Vale of the Vole by Piers Anthony

"Vale of the Vole" is the next book in the continuing Xanth series by Piers Anthony. I love this series for so many reasons! Anthony has incredibly inventive mind, and he's created a diverse world in Xanth that is full of unlimited possibilities, which he proves over and over with each new book he writes!

The book stars Esk, the son of Smash Ogre and Tandy Nymph, and Chex, the daughter of Xap Hippograph and Chem Centaur, as well as Volney Vole, a totally new character to the series! Well, the other two are new as well, but they are descended from characters that we know and love. That's one of the things I like about this series, Anthony keeps things fresh and moving along by bringing in the children of previous characters!

Esk is on a mission to ask the Good Magician how to get rid of a seductive demoness who has invaded his hiding place. Along the way he meets Chex, who is mostly a centaur, but has wings thanks to her hippograph father. She's also looking for the Good Magician wanting to learn how she can fly, because her wings are not big enough to support her mass. The two of them meet up with Volney Vole, who is on a mission from the Vale of Voles trying to find out how they can get rid of the demons who have over run the vale and ruined their paradise.

One major problem though, the Good Magician has disappeared! Now it's up to our three adventurers to come up with their own solutions to their problems. Which is something they usually have to do after they receive their answer, but they usually at least have their answer from the Good Magician to guide them!

Along the way our friends make even more friends! We meet Marrow the Skeleton, Bria Brassie, and Latia Curse Fiend. We also get to meet up with some of our old friends from previous books! The one thing that doesn't get resolved in this book, though, is what happened to the Good Magician? I'm hoping we find out in the next book!