Piers Anthony

Piers Anthony (born 1934) is an English-born American writer of science fiction and fantasy, best known for the comic fantasy Xanth series that began with A Spell for Chameleon (1977). He was born Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob in Oxford, England, on 6 August 1934.

Educated in the United States, he graduated from Goddard College in Vermont in 1956 and became an American citizen in 1958 while serving in the US Army. His first novel, Chthon, was published by Ballantine Books in 1967, followed by Sos the Rope (Pyramid, 1968), which won a 5,000 dollar prize from Pyramid Books, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and Kent Productions, and Macroscope (Avon, 1969). A Spell for Chameleon, published by Ballantine and Del Rey in September 1977 with a cover by Michael Whelan, won the 1978 British Fantasy Award for best novel and launched Xanth, a long-running series with many New York Times best-sellers. Other series include Cluster (Avon, from 1977), Apprentice Adept (Split Infinity, 1980) and Incarnations of Immortality, which began with On a Pale Horse (Ballantine, 1983) and ended with And Eternity (1990). He also wrote a book for each letter of the alphabet, from Anthonology to Zombie Lover.

For collectors

The Ballantine first printings of Chthon (1967), his debut, and A Spell for Chameleon (1977), the first Xanth book and a British Fantasy Award winner, are the key editions. The first edition of A Spell for Chameleon has a cover by Michael Whelan.