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Ambivalence Jun 30, 2001 (9 of 11 found this helpful)
In the past twelve years, I've gone to being a rabid, enthusiastic and proselytizing Anthony fan to being... well... sorta lukewarm. (My first Xanth book -- and thus my favorite of the series for a long time, just for sheer exuberant silliness -- was "Crewel Lye.") To compare the style and scope of "Zombie Lover" to, say, "A Spell for Chameleon" or other earlier books is just begging to be depressed. The series has gone from being always gripping, often moving and consistently hilarious to merely amusing. (I've been noticing a constant, half-hearted resurrection of older characters from the series' "glory days," before Ivy's adolescence and before the Adult Conspiracy became such an annoyingly inescapable plot point.) And like many of today's mainstream authors, Anthony means well, but his interpretation of, for example, racial prejudice (in this book at least) is superficial and clueless. (I would be interested to guess the number of black women fans (yes they do exist) who, not having green eyes and straight, rump-length hair, might be more than a little hurt by his interpretation of black "beauty." Black Barbie, indeed. No offense meant to the Halle Berrys of the world who actually look like that.)
I was sad to realize that this will probably be my last Xanth book. Mild amusement has its place, but if you want a *real* taste of Anthony, let Xanth die a quiet death already and go directly to the "Incarnations of Immortality" series, or the first two "Geodyssey" books.
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Zombie Lover Jan 23, 2000 (5 of 5 found this helpful)
I enjoyed the book itself, the writing always captures and maintains my interest. I usually read these books in one or two days. I have been pleased with Xanth books from the beginning and have not missed a volume. The reason that this book only received three stars from me is the cover art. The story depicts Breanna as a very dark skinned young woman. The cover depicts her as a pale faced girl with dirty or hairy arms and legs. A little more consistancy between the artist and the illustrator would appropriate and appreciated.
I am amazed to find that what seems like such a minor detail is so incremental in causing this book to lose two stars from my vote.
Piers and publishers, you cannot present a wonderfully diverse setting if the marketing on the front tries to appeal to only one group, by making the black character look almost white.
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Enough with the Adult Conspiracy already! Oct 24, 1998 (5 of 8 found this helpful)
This is not a bad book, but it would have been better if the author would concentrate on story-telling and humor, including the inevitable puns. I am no prude. There is nothing wrong with sexual innuendo, or outright sex for that matter. I read plenty of books that have sex in them. That said, I think the whole Adult Conspiracy sub-plot is getting way out of proportion in recent Xanth books. No one reads Xanth books looking for titillation. Also, why the thinly veiled social relevance? Anthony is always complaining about the "cri-tics" and I begin to wonder if he is responding to them by force-feeding political correctness into the stories. There is plenty of fiction, even fantasy fiction, on the market that addresses serious issues. Xanth books are marketted as being light entertainment, so why not provide that? Despite all that, I enjoyed the book. I just would've enjoyed it a lot more without the coyness and PC attitude.
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Enough with the Adult Conspiracy! Jul 25, 2001 (5 of 6 found this helpful)
The Xanth series is what got me reading sci-fi and fantasy novels. Its a shame this series has turned into unreadable mush.
Zombie Lover was the last book I've bought in this series and I don't think I'll continue with it. I can't take in anymore stories of adolescents thinking about who they want or don't want to have sex with.
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Zombie Lover or Sex,Sex,Sex Mar 6, 2001 (3 of 7 found this helpful)
This is the worst of the Xanth novel, that I have read. I was greatly disappointed in the emphasis on sex. This book seemed to be written for the politically correct, morally lost society member. Piers Anthony did his Xanth fan's a disservce with this novel. Also take note of the cover picture, a small peite "white girl" and a zombie, well part of that is in the story. Why was the cover misleading, possibly to sell this trashy novel. Save your money, don't buy this book.