A review by natalie_is_reading
A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony

4.0

3.5 - entertaining and nostalgic! I remember reading Xanth books at my grandmas house when I was little, my dad had recommended them. One of them - Ogre Ogre - was definitely one of my favorite books for a while. When I came across them in the library the other day I decided to check them out again. This is the first one (I looked up the list and there are still Xanth novels being published?!?! It’s been 50 years??) and I wasn’t sure if I had read it before. I’m leaning towards yes because it felt so familiar, I was surprised how many names I recognized, plot lines I knew, but also the other books build on it so I mostly remembered like once the characters were older and had gotten together and were telling their stories. Anyways very magical. But oof. The sexism. This book was written in the 70s and you can tell. Bink, the main character, comments on every single woman’s appearance and how attracted he is to them, being a man. All of the female characters only exist to push male characters storylines further. Most things about Chameleon. A trip. Definitely old. And bad even for then. It’d be interesting to read the new ones. But still enjoyable! Feeling tempted to grab a few more from the library!