
Five Portraits
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Narrated by:
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Matthew Josdal
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By:
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Piers Anthony
About this listen
Piers Anthony delivers another tale set in the best-selling world of Xanth, filled with magic, surprises, adventure, and a few puns. Here's what the author has to say about his new book: "Five Portraits is a kind of sequel to Board Stiff in that it picks up where the other leaves off, with the same characters. Apart from that, it's one of my favorites within the series. There's something about Astrid Basilisk that appeals to me: a very pretty girl whose very glance is deadly, yet she's a nice person whose selfless effort to save five difficult children from future Xanth is thoroughly worthy. I also like the theme of the power of unlikely friendship. Not just Xanth, but Mundania, too, would be better if there were more such friendships."
©2014 Piers Anthony, Published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2014 Audible Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Love the story
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Favorite Piers Anthony Series
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Full Series Review: 5 Stars
- By Jake on 04-06-08
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Too Short
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Letters to Jenny
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In February 1989, science fiction writer Piers Anthony, author of the Xanth series, received a moving letter. It came from a woman whose daughter, Jenny, was in a coma as a result of severe injuries caused by a drunk driver. She asked Anthony to write to Jenny, an avid fan of his, in the hope that a letter from him would evoke some response. Her request resulted in a series of warm, supportive, and humorous letters written weekly from Anthony to Jenny. These were read to the patient by her mother.
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If you've read xanth you'll be delighted
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Kelvin of Rud 1-3 Bundle [Dramatized Adaptation]
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The Kingdom of Rud languishes under the heel of a usurper; an evil sorcerer has taken the throne in the name of his wicked daughter. Even deep in the forest, away from all power, the people tremble and await the day of prophecy's fulfillment. It cannot come too soon: Charlain and her children are soon to lose their home to the tax collector.
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Demons Don't Dream
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Overall
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-
-
Love the story
- By Blue on 01-31-25
By: Piers Anthony
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Split Infinity
- Apprentice Adept Series, Book 1
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
On the technological, decadent world of Proton, someone was trying to destroy Stile, serf and master Gamesman. His only escape lay in Phaze, a world totally ruled by magic. Soon he learned that his alternate self had already been murdered, and that he was next. On Proton, his fate depended on winning the great Games. On Phaze, he must master magic to survive. And if he used any magic at all, his friends were determined to kill him at once!
-
-
Favorite Piers Anthony Series
- By Jerry Jones on 08-20-10
By: Piers Anthony
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On a Pale Horse
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- By: Piers Anthony
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- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
In this, the first novel of the best-selling Incarnations of Immortality series, Piers Anthony combines a deeply moving examination of the meaning of life and death with a gripping story of romance and loyalty, all set in a world of magic and technical wizardry.
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Full Series Review: 5 Stars
- By Jake on 04-06-08
By: Piers Anthony
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Hair Power
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- Narrated by: Kristin James
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Terminal cancer patient Quiti walks into an abandoned building, planning on taking her life. Instead, she encounters a telepathic ball of hair that insists it is an alien seeking to facilitate diplomatic communication on Earth. Quiti assumes it is all a hallucination conjured up by her brain tumor. Because of this assumption, when she saves the alien's life and it insists on doing Quiti a favor in return, she only asks for her hair back. She soon discovers, however, that the creature's gift extends much further than her new locks that can change color with a thought.
-
-
Too Short
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By: Piers Anthony
-
Letters to Jenny
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- Narrated by: Steven Roy Grimsley
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In February 1989, science fiction writer Piers Anthony, author of the Xanth series, received a moving letter. It came from a woman whose daughter, Jenny, was in a coma as a result of severe injuries caused by a drunk driver. She asked Anthony to write to Jenny, an avid fan of his, in the hope that a letter from him would evoke some response. Her request resulted in a series of warm, supportive, and humorous letters written weekly from Anthony to Jenny. These were read to the patient by her mother.
-
-
If you've read xanth you'll be delighted
- By Jaymes Breitbach on 08-20-23
By: Piers Anthony
-
Kelvin of Rud 1-3 Bundle [Dramatized Adaptation]
- By: Piers Anthony, Robert E. Margroff
- Narrated by: Alyssa Wilmoth, Bradley Smith, Christopher Graybill, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
The Kingdom of Rud languishes under the heel of a usurper; an evil sorcerer has taken the throne in the name of his wicked daughter. Even deep in the forest, away from all power, the people tremble and await the day of prophecy's fulfillment. It cannot come too soon: Charlain and her children are soon to lose their home to the tax collector.
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Interesting idea, Lukewarm narration
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I fell in love with reading
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Narrator killed my interest.
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What listeners say about Five Portraits
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-13-20
Another Xanth Winner
I have most of the other Xanth series so it was the first thing I looked for when I joined Audible. It was as wonderful as the rest of P. Anthony's books. I loved it.
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- Gilliansage
- 04-17-15
Like the story, iffy about the narration
Would you listen to Five Portraits again? Why?
Probably not
How did the narrator detract from the book?
I almost turned it off. The narrator emphasizing every time someone said something "he said", "Candy said" drove me crazy. I'm sure it read like that but it was read as if "I don't know, Candy said" with emphasis on the "Candy said". After about 15 ".... Saids" in a row, it gets rather annoying.
Any additional comments?
After years of reading Piers Anthony books, the puns never get old. I still find it funny and clever. I just found the narration of these two books to be annoying with the emphasis on the saids. Listen for a bit and you'll get what I mean. It gets old, quick.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Your Mom
- 02-24-19
Rocking forward ideas in a fun way: Xanth.
Piers Anthony is such a fun read. The Xanth series I met in 1982 continues to move forward - I love it.
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- Mia
- 01-05-23
Sweet story
Love Piers Anthony’s work. Wonderful puns and excellent way to learn about our different talents.
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- Argial
- 10-01-19
thank you for your words
being a mundane in Florida I appreciate the fact that I can escape to A Whole New World and still be right here thank you Pier's
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- crippsje
- 04-11-21
Land of fun and puns.
Full of all the puns we have come to grown at. Just as much fun and laughs as you have come to expect.
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- Dale
- 11-18-16
good read/listen
nice follow up to Board Stiff, I was not aware when starting the 1st one that it would be in two parts.
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- Alaric M.
- 06-08-20
Please just stop
Most of the time I can listen to a book all the way, but these are just so bad! I really enjoyed the 1st twenty or so books and wanted to enjoy these too. But these are just so bad! I do not return books often, even a book that is just 'ok' I keep just to try again another time. But I returned these three. Mr. Anthony, you are pumping a long dry well here.
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3 people found this helpful
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- mac
- 11-05-19
ADULT FICTION: Xanth is no longer for kids
Xanth novels used to be cute fun books I could recommend to preteen kids. this one, with its focus on nudity and rape is not appropriate for this audience.
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4 people found this helpful
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- India Brink
- 08-19-18
Trigger warning!
There are SO MANY references to rape! It’s completely unnecessary, doesn’t play a major role in the story. Portrays all men tone sex starved, violent & mindless. I have really liked this series in the past. This is just a disappointing waste of time.
And, the narration is painfully awkward.
What the hell P. Anthony & all the editors who worked on this??
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3 people found this helpful