I finally got through this one. It took me a long time. I thought the first one was bad. This one was even worse. It all reminds me of a rpg gamemaster writing down his groups weird adventures. I didn't like any of the characters and the story was convoluted and without direction. I was looking forward to the end very much because I wanted the book to be over. The sexism came through much stronger than in the first book and the style of the writing wasn't improved at all. Xanth is not for me.