Hi Piers

We were able to visit Piers last week and can report he is doing well.

While we are awaiting the release of Knicklepede Knight in May, it seemed an update was in order on Piers’s writing progress as well as synopses of upcoming books.

Xanth 52 has been completed and is awaiting proofreading. And Xanth 53 is underway! Chapter 1 and 2 have been completed as of this posting.

Synopses

We know it is taking a while for the books to come out. Several have been completed and are awaiting publication, with two more in the production stage. While we wait, here is what you can look forward to:

Xanth 49: Knicklepede Knight (hopefully still on target for a May 26, 2026 release)

The first Xanth novel to have a nickelpede as the protagonist. There is a Maiden in Distress, being attacked by multiple monsters. Aura kisses the troll, love-slaving him, and uses her sharp visible migraine aura—this just possibly might offer a hint about her name—to drive off the dragon, and goes on from there. Aura is not a woman to mess with. The maiden they save is Chameleon, who was looking for a spell in Xanth #1. It goes on from there, with characters from a number of novels appearing, like Breanna of the Black Wave, Jenny Elf, Squid, Incident with her Bird, Rabbit, and Turtle, and new ones being introduced.

Xanth 50: Limbo

Features a character introduced in #49, Aura, a member of the Lips tribe, with the power to kiss a male into love slavery. You know the type, from Apoca Lips. She visits the nebulous Region of Limbo, where paradox does not exist and time is nebulous, in order to show the Bug PedAnt some samples of Xanth history

Readers should note that with Xanth 51, the books move to a new setting – the land of Cauliflower. Fans may note that this coincides with the move of the author to a new “land”.

Xanth 51: Fusia’s Friends

The protagonist is Fusia, a beautiful fusion powered robot with feelings, designed and manufactured to be the perfect woman; I think you will like her. Yes, she can defend herself; the trick is to do it without revealing her nature.

Xanth 52: Sirens

The setting is the magic land of Cauliflower, where the siren rescued by Cloudia, the woman whose magic talent is to make compelling clouds, is the protagonist. He is now known as Symbol, and has no seeming physical form, but can make potent siren sounds that warn others away. Later he learns that sirens do have a physical form of winged serpents. He joins with Ziri, a female siren whose song can lure sailors to their doom, and they work together to help save Cauliflower from the threat of annihilation. All ends reasonably well, considering.

Xanth 53: Green Future (tentative title)

is only two chapters along, featuring Janie Elf as protagonist. She will try to save the entire current reality from possible expiration.