Xanth. Where nothing is quite as it seems, and even inanimate objects can cast spells; where even puns aren’t so much puns, as something else… All women are the same inside. They differ only in appearance and talent. They all use men.” —Spoken by Iris the stereotypically conniving sorceress, to which Bink replies, “Maybe so. I’m sure you know more about that sort of thing than I do.” But that's not the worst moment. No. The worst thing about this book is that Anthony has, for no visible plot-related purpose, inserted a fake rape trial into his book so he can dismiss the idea of date rape. As the judge explains the "not guilty" verdict: The trio decides to declare a truce until they can safely make their way out of the wilderness. While travelling, the group discovers Castle Roogna, a castle built 800 years ago by one of the early Kings of Xanth but abandoned 400 years later. Here, Bink learns that Fanchon, Wynne, and Dee are all the same person named Chameleon. Castle Roogna is haunted by relatively benign ghosts and zombies and is an area of heightened magical power. The castle in fact seems to possess some form of awareness and had actually used its control of the surrounding area to herd the trio onto its grounds. It detected the presence of two magician-caliber talents in the group (Bink and Trent) and lured them there in the hopes that one of them could become king and restore the castle to its former glory. The group leaves Castle Roogna on their way to the see the King but are eventually forced to break their truce when Bink refuses to join Trent in taking over Xanth. While they are arguing, Iris of illusion shows up and offers to marry Trent and help him become King. Iris craves power, but as a woman she is barred from ruling Xanth so she has decided that the next best thing is to marry a King. Trent and Bink agree to a duel to the death or surrender: If Bink loses then he will stay out of Trent's way but If he wins then Trent will cease his efforts to gain the throne. In the course of this duel Trent deduces Bink's unknown talent, which is that he cannot be harmed by magic. Because Bink is still vulnerable to non-magical harm his talent has gone to great lengths to conceal itself over the years. In any case where Bink could have been harmed by magic he has always been saved by what appears to be a series of coincidences. Because of interference from Iris, Trent declares that the duel must be restarted, but now thanks to his knowledge of Bink's talent, Trent has the upper hand. He is about to kill Bink when Chameleon dives in front of the sword. Trent and Bink then call a truce so that they can obtain healing elixir to save her life. Bink eventually gets to the Good Magician's Castle in the form of a bird, having been transformed by Trent.

I'm not sure when I read this -- the 1995 date I've entered is just a guess. It was the first Piers Anthony novel I read. It was imaginative and somewhat fun, but I was put off by the casual sexism. I went on to read other Anthony works, and that never goes away. Whenever a female character walks on stage, Anthony dissects her physical attractiveness, in anatomical detail. He cannot apparently imagine a female character without discussing how sexually attractive she is. Really I have no other words for that scene. There is just nothing right in that scene and everything wrong. And it wasn't even remotely necessary to the plot! Just...no! And it DOES read as though Anthony endorses THIS kind of horrifying sexism. It's just horrendous. It makes me that special kind of angry where you want to cry. Utterly repulsive.Xanth is an enchanted land where magic rules, a land of centaurs and dragons and basilisks where every citizen has a unique spell to call their own. For Bink of North Village, however, Xanth is no fairy tale. He alone has no magic. And unless he gets some—and fast!—he will be exiled. Forever. Yet as it shifted into the form of a basilisk it glared at him with such ferocity that Bink’s mirth abated. If its malice could strike him, he would be horribly dead. The plot: A Spell for Chameleon is an absolutely original story. The people, the magic system, the flora and fauna that make up Xanth's ecosystem, and the plot are all unique and interesting. The story is fast paced, witty, frequently funny, and sometimes intelligent (hey, not all books can be deep and poignant all the time). Okay, you have the judge's ifso," said the bailiff. "You girls still want to bring it to open trial?"

Oh, but then his father tells Bink that it's not what he wanted anyway, because he doesn't want a mindless sex toy. That's not enough of a challenge. But then goes on to dehumanize women in telling Bink how he'd be bored with a beautiful woman with no mind. You can probably tell from this that a) the book is aimed at young men, and b) women might find the question, never mind the answer, to be offensive. This realization continued to percolate through Bink’s emotion. The chameleon was harmless—but most of untamed Xanth was not. Was this some twisted omen, a small suggestion of a dire fate awaiting him? Omens were serious business; they always came true, but usually were misinterpreted until too late. Was Bink fated to die brutally—or was some enemy of his? Bink gets to a town and a guy agrees to help him as long as he'll get some help in return. See, he needs to take care of some unpleasant business.Bink looked at the girl beside him as she stepped through a slanting sunbeam. He was no plant, but he too had needs, and even the most casual inspection of her made him aware of this. Sabrina was absolutely beautiful—and her beauty was completely natural. Other girls managed to enhance their appearance by cosmetics or padding or specialized spells, but beside Sabrina all other females looked somewhat artificial. She was no enemy! Xanth. What kind of stupid name is that?! Like oh my, out of all the cool names you could name a place, Piers Anthony names it XANTH. Its the kind of name that some person (quite desperate person) tries to find a "cool" "elfique" kind of name. But BOOM, that name just makes me cringe.