If helping hapless Wynne was not bad enough, Bink comes to the attention of illusionist Iris, who is more than willing to offer Bink her body in any form Bink likes in exchange for his service as afigurehead King. The current King of Xanth is old, senile and dying. Iris would be alogical choice for the role if she were only not amere woman. She could grant Bink the appearance of atalent and rule from behindthethrone. The central premise here is this: which is preferable, a very beautiful, very dumb woman, or a super smart, wise but ugly woman?

And, A SPELL FOR CHAMELEON might have been a charming, endea Humfrey knows a hundred spells. Maybe one of them—I’m sure he could find out what your talent is. Then everything would be all right.” The worst, however, is near the end, where he's with a woman who for reasons I won't explain currently had the intellect of a very stupid child where he thinks 'no, I won't tell her what sex is, her mind is too young' and then proceeds to have sex with her in the next paragraph. Seriously. This is what's going on.

Develop

Not only does Bink manage to obtain healing elixir from Humfrey, but he also manages to find out that the Storm King has died. All the officials of Xanth, including the Council of Elders (which includes Bink's father Roland), arrive on the scene. The Council captures Trent, heals Chameleon, and offers Trent the kingship if he will marry Iris. The Storm King was allowed to remain King well past his prime because there was no suitable successor and by forcing Trent to marry (and presumably produce magician-caliber offspring) the council hopes to prevent that state of affairs from occurring again. Trent's first act as King is to deactivate the magical barrier between Xanth and Mundania and grant Bink (and non-magical folk in general including mundanes) amnesty. Trent's forces, who consisted of mundanes who wished to immigrate to Xanth begin to settle peacefully in various regions of the magical land. Bink then breaks up with Sabrina (who he had discovered was not right for him anyway) and marries Chameleon, as he has realised that he wants "variety" in a girl, and only Chameleon with her never-ending change in looks and intelligence will give him what his heart desires, and yet at the same time allow him to remain faithful to one person. Trent and Iris take up residence in Castle Roogna and set to work making it the new centre of government. Bink and Chameleon obtain a cottage just outside the Castle and Bink is given the title of Official Researcher of Xanth. King Trent gives Bink his first task: to discover the source of magic in Xanth, setting up the plot for the next book, The Source of Magic. As if she didn’t know. But as his mind formed the necessary words, his mouth balked. He knew what her answer had to be. No one could remain in Xanth after his twenty-fifth birthday unless he demonstrated a magic talent. Bink’s own critical birthday was barely a month away. He was no child now. How could she marry a man who was so soon to be exiled? urn:lcp:spellforchameleo0000anth:epub:30e4503f-5442-4f0f-9241-6ffaf0cba9f8 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier spellforchameleo0000anth Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t9r313w2c Invoice 1652 Isbn 185723250X I read A Spell for Chameleon when I was 13, and what I found most striking about the book was its inside-joke depiction of the "stages" of womanhood. They appear in the character of Chameleon herself, who is not one woman but three: beautiful but stupid Wynne, sensible and average-looking Dee, and ugly but extremely intelligent crone Fanchon. Chameleon seeks to end her curse as she despairs of ever meeting a man who is willing to put up with her changeable nature.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand how J.K. Rowling is a household name but Piers Anthony isn't! His writing is eloquent and clever. The dialogue never disappoints and the characters have the perfect amount of development. Piers creates a fantastical world without boring his readers with repetitious concepts.This book follows Bink as he undertakes an Odyssey-like series of adventures in a search to discover his magical talent. It's set in the land of Xanth, a Florida-shaped land of magic and literal puns reminiscent of Wonderland, or Oz perhaps. I thought Xanth was a pretty fun, quirky world. I particularly liked the history and Anthony's unique take on magic as being an evolutionary biological trait. Really, I would have enjoyed the book thoroughly (even in spite of Anthony's weird love affair with the word balk and all its forms). Then I presume she would have fled him at the outset, had she disliked him--and that he would not have forced her if she trusted him.'" It can all be yours,” she said. The alluring fourteen-year-old reappeared. “No other woman can make you this promise.”