About the Book
The future of Xanth is in frightful peril. A powerful magical bird
named Ragna Roc has embarked on a campaign to become absolute ruler of
that mystical realm. Those who swear loyalty to him are spared. The
rest are simply disappeared.
So powerful are Ragna’s
sorceries that even the Good Magician Humfrey dares not confront him
directly. Instead he enlists Cyrus the Cyborg, a handsome half-human
playwright with little knowledge of the world, in a stealthy
subterfuge. Cyrus must assemble a troupe of traveling players to
attract Ragna’s interest. And hidden in disguise among the bevy of
beautiful young actresses are the young princesses, Melody, Harmony,
and Rhythm, whose magics might just be a match for the evil bird.
But
Ragna has planted a spy in the midst of the troupe, one who knows their
deepest secrets, including the true nature of Cyrus’s forbidden love
for one of the young princesses. Only a mysterious child called
Kadence, and a cryptic clue — “Two to the Fifth" — may give the
companions the edge they need to defeat Ragna’s dictatorial dreams.
Brimming
with passion and merriment, drama and deception, Piers Anthony’s
thirty-second Xanth fantasy is a pun-packed performance sure to provoke
applause and ovations from the series’ myriad fans.
