I probably hadn't read a Piers Anthony book for over 40 years before a co-worker loaned me this one, but have always thought of him as a big-name sci-fi writer. That's why I was so stunned by the amazingly stilted dialogue. Real people don't talk that way. I don't know which surprises me more, that the writing is so bad, or that a fair number of readers describe it as well-written. Compared to what?! The numerous stories come across as intrusive, the author continually interrupting the flow of the narrative so we can see what a story teller Oenone/Jade/Nympth, etc. is, but it finally just becomes boring. Nor was I conned by his author's note at the end, in which we are to understand that what looks like a paedophile friendly worldview is just his attempt to bring to light the problems of child and wife abuse. Yeah, right.