含有"Humorous fiction"标签的书籍

Currant Events

EDITORIAL REVIEW: When Clio, the Muse of History, sat down to pen the twenty-eighth volume in the Chronicles of Xanth, she was stunned to discover it was already there! And, what was worse, it was totally unreadable, for the words on its pages were fuzzed beyond comprehension. Vexed and bewildered, and more than a little concerned, Clio resolved to leave the quiet comfort of her study on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, and ask her old friend, the Good Magician Humfrey, to search a solution to her problem in his Book of Answers. But, much to her consternation, Humfrey required her to perform a magical Service before she could acquire her Answer: to rescue Xanth's dragons from the verge of extinction before the delicate balance of its wildlife was permanently thrown out of whack. Her momentous mission lead her to a dangerous Dragon World hidden amongst the Moons of Ida, across a perilous landscape filled with wonder and danger, in search of the fabled Currant, a very rare red berry that might hold the secret she sought. Along the way she acquired a fellowship of companions, including the brave and beautiful Becka Dragongirl, a pair of pocket dragons named Drew and Drusie, a charming young child called Ciriana whose destiny was somehow entwined with hers, and Sherlock, a sweet but homely man from Mundania who might just be a master magician himself. Together they gradually began to unravel the momentous mystery of Xanth's missing history. And Clio began to realize that Sherlock's enchantments had begun to work their way into her heart.

Up in a Heaval

SUMMARY: A Spot of Trouble An innocent piece of Mundane Snail Mail has provoked the dreaded Demon Jupiter to hurl his Red Spot at the magical land of Xanth. As the dire Dot draws closer, the unwelcome ordeal of saving the enchanted realm falls to Umlaut, an unlikely lad with an unknown past and an uncertain future. With a handful of colorful companions at his side, Umlaut must unravel a high-stakes intergalactic puzzle, uncover the secret of his mysterious past, and learn to understand the urgings of his own heart. It might have been the merest chance that brought Umlaut to Castle Zombie that morning and launched him on a harrowing adventure. But in the magical land of Xanth, things are seldom left to chance, and adventures lurk around every corner. An unassuming young man with a uncanny knack for attracting lovely young ladies and an uncommon talent for emulating anyone he wished, Umlaut was forced to flee a flock of overly friendly females by disguising himself as a Zombie girl. In his haste to find a hiding place, he found himself face-to-face with a dreadful dragon and feared he would soon meet his end. But in Xanth, things are seldom exactly as they seem, and he soon discovered that the dragon was really a sinuous female sea serpent named Sesame, with a gift similar to his own, who had become accidentally entrapped in the Castle's dungeon. When the two happen upon a packet of mail from Earth delivered by mischance to the Zombie King, they inadvertently set in motion a sinister scheme that could spell the end of Xanth. A letter they forward to the Demon Jupiter unexpectedly enrages him, causing him to send his own Red Spot hurtling toward Xanth. Soon everything is up in a heaval, for no one knows how to avert this interplanetary peril. Even the Good Magician Humfrey is baffled, for some strange force has obscured the future. In desperation, he instructs Umlaut and Sesame to deliver the remaining letters to their far-flung recipients, in the faint hope that this may somehow stop the Spot. As they set out on their appointed rounds, Umlaut and Sesame are soon joined by two feline friends, Jenny Elf's companion, Sammy Cat, and a lovely, prescient creature named Claire Voyant who can sometimes see the future. Beguiled and bedeviled by the delicious Demoness Metria, who uses her shapely assets to distract him from his goal, Umlaut leads his allies on an unforgettable odyssey to the farthest reaches of the enchanted realm, from the submicroscopic Nth Moon of Ida, and the home of all dreams and nightmares, to the unmagical land of Euphoria, where he meets a sweet and sprightly young girl named Surprise who captures his heart. But before Umlaut can complete his quest and return to his beloved, he must unravel the unfathomable puzzle of his own existence, which is somehow inextricably entwined with the fate of Xanth. A satisfyingly suspenseful tale filled with mystery, magic, and merriment, Up in a Heaval is exciting and entertaining fantasy adventure from the pen of a master

And Another Thing...

Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Part Six of Three

From Publishers Weekly

At long last, the motley band from Douglas Adams's renowned five-book Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy have returned, thanks to Artemis Fowl author Colfer. When the Vogons return to finish obliterating Earth in our universe and all alternatives, Arthur Dent and his companions find themselves hitchhiking on the spacefaring Viking longship of Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged, an immortal with a death wish who is an expert at mass insults. Readers may find this volume paradoxical. On its own it is a funny novel, but Adams set a legendary, nearly impossible standard. Wacky humor reminiscent of the original Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy rings true, as do most of the characters, but newer elements, such as the brief appearance of Cthulhu, feel out of place. Most notably absent is the supreme inventiveness that hit us with the Infinite Improbability Drive, and the comic-sublime moments like Arthur flying with Fenchurch. You can't go home again, but Adams fans will still appreciate the reunion with old friends.
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From

A wide variety of people love Douglas Adams's books, so perhaps it is appropriate that each critic brought his or her own expectations to And Another Thing . ... Several who revered Adams's deadpan prose and verbal inventiveness found that the new book falls short. Others felt that Colfer's imitation often lacks subtlety and relies too heavily on reviving old Adams gags and characters. The Los Angeles Times even went so far as to argue that this novel should have been reinvented in some more original form, such as an e-book. But some took the appearance of And Another Thing ... to critically review the Adams oeuvre and found that Colfer made up for some qualities the original author lacked. In any case, even the harshest critics of the book were happy to see Arthur, Ford, Trillian, and Random saved from their doom.