-filled, long-running Xanth light fantasy series, Anthony pairs here with a fan and first-time author for a stand-alone novel of improbable plot and lackluster characters. Vegan Herb Moss, a member of a race of genetically engineered plant-humans on a distant planet, is bored by his nice but dull girlfriend, Lily. When he answers a personal ad in Play Plant magazine, however, Herb gets more than he bargained for: beautiful Spring, daughter of a dead sorcerer who magically sealed the secret to extended life inside his child, to be revealed when she mates with her one true love. Spring is hunted by her father's enemy, the evil mage Zygote, and Herb and his friends are her only hope for evading the villain who seeks her maidenhead. The authors' mix of science and fantasy is awkward at best, and the characters never rise above stereotype, from the reluctant hero Herb with his antiquated philosophy about moody, troublemaking women to spunky-yet-understanding Spring, to Lily with her belief that "the love of a good woman" can bring out the good in any man, even the evil Zygote. While Anthony's author's note proclaims he found "cute cleverness" in Taeusche's original manuscript, it's doubtful that even die-hard Xanth fans will discover much here to hold their attention. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Anthony's latest collaboration (after Dream a Little Dream, 1999, with Julie Brady, etc.) with one of his more persistent admirers features the standard combination of cute witches, evil wizards, lovable quasi-humans, and jocularly lascivious romancing (puns and lovers) in a reasonably inventive, Anthony-fantasy setting where hero Herb, heroine Spring, and villain Zygote have lots of neat stuff to do. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.