HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: uwanless@mcl.ucsb.edu (Selective)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
Subject: Re: The Adult Conspiracy
Date: 10 Sep 92 22:24:52 GMT

In <1992Sep10.054841.18673@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> cmeadows@nyx.cs.du.edu (Chris Meadows) writes:


>Something interesting...the so-called "Adult Conspiracy" didn't appear
>in Xanth until, oh, about _Dragon on a Pedestal_.  In _Spell for Cha-
>meleon_, we had Bink remembering "sowing wild oats" as a teen (and 
>CERTAINLY before he was married (which is the time when people are
>supposed to learn what the A.C. is all about), and in _Ogre, Ogre_,
>Tandy had the problem with the Demon Fiant, who wanted to rape her.  I'm
>pretty sure that she was also in her teens, and rape would seem to be

This is just one of the many discrepancies found in the Xanth novels. There
are many more:

In _Vale of the Vole_ one of the important lessons Dolph learned was that of
love not relating to the stork, yet in the very next book (_Isle of View_)
he is teased by Metria saying "not all love relates to the stork" and the
next line says he hadn't known that.

In _Source of Magic_ Crunch and his curse fiend wife spoke in rhymes during the
time of no magic, while in _Centaur Isle_ Smash did not speak in rhymes when
there was no magic...although a reasonable answer for that might be Smash's
hidden human half, unknown at the time.

In _TCOHP_ Okra and the other ogre tribe members (so she says) do not speak in
rhymes to each other, but in _Ogre, Ogre_ the ogre tribes do speak in rhymes
and understand.

How could Stanley Steamer have gotten word from the Simurgh about not harming
Che (_TCOHP_) since he was not at the wedding (he could not have left the Gap
to attend it, and even if he could have, he would not be able to reach the
top of Parnassus).

Doubtless there are countless others...some are cited in a couple of the authors
notes, but there are more...which could start a new discussion here...anyone
else find any other discrepancies not cited by Anthony?
--
************Paul Wanless "vangy"******************

"GO SYNTHESIZE A COMPOUND"
From: uwanless@mcl.ucsb.edu (Selective)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
Subject: Re: The Adult Conspiracy
Date: 10 Sep 92 22:37:39 GMT

Correction here...about Dolph's lesson in love...it was in _Heaven Cent_
not _VOTV_ :)
--
************Paul Wanless "vangy"******************

"GO SYNTHESIZE A COMPOUND"
From: mxc1059@usl.edu (Carroll Matthew)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
Subject: Piers Anthony's "Anthonology"
Date: 10 Sep 92 17:10:04 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Southwestern Louisiana

Speaking of Morality,  Has anyone read his collection of short stories called      "Anthonology"?  If so, what did you think of it?  I loved it.
From: mk52+@andrew.cmu.edu (Matthew A Kagle)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
Subject: Re: The meaning of Xanth.
Date: 10 Sep 92 15:47:20 GMT
	<cm5sqB4w165w@eternal.chi.il.us>
Organization: Masters student, English, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

What I meant by condoning rape in A Spell for Chameleon and Crewel Lye
was this:

In a spell for Chameleon, Bink takes part in a rape case and says (If I
remember correctly) "She seemed to be suited for ra... I mean love.

In Crewel Lye, there is an entire scene where a devil fish abducts an
angelfish (in front of the main character who does nothing) and it is
portrayed as part of the natural order of things.

Now, obviously, I am reading things into this (all English majors do)
but at the very least, you must admit there is never a scene in the
Xanth books where we see the victim of a rape after it happens.  For
that kind of realism you have to read Bio of a space Tyrant (which, from
the sound of most of the messages on this board, nobody has the
emotional strength to read through -- even though it does portray rape
as evil).



         Respectfully Yours,

        -- Matt2

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                |
"Violece is the last            |       Matthew Kagle
refuge of the incompetent."     |       Pittsburgh, PA
                                |
-- Isaac Asimov	                |       mk52@andrew.cmu.edu
                                |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
From: u920065@postoffice.utas.edu.au (Dean Bailey)
Subject: Xanth board game
Organization: University of Tasmania
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 23:12:08 GMT

While looking through a comic shop the other day, I came across a 
large box.The thing about this box that caught my eye was the 
word XANTH printed up the side.  It turned out to be a board game of
PA's Xanth series.

Well I looked at the box and all I could gain was that it cost a
wopping great $54.95(Aust) and that it used lots of dice and cards.

So what exactly is the game about. And has anybody played it.  I would love
to hear from you.


Dean.
:-)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
From: tgunter@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Thomas Gunter)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
Subject: Re: Piers Anthony's "Anthonology"
Date: 13 Sep 92 05:09:15 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX

mxc1059@usl.edu (Carroll Matthew) writes:
>Speaking of Morality,  Has anyone read his collection of short stories called
 "Anthonology"?  If so, what did you think of it?  I loved it.

Yes, about 5 or 6 years ago, and I loved it, too.  Now that you've metioned
it, I'll have to go reread it....

-tag
-- 
Thomas A. Gunter                   | Stealing from one source is
tgunter@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu         |   plagiarism.
Aerospace Engineering              | Stealing from many sources is
The University of Texas at Austin  |   research.
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
From: merricb@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU (The ELF)
Subject: Re: The Adult Conspiracy
Organization: Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Australia
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 02:48:55 GMT

marine@ils.nwu.edu (Colette Marine) writes:

>***** Posting from a friend's account *****

>In article <uwanless.716163892@mcl> uwanless@mcl.ucsb.edu (Selective) writes:
>>In <1992Sep10.054841.18673@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> cmeadows@nyx.cs.du.edu (Chris Meadows) writes:
>>

>[discrepancies deleted]

>>
>>Doubtless there are countless others...some are cited in a couple of the authors
>>notes, but there are more...which could start a new discussion here...anyone
>>else find any other discrepancies not cited by Anthony?
>>--

>Here are a few related to Bink and his talent:

>1) Bink lost a finger when in a childhood accident.  "...he had been playing
>with a cleaver, holding down a stalk of coilgrass while he chopped, pretending
>it was the tail of a dragon....The grass had twitched out of his grip as he 
>swung, and he had grabbed for it, and the cleaver had come down hard on his 
>extended finger...."  Problem: the blade of coilgrass, through its action,
>indirectly caused Bink harm.  

>2) When Bink tried to harvest wild oats as an adolescent, "....they had fought 
>him savagely, their stems slashing across his wrists as he tried to harvest a 
>ripe ear.  He had gotten it, but had been uncomfortably scratched and abraded 
>before getting clear of the patch...."  More injury, although minor, from 
>magic.

>...I've got to go, so I'll write these others quickly without looking for 
>quotes:

>--Chester half-choked Bink when they first met.
Chester is stopped by Cherie. So? Coincidence that she turned up? No permanent
harm done here.

>--Bink's talent caused him to turn his ankle to avoid crashing into an invis-
>  ible wall...while it didn't hurt right then, there was a twinge of pain
>  later.  Technically, this was harm, caused indirectly by magic.
Not all that much... Bink's talent, while of Magician class, isn't always
smart. Check him drinking from the love stream in "The Source of Magic".


>I wrote PA years ago, and asked him about #1.  He sort of side-stepped the 
>issue, saying it was Bink's own fault, blah blah blah...I'll see if I can find
>the letter some time.

>Maybe when Bink was a youth, his talent hadn't matured enough to protect him
>from indirect harm from magic.  But that wouldn't explain #2.  
Bink's talent also protects itself from detection... perhaps it didn't
trust Bink enough to keep it a secret? :-)

>Anyway, enough picking of nits for now...

>Jared D. Brame

>p.s. Anyone else notice that Grundy is still usually referred to as a Golem
>even though the Demon X(A/N)th turned him into an elf at the end of _The 
>Source of Magic_?
Elf-like, not an elf, would be the best way of describing him.

Oh well... pick holes in my comments & have fun.
The ELF
-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Merric Blackman		merricb@mundil		
--------------------------------------------------------------------

"First things first -- but not necessarily in that order"
		-- The Doctor, "Doctor Who"
From: tgunter@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Thomas Gunter)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
Subject: Cast Listings [was Re: A Spell For Chameleon (movie?)]
Date: 13 Sep 92 05:20:38 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX

In article <uwanless.716146709@mcl> uwanless@mcl.ucsb.edu (Selective) writes:
>In <1992Sep9.235615.17789@pellns.alleg.edu> d'mayeur@tierkey.edu writes:

>>	OK, a few years ago, I remember encountering an article in  
>>"Starlog" magazine that mentioned something about a movie adaptation of "A  
>>Spell For Chameleon" being produced. [...]
>
>I've pondered the idea of there being a movie about Xanth, but to me, that
>would seem to be carrying things a bit too far. [...]

I agree that it would be hard to make a movie of Xanth, with all the
special effects involved.  And a cartoon is entirely out of the question
as far as I'm concerned.  But, as a diversion during long drives on our
family's vacation, my brother and I discussed who we thought sould play
whom if the movies were made.  Since we knew they probably never would 
be, we didn't limit ourselves to current actors at their current ages.

If anybody thinks this is a good idea, I suggest that we try to come up
with some cast listings for the major (and some of the minor) Xanth
characters.  And why limit it to actors at all--suggest anybody we've
seen (e.g., athletes, politicians, people in the news).  Of course, just
in case everybody thinks this is stupid, I'll have a bucket of water
next time I log on.

I can't remember most of the people we came up with (it *was* just
a time killer), but my favorite was a younger Bette Midler as Iris.
If you don't agree, fine; suggest someone better.

-tag
-- 
Thomas A. Gunter                   | Stealing from one source is
tgunter@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu         |   plagiarism.
Aerospace Engineering              | Stealing from many sources is
The University of Texas at Austin  |   research.
From: tgunter@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Thomas Gunter)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
Subject: Re: The meaning of Xanth.
Date: 13 Sep 92 05:06:14 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX

[First a question:
	It seems as though spoiler warnings aren't used in this group;
	has some convention of not using them been agreed upon here?]

About Anthony's condoning rape:  while I agree that there a quite a few
rapes going around, I can't agree that he condones it.  In QQ, on p. 202
(I don't have the book with me, I just remembered that so I could look it
back up), when Humphrey is narrating, he tells of a time Crombie tried to
grab Metria where she didn't want him to.  Metria dissolved and left, and
Humphrey says something to the effect of no woman should allow herself to
be touched if she doesn't want to be and that she should leave if someone
tries.

Hardly sounds like approval of rape.

-tag
-- 
Thomas A. Gunter                   | Stealing from one source is
tgunter@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu         |   plagiarism.
Aerospace Engineering              | Stealing from many sources is
The University of Texas at Austin  |   research.
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
From: marine@ils.nwu.edu (Colette Marine)
Subject: Re: The Adult Conspiracy
Organization: The Institute for the Learning Sciences
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 05:50:19 GMT

***** Posting from a friend's account *****

In article <uwanless.716163892@mcl> uwanless@mcl.ucsb.edu (Selective) writes:
>In <1992Sep10.054841.18673@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> cmeadows@nyx.cs.du.edu (Chris Meadows) writes:
>

[discrepancies deleted]

>
>Doubtless there are countless others...some are cited in a couple of the authors
>notes, but there are more...which could start a new discussion here...anyone
>else find any other discrepancies not cited by Anthony?
>--

Here are a few related to Bink and his talent:

1) Bink lost a finger when in a childhood accident.  "...he had been playing
with a cleaver, holding down a stalk of coilgrass while he chopped, pretending
it was the tail of a dragon....The grass had twitched out of his grip as he 
swung, and he had grabbed for it, and the cleaver had come down hard on his 
extended finger...."  Problem: the blade of coilgrass, through its action,
indirectly caused Bink harm.  

2) When Bink tried to harvest wild oats as an adolescent, "....they had fought 
him savagely, their stems slashing across his wrists as he tried to harvest a 
ripe ear.  He had gotten it, but had been uncomfortably scratched and abraded 
before getting clear of the patch...."  More injury, although minor, from 
magic.

...I've got to go, so I'll write these others quickly without looking for 
quotes:

--Chester half-choked Bink when they first met.
--Bink's talent caused him to turn his ankle to avoid crashing into an invis-
  ible wall...while it didn't hurt right then, there was a twinge of pain
  later.  Technically, this was harm, caused indirectly by magic.

I wrote PA years ago, and asked him about #1.  He sort of side-stepped the 
issue, saying it was Bink's own fault, blah blah blah...I'll see if I can find
the letter some time.

Maybe when Bink was a youth, his talent hadn't matured enough to protect him
from indirect harm from magic.  But that wouldn't explain #2.  

Anyway, enough picking of nits for now...

Jared D. Brame

p.s. Anyone else notice that Grundy is still usually referred to as a Golem
even though the Demon X(A/N)th turned him into an elf at the end of _The 
Source of Magic_?

Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
From: cmeadows@nyx.cs.du.edu (Chris Meadows)
Subject: The Adult Conspiracy
X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University
	of Denver for the Denver community.  The University has neither
	control over nor responsibility for the opinions of users.
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 92 05:48:41 GMT


Something interesting...the so-called "Adult Conspiracy" didn't appear
in Xanth until, oh, about _Dragon on a Pedestal_.  In _Spell for Cha-
meleon_, we had Bink remembering "sowing wild oats" as a teen (and 
CERTAINLY before he was married (which is the time when people are
supposed to learn what the A.C. is all about), and in _Ogre, Ogre_,
Tandy had the problem with the Demon Fiant, who wanted to rape her.  I'm
pretty sure that she was also in her teens, and rape would seem to be
part of the Adult Conspiracy, right?    
---Chris Meadows
From: uwanless@mcl.ucsb.edu (Selective)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
Subject: Re: A Spell For Chameleon (movie?)
Date: 10 Sep 92 17:38:29 GMT

In <1992Sep9.235615.17789@pellns.alleg.edu> d'mayeur@tierkey.edu writes:



>	OK, a few years ago, I remember encountering an article in  
>"Starlog" magazine that mentioned something about a movie adaptation of "A  
>Spell For Chameleon" being produced.  I'm assuming the project has either  
>be cancelled or put on hold indefinitely, as I have yet to see or hear any  
>sort of follow-up about it.
>	Does anyone out there know if and when this project will ever be  
>carried out?  If not, what's the reason behind it.

I've pondered the idea of there being a movie about Xanth, but to me, that
would seem to be carrying things a bit too far.  Such a production would seem
fake at best unless a LOT of money were poured into it (Trent's transformations,
Chameleon's changes, etc.) or else an animated version was done, in which case
a lot of the themes Anthony tries to express in his books would be made even
more nonsensical than they already are. I've seen a little cartoon sex, but
in a Xanth setting? Give me a break...and taking out the sex from Xanth, you
would eliminate a large part of the story. So that would be a good reason not
to make the movie, although about such a project going on I have no idea...just
input.
--
************Paul Wanless "vangy"******************

"GO SYNTHESIZE A COMPOUND"
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
From: news@massey.ac.nz (USENET News System)
Subject: Xanth
Summary: The order of the books
Organization: DSIR, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 92 20:12:18 GMT

What an unusual group to have - one for one author. Anyway, I like Piers 
Anthony's books tremendously although I agree with some of the comments 
about the Incarnation series. I'm just now reading the last one and the 
sexual tones are too much. The series seems to have started out at an 
incredible high and has slowly dwindled. Still, I have still enjoyed them - 
particularly the penultimate one. It gave a great alternative view of Satan.

Now, to my question: All the Xanth books I have seen, do not give the number 
in the series that they are. Consequently, I read "The Source of Magic" 
about 8 years ago and read "A Spell..." last year. I want to read the rest - 
in order, so... what is the Order???

Thanks in advance (if you've read this far...)

API  (yes, my nickname is the same as the popular programming phrase).
From: bruce@supr.scm.liv.ac.uk (Bruce Stephens)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
Subject: Re: Piers Anthony and Morality
Date: 9 Sep 92 13:53:37 GMT
Followup-To: alt.fan.pratchett
Organization: Centre for Mathematical Software Research, Univ. Liverpool, UK

>>>>> On 4 Sep 92 06:10:39 GMT, phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au (Phil Kernick) said:

> P.S.  I have recently discovered Terry Pratchet and will be getting more of
>       his stuff.  If you don't have 'The Color of Magic' go out and buy it.
>       It has the charm of the early Xanth novels with all the humour of the
>       'Hitch-hikers' series by Douglas Adams.
> 

Unfortunately Pratchett's books aren't uniformly good either.  The
discworld books are all worth reading (though they vary quite a bit in
quality) but I really don't like his other main series, with the
little people in it (can't remember the name).

Followups set to alt.fan.pratchett
--
Bruce Stephens.  Centre for Mathematical Software Research, Liverpool Univ.
Internet: bruce@uxb.liv.ac.uk     JANET: bruce@uk.ac.liv.uxb
From: v115p8d6@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (I have a cunning plan...)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
Subject: Re: The meaning of Xanth.
Date: 14 Sep 92 13:47:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <79625@ut-emx.uucp>, tgunter@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Thomas Gunter) writes...
>[First a question:
>	It seems as though spoiler warnings aren't used in this group;
>	has some convention of not using them been agreed upon here?]
> 
>About Anthony's condoning rape:  while I agree that there a quite a few
>rapes going around, I can't agree that he condones it.  In QQ, on p. 202
>(I don't have the book with me, I just remembered that so I could look it
>back up), when Humphrey is narrating, he tells of a time Crombie tried to
>grab Metria where she didn't want him to.  Metria dissolved and left, and
>Humphrey says something to the effect of no woman should allow herself to
>be touched if she doesn't want to be and that she should leave if someone
>tries.

Hmm...what if circumstances prevent her from leaving? For example, the
person she is dealing with is stronger than she. Is the fact that she
did not leave evidence that she really did want it?

I don't know if there is exact approval of rape but I do feel that in
some of his novels there are justifications or explanations for the
act. I'm not trying to start a flame war here..it was just something
that disturbed me.

> 
>Hardly sounds like approval of rape.
> 
>-tag
>-- 
>Thomas A. Gunter                   | Stealing from one source is
>tgunter@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu         |   plagiarism.
>Aerospace Engineering              | Stealing from many sources is
>The University of Texas at Austin  |   research.
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
From: ac463@yfn.ysu.edu (Rich Yauman)
Subject: Re: The meaning of Xanth.
Reply-To: ac463@yfn.ysu.edu (Rich Yauman)
Organization: St. Elizabeth Hospital, Youngstown, OH
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 00:01:27 GMT


In a previous article, mk52+@andrew.cmu.edu (Matthew A Kagle) says:
  (with portions not being responded to, deleted)
>
>In Crewel Lye, there is an entire scene where a devil fish abducts an
>angelfish (in front of the main character who does nothing) and it is
>portrayed as part of the natural order of things.

On the otherhand he is portraying the rape as being evil, since the
"rapist" is a DEVIL fish.
>
>         Respectfully Yours,
>
>        -- Matt2
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>                                |
>"Violece is the last            |       Matthew Kagle
>refuge of the incompetent."     |       Pittsburgh, PA
>                                |
>-- Isaac Asimov	                |       mk52@andrew.cmu.edu
>                                |
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>

-- 
 Rich Yauman ac463@yfn.ysu.edu  /  Only AMIGA USERS make it possible  /
------------------------------ /              ^^^^^                  /
If at first you don't succeed /_____________________________________/
Force it. If it breaks, it needed replaced anyway. -a Murphy's Law /
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony
From: davis@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (Barbara Davis)
Subject: TCOHP
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 00:02:20 GMT

I bought and eagerly read 'The Color of Her Panties' this weekend.  It was a
very good way to spend a lazy weekend.  The story was absorbing, as usual,
and very well written, as usual.

An earlier poster brought up a couple of points I agree with strongly.  He
says that the Xanth books are most enjoyed by those of us who are still
strongly in touch with our inner child.  We still have the child's sense
of nonsense and we have combined it with the adults knowledge of how the
world works.

I think he also said that some people forget what it felt like to be a child
once they enter the Adult Conspiracy.  That seems like PAs theme, too.  He
obviously feels real sorry for the adults who have forgotten how to play.

It is my premise that the Xanth books are written for the child inside of me
and yet not for children.  My inner child is very fond of silliness.  My
definition of silliness does not include stupidity.  It means a child-like
love of word plays and pratfalls that don't destroy a room.  It is child-like
in it's simplicity and not in it's subject matter.

I loved TCOHP and look forward the the next Xanth book which is foreshadowed
in this one.

Barb
-- 
Barbara G. Davis                       Internet:  davis@ucsu.colorado.edu
University of Colorado, Boulder 

                   If I don't ask, you can't say, "Yes!".
Newsgroups: alt.fan.piers-anthony