Bink was the First Main Character of Xanth
I was a bit surprised when I was reading the responses to elevator_grl's query about Bink. However, I thought about it, and I guess it could be because a good portion of the people in this community may have only read the later books.
I know that I have played video games like "Baldur's Gate II," but I've never played the first one or its expansions. I tried to get into it, but I couldn't because there are fewer commands, the graphics aren't as appealing, and it's like going a step backward.
I stopped reading after "Question Quest" because I'm "Old School Xanth." I liked the first and second generation Xanth characters and could no longer relate to the new ones and the offspring of the original cast.
Bink was the first main character of Xanth where the story begins. Piers Anthony wrote "A Spell for Chameleon" as the first book back in 1977. He was turning 25 and Xanthian Law under the rule of the Storm King stated that all non-magical humans must be exiled if they are unable to prove that they have talent. It was a stupid rule. All the bullies that were picking on Bink had really lame magical talents and they used their lame talents to cause mischief.
Bink was a good person. He was a hard worker. He felt he needed to work harder in order to prove himself to the rest of the people who were blessed with magical talent. He had a crush on Sabrina who also lived in the North Village. She was kind of interested in him. However, because he didn't have a magical talent, she kept her distance.
His father Roland was one of the Village Elders. He had the ability to stun people with his gaze. His mother Bianca had the ability to rewind time for 5 seconds. It was useful for undoing mistakes.
I don't want to give too much of the story away, but since you already know what his talent is, you pretty much know the end. He was of Magician Caliber. It's just that no one could figure out what his magical talent was. His magical talent intended it that way because if everyone knew what it was, it would make him vulnerable. Its strength was by remaining secret. That's the secret that Magician Trent keeps at the end.
I'm almost curious as to what elevator_grl and the rest of the readers in this community know about Magician Trent. He was the other original character. I did review the Xanth Time Line and it said in one of the later books that he and Sorceress Iris were turned youthful again. Personally, I felt that was Piers Anthony recycling the characters because they both had really powerful talents. Sorceress Iris is the Magician of Illusion and Trent is a Transformer. He can transform living things into other objects.
Before Bink turneed 25, he makes a trek to Magician Humphrey to determine if he has any magical talent if there's any way he can stay in Xanth. As he makes his way there, he runs across Wynne, who's this really beautiful but stupid girl. This leads up to the two of them getting together and having the child Dor who has the ability to talk to inanimate objets. Anyway, they get separated, but Bink saves Wynne's life from the Gap Dragon who guards the Chasm. We find out in Book #3 "Castle Roogna," that his child Prince Door went back in time to obtain a potion for Jonathon the Zombie to restore him back to life so that he can be with Millie the Maid.
We find out how Millie the Maid was murdered by Sorceress Vadne and Magician Murphy 800 years ago in an attempt to win a bet on who should be king with King Roogna. They were both banished to the Brain Coral and put in stasis. However, they escaped when there was Time of No Magic. That's where they fled to Mundania and had a son who returns and falls in love with Princess Ivy who is the daughter of King Dor, and Bink's granddaughter. That's why I was a bit surprised that no one seemed to know who Bink is. Chameleon, Bink's wife, is the grandmother.
Anyway, Bink makes it to Magician Humphrey's Castle. Humphrey is unable to find out at the time what the talent is, but Humphrey confirms that Bink does have a magical talent. It just refuses to reveal itself. Bink makes his way back up to be judged before the Storm King. He tries to get the King to drink healing water, but the senile Storm King refuses thinking it's an insult. Because he couldn't perform a magical talent, Bink is banished.
He crosses over to Mundania where he meets up with Fanchon. Later on he meets Dee. The spoiler is that Fanchon, Dee, and Wynne are all the same person: Chameleon. That's why the book is called "A Spell for Chameleon." Chameleon is a magical creature. She doesn't do magic. She, herself, is magical.
It's an ironic magical talent because it hints toward women in general where her magical talent is in sync with her menstrual cycle. She gets prettier as she gets closer to being fertile, but incredibly stupid. Then when she swings back to the other side of being incredibly smart, she's hideously grotesque to look at it. So she's always fluctuating. Magician Humphrey told her that to cure herself, she could leave Xanth so that her magic would stop working and she'd eventually revert to an average-looking state. Because she fell in love with Bink, she followed him to Mundania hoping to connect with Bink and be with him.
However, that's where they're both caught by the "Evil" Magician Trent" who was preparing an invasion army to storm Xanth. At the time, he was considered a ruthless King. He was betrayed by his aid who allowed rebels to carry him out of Xanth while he was asleep. From there, Trent went and had a family. However, his wife and son died because of a sickness. Trent was bitter about that and knew that if he had been in Xanth, he could've saved them.
We later learn that King Trent had to take on a wife and bear an heir with Sorceress Iris. It was a marriage of convenience and they didn't care for each other. It was just for power. It isn't until "Night Mare" that King Trent finally acknowledges Sorceress Iris as his wife.
Anyway, a whole bunch of things happen where Trent, Chameleon, and Bink are able to make it back to Xanth. At the time, there was a shield stone that was putting a protective barrier around Xanth to keep others from coming in. Trent had a theory that Xanth's population was suffering because there was no new blood. He felt that it was causing a deterioriaton of the gene pool.
Kind of like with planet earth where it's believed that our DNA will start to deteriorate if we don't crossbreed people of different colors. If Irish only mate with Irish, Blacks only mate with Blacks, Whites only mate with Whites, those segregated gene pools will weaken because there's no new blood.
The irony is that Bink is totally against Trent. He's faithful and loyal to Xanth even though Xanth's people exiled him. He's a true Xanthian even though he was kicked out by that very society he's trying to save from the Evil Magician Trent. They make their way back to Xanth through a serious of strange circumstances. This goes back to how Bink's Magical Talent was protecting Bink while disguising its identity.
They fight a Wiggle Infestation. I had made mention of some strange occurrences like the Wiggle Concert, but I guess some people in this community didn't know what I was referring to if they don't even know who Bink is.
At the end, we see Magician Trent and Bink square off to the death. Magician Trent is finally able to flush out Bink's magical talent and figure out that Bink can only be killed by non-magical means. That's where you find that Trent's magical talent is stronger than Bink's because Bink's relies on anonymity.
This is where you find the romantic aspect of "A Spell for Chameleon" take place because just as Trent is about to kill bink, Chameleon (in her stupid Wynne phase) makes the ultimate sacrifice of love and jumps in front of the sword to save Bink. Trent is upset. However, deep down, he's a good person and even though he wants the throne of Xanth badly, he's not going to kill two lovers just to gain power.
It all turns out nicely in the end. It was very well-written I thought. If you haven't read it, then I think you've missed one of the best love stories. The other love story is between Princess Irene and Prince Dor. There was this love-hate relationship between the two of them because Princess Irene was always picking on Prince Dor. It was believed it was because she was female and Xanthian Law deemed that women don't count as Kings. So she was taking out her bitterness on Dor. In "Centaur Isle," they finally fall in love.
That's why I don't really care to read any of the other Xanth books. I was attached to the original characters. Though I was always curious as to what happened to Princess Nada Naga. She was a hottie :).
I know that I have played video games like "Baldur's Gate II," but I've never played the first one or its expansions. I tried to get into it, but I couldn't because there are fewer commands, the graphics aren't as appealing, and it's like going a step backward.
I stopped reading after "Question Quest" because I'm "Old School Xanth." I liked the first and second generation Xanth characters and could no longer relate to the new ones and the offspring of the original cast.
Bink was the first main character of Xanth where the story begins. Piers Anthony wrote "A Spell for Chameleon" as the first book back in 1977. He was turning 25 and Xanthian Law under the rule of the Storm King stated that all non-magical humans must be exiled if they are unable to prove that they have talent. It was a stupid rule. All the bullies that were picking on Bink had really lame magical talents and they used their lame talents to cause mischief.
Bink was a good person. He was a hard worker. He felt he needed to work harder in order to prove himself to the rest of the people who were blessed with magical talent. He had a crush on Sabrina who also lived in the North Village. She was kind of interested in him. However, because he didn't have a magical talent, she kept her distance.
His father Roland was one of the Village Elders. He had the ability to stun people with his gaze. His mother Bianca had the ability to rewind time for 5 seconds. It was useful for undoing mistakes.
I don't want to give too much of the story away, but since you already know what his talent is, you pretty much know the end. He was of Magician Caliber. It's just that no one could figure out what his magical talent was. His magical talent intended it that way because if everyone knew what it was, it would make him vulnerable. Its strength was by remaining secret. That's the secret that Magician Trent keeps at the end.
I'm almost curious as to what elevator_grl and the rest of the readers in this community know about Magician Trent. He was the other original character. I did review the Xanth Time Line and it said in one of the later books that he and Sorceress Iris were turned youthful again. Personally, I felt that was Piers Anthony recycling the characters because they both had really powerful talents. Sorceress Iris is the Magician of Illusion and Trent is a Transformer. He can transform living things into other objects.
Before Bink turneed 25, he makes a trek to Magician Humphrey to determine if he has any magical talent if there's any way he can stay in Xanth. As he makes his way there, he runs across Wynne, who's this really beautiful but stupid girl. This leads up to the two of them getting together and having the child Dor who has the ability to talk to inanimate objets. Anyway, they get separated, but Bink saves Wynne's life from the Gap Dragon who guards the Chasm. We find out in Book #3 "Castle Roogna," that his child Prince Door went back in time to obtain a potion for Jonathon the Zombie to restore him back to life so that he can be with Millie the Maid.
We find out how Millie the Maid was murdered by Sorceress Vadne and Magician Murphy 800 years ago in an attempt to win a bet on who should be king with King Roogna. They were both banished to the Brain Coral and put in stasis. However, they escaped when there was Time of No Magic. That's where they fled to Mundania and had a son who returns and falls in love with Princess Ivy who is the daughter of King Dor, and Bink's granddaughter. That's why I was a bit surprised that no one seemed to know who Bink is. Chameleon, Bink's wife, is the grandmother.
Anyway, Bink makes it to Magician Humphrey's Castle. Humphrey is unable to find out at the time what the talent is, but Humphrey confirms that Bink does have a magical talent. It just refuses to reveal itself. Bink makes his way back up to be judged before the Storm King. He tries to get the King to drink healing water, but the senile Storm King refuses thinking it's an insult. Because he couldn't perform a magical talent, Bink is banished.
He crosses over to Mundania where he meets up with Fanchon. Later on he meets Dee. The spoiler is that Fanchon, Dee, and Wynne are all the same person: Chameleon. That's why the book is called "A Spell for Chameleon." Chameleon is a magical creature. She doesn't do magic. She, herself, is magical.
It's an ironic magical talent because it hints toward women in general where her magical talent is in sync with her menstrual cycle. She gets prettier as she gets closer to being fertile, but incredibly stupid. Then when she swings back to the other side of being incredibly smart, she's hideously grotesque to look at it. So she's always fluctuating. Magician Humphrey told her that to cure herself, she could leave Xanth so that her magic would stop working and she'd eventually revert to an average-looking state. Because she fell in love with Bink, she followed him to Mundania hoping to connect with Bink and be with him.
However, that's where they're both caught by the "Evil" Magician Trent" who was preparing an invasion army to storm Xanth. At the time, he was considered a ruthless King. He was betrayed by his aid who allowed rebels to carry him out of Xanth while he was asleep. From there, Trent went and had a family. However, his wife and son died because of a sickness. Trent was bitter about that and knew that if he had been in Xanth, he could've saved them.
We later learn that King Trent had to take on a wife and bear an heir with Sorceress Iris. It was a marriage of convenience and they didn't care for each other. It was just for power. It isn't until "Night Mare" that King Trent finally acknowledges Sorceress Iris as his wife.
Anyway, a whole bunch of things happen where Trent, Chameleon, and Bink are able to make it back to Xanth. At the time, there was a shield stone that was putting a protective barrier around Xanth to keep others from coming in. Trent had a theory that Xanth's population was suffering because there was no new blood. He felt that it was causing a deterioriaton of the gene pool.
Kind of like with planet earth where it's believed that our DNA will start to deteriorate if we don't crossbreed people of different colors. If Irish only mate with Irish, Blacks only mate with Blacks, Whites only mate with Whites, those segregated gene pools will weaken because there's no new blood.
The irony is that Bink is totally against Trent. He's faithful and loyal to Xanth even though Xanth's people exiled him. He's a true Xanthian even though he was kicked out by that very society he's trying to save from the Evil Magician Trent. They make their way back to Xanth through a serious of strange circumstances. This goes back to how Bink's Magical Talent was protecting Bink while disguising its identity.
They fight a Wiggle Infestation. I had made mention of some strange occurrences like the Wiggle Concert, but I guess some people in this community didn't know what I was referring to if they don't even know who Bink is.
At the end, we see Magician Trent and Bink square off to the death. Magician Trent is finally able to flush out Bink's magical talent and figure out that Bink can only be killed by non-magical means. That's where you find that Trent's magical talent is stronger than Bink's because Bink's relies on anonymity.
This is where you find the romantic aspect of "A Spell for Chameleon" take place because just as Trent is about to kill bink, Chameleon (in her stupid Wynne phase) makes the ultimate sacrifice of love and jumps in front of the sword to save Bink. Trent is upset. However, deep down, he's a good person and even though he wants the throne of Xanth badly, he's not going to kill two lovers just to gain power.
It all turns out nicely in the end. It was very well-written I thought. If you haven't read it, then I think you've missed one of the best love stories. The other love story is between Princess Irene and Prince Dor. There was this love-hate relationship between the two of them because Princess Irene was always picking on Prince Dor. It was believed it was because she was female and Xanthian Law deemed that women don't count as Kings. So she was taking out her bitterness on Dor. In "Centaur Isle," they finally fall in love.
That's why I don't really care to read any of the other Xanth books. I was attached to the original characters. Though I was always curious as to what happened to Princess Nada Naga. She was a hottie :).