Fans constantly inquire whether there will be a Xanth movie. I would like to see a Xanth movie while I’m still alive to enjoy it, and it may happen, but at this writing nothing is set. At present there is a movie slated for 2013 based on Split Infinity, the first novel of my Adept series. With luck and magic, Xanth’s turn will come.
Fans also ask whether I will be attending fan conventions where they can meet me. No, my wife’s condition makes travel difficult. I don’t want to travel without her, or to leave her home alone. So the chances of my attending any conventions any distance from home are reasonably remote. However, I can be reached via my Web site, www.HiPiers.com, where there is information about my novels, a monthly blog-type column, and a candid ongoing survey of electronic publishing and related services that is intended to help guide aspiring authors to locate decent publishers. I had some hard knocks when I was coming up, over forty years ago; in fact I got blacklisted for protesting when a publisher cheated me. There are sharks in those waters. So now I try to make it easier for new writers to avoid such mischief. This does lead to some fireworks on occasion as errant publishers attempt to shut me up, but now I have the will and the means to fight back, and I do. Xanth is mostly fun fantasy, but my rough experience makes me an ornery cuss in real life. So though I am among the less accessible authors in person, I am among the more accessible electronically despite being on slow dial-up here in the hinterlands.
Now to the remaining credits for ideas contributed by readers, listed in approximate order of appearance in the novel, grouped by contributors. A number of incidental talents became significant characters because they happened to be there when I needed Suitors. This really was, to a considerable extent, the luck of the draw.
Mundanian on a recumbent trike in Xanth—D J Brown “Deaf Blind Old Goat.” Service Dog in Xanth, needed for a Good Magician’s Castle Challenge, knows private commands; cat burglar, horse thief, wharf rat, toilet tank; “Over my dead body,” zombie esprit de corpse, sweating bullets—Mary Rashford. Demon challenge to find the perfect man for Princess Harmony—Barry David Khelder, who unfortunately died before he could see it as the centerpiece of this novel.
Talent of seeing ten seconds into the future—Donald Dickerson. Escalate Her—Emma Schwarzhans. Hedge-clippers; Sand Stone; lucky bamboo; talent of giving a toothache; talent of changing from one humanoid form to another; ability to breathe anywhere; talent of having the legs and tail of any creature; ability to change flowers’ color, shape, smell; talent of befriending birds—Aaron Jackson. Flee Shampoo—Jill King. Gum Tree—Joyce Yang. Water Jacket—Russell Styles. Heretic, poultrygeist, D Pose, rock horse, walk on beams of light, getting the short straw, forget-me-not flower—Thomas Pfarrer.
Shoes with heeled souls—Peggy Forsberg. Mossy rolling stone, Ale Mint, Dear John letter, Paradigm Shift, Pair of Lies—Sean Darrow. Sea-saw, party animals, rain deer, butter fingers—Nicole. Gnome Anne’s Land—Kristi M Street. Web Browser, Rolling Hills, Sock Hop—Richard Stanfill. N Villages, V Villages, Beach Bums, Ten S’s Court, sun glasses—Cal Humrich. Gas Chasm—Matt Yarnot. Eli Ogre’s Moon-stir cheese—pun dedicated to Pattie and Ken—Andrea Thompson.
Caterwaul—Rachel Seppala. Pop Fly, talent of healing broken relationships, fly ball—Tim Bruening. Gold den, enor-mouse, Anna Molly—Robert Green. Sar chasm with sars—Kyle Bernelle. None-chucks, Justin Kase—Gary Scharrer. Female faun and male nymph—Tyger B Dacosta. Arsenal—Ben Kalkwarf.
Talent of being lucky, talent of dreaming up ways to die, talent of making anything inanimate become animate, talent of making figures of speech literal, talent of giving someone bad luck, talent of becoming an inanimate object, talent of turning anything invisible, or visible—Brant Tucker. Average Magician Andrew, angel’s and devil’s food cake—Greg Miller. De-odor-ant—Aaron Wikkerink. Miss Teak—David Kaplan. Soul Train—David D’Champ. Talent of changing into a flying sword—Noah Goodman. The Hood that makes a Mother or Father, the child with dragon qualities—Maddragon.
Demon Flower and the changeable spring—Benjamin A Forschler. Tooth brush, tooth paste, girl with dragon breath—Robert. Making things lighter—Jesse McBeath. Talent of being anonymous—Nicholas Birchett. Talent of being cut to pieces—Bithor. The ability to heal injured monsters—Peter Hunt. Talent of turning into a fox—Mariah of Arkansas. Talent of summoning magic weapons—Honor. Talent of controlling noticeability—Anthony Keech. Talent of Perspective—Brittany Westly. Duck Bill, Lady Slippers—Quaid Harsell. Bridal Path—R J Craigs.
There were some suggestions that simply would not fit in this novel without bursting its seams; I’ll try to use them next time. The last idea used I received OctOgre 22, 2010.
And I hope to see you here again, next novel.
TOR BOOKS BY PIERS ANTHONY
THE XANTH SERIES
Vale of the Vole
Heaven Cent
Man from Mundania
Demons Don’t Dream
Harpy Thyme
Geis of the Gargoyle
Roc and a Hard Place
Yon Ill Wind
Faun & Games
Zombie Lover
Xone of Contention
The Dastard
Swell Foop
Up in a Heaval
Cube Route
Currant Events
Stork Naked
Air Apparent
Two to the Fifth
Jumper Cable
Knot Gneiss
Well-Tempered Clavicle
Luck of the Draw
THE GEODYSSEY SERIES
Isle of Woman
Shame of Man
Hope of Earth
Muse of Art
Climate of Change
ANTHOLOGIES
Alien Plot
Anthonology
WITH ROBERT R. MARGROFF
The Dragon’s Gold Series
Dragon’s Gold
Serpent’s Silver
Chimaera’s Copper
Orc’s Opal
Mouvar’s Magic
The E.S.P. Worm
The Ring
WITH FRANCES HALL
Pretender
WITH RICHARD GILLIAM
(Anthology)
WITH ALFRED TELLA
The Willing Spirit
WITH CLIFFORD A. PICKOVER
Spider Legs
WITH JAMES RICHEY AND ALAN RIGGS
Quest for the Fallen Star
WITH JULIE BRADY
Dream a Little Dream
WITH JO ANNE TAEUSCH
The Secret of Spring
WITH RON LEMING
The Gutbucket Quest
NONFICTION
How Precious Was That While
Letters to Jenny
But What of Earth?
Ghost
Hasan
Prostho Plus
Race Against Time
Shade of the Tree
Steppe
Triple Détente
About the Author
Piers Anthony is one of the world’s most popular fantasy authors. His thirty-five previous Xanth novels, including Air Apparent, Two to the Fifth, Jumper Cable, Knot Gneiss, and Well-Tempered Clavicle, have been read and loved by millions of readers around the world. He receives hundreds of letters and e-mails daily from his devoted fans, whose ingenious ideas are often incorporated into Anthony’s tales. Piers Anthony lives in Inverness, Florida.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
LUCK OF THE DRAW
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Julie Dillon
Map by Jael
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-
forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Anthony, Piers.
Luck of the draw / Piers Anthony. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates Book.”
ISBN 978-0-7653-3135-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4299-4729-9 (e-book)
1. Quests (Expeditions)—Fiction. 2. Xanth (Imaginary place)—Fiction. 3. Magic—Fiction. 4. Princesses—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3551.N73L83 2012
813'.54—dc23
2012024858
e-ISBN 9781429947299
First Edition: December 2012