A fine modern fantasy novel I read in the 90's. The novel exquisitely contemplates the transition from the realm of life to death with humor and intrigue. This is the first in a series by Piers Anthony which I read back in college when I was reforming my ideas on supernatural things like an afterlife.

An entertaining and intriguing read!

Released Friday, January 09, 2004 at Fort Washington State Park Letterbox.

Crossover Letterbox Clue:

My skin was stinging from sitting at home all day in front of my oversized plasmascreen. I roll-hopped out of my recliner and opened my front door to find the day was somewhere between glacial and sizzling. Immediately, the left and right sides of my brain agreed: it was time for an adventure. I grabbed the paperback that I had just about finished and headed into the great outdoors (via my garage).

The canopy above me was black, so I put the convertible top down. Clouds drifted across the sky haphazardly, but I was able to discern an arrow within the vaporous swirls pointing the way. I was led to my favorite park (well the one I liked near the office when I didn't feel like an extended ultralight flight): Fort Washington Park. I turned on Militia Hill Road off of Skippack Pike and then made a left into the park. I ascended the hill paying careful attention the speed limit. Somehow I knew this velocity would come in handy later.

The first parking lot I came to had a number of car-parkers in attendance. Perhaps the outdoor scenery overpowered their senses preventing safe exit from their wheeled boxes. I parked in front of a number of plastic, green barrels (once again this number seemed important for some reason) and I hopped from my crate without obstacle. I grabbed a trail map from the conveniently located kiosk.

A lookout deck stood opposite the parking lot entrance so I sauntered, paperback in hand, over to it. Breathing in the view, I rested on the bench a while. I devoured a few more pages in my novel; paperback characters always seem to be on an adventure, and today I was going to make a small journey myself that someone might just write about one day!

Leaving the last chapter half unfinished, I strolled down the road a short distance and saw a marked trail heading down a hill. How could I refuse the invitation. I meandered along the manicured trail captivated by nature’s beauty. I also observed the intersection of human and nature. Humans came from nature, but somehow they often clash with it. Case in point, a playground now came into view way off to my right and eventually I noted I was paralleling some tarmacadam. I glanced at my map and saw that this was a parking lot of a number equal to half the number of green barrels I had seen.

But I am undeniably human, I thought. To reinforce this point I cut across the parking strip to confront that which was manmade. Examining the artifices of my brethren, I discovered a small, vividly colored object that refused admission to all, except chunks of fiery fossil fuel. Enough, I thought, I will escape such thoughts of global warming by using my compass; it’s a good thing I had been using my compass as a bookmark.

Aside: it would be helpful at this point if you knew my one idiosyncrasy. I refer to angles as a ratio of the angle in degrees to the velocity on the last Speed Limit sign I have seen. For example, if I was racing along the turnpike to Harrisburg at the posted limit of 55mph, not only would I be getting passed frequently, but I would refer to my heading as 5 (275 degrees /55 mph). As you well know, I haven’t been on the PA Turnpike in a while. Oh, yes, I ignore inconsistent units; all right already, I have two idiosyncrasies.

Anyway from the eye-catching object I headed 35 paces at 23.5 to a small trailhead. Then, heading at 21 for about 70 paces I discovered my treasure…

The treasure was a huge tree which had fallen amongst the brush. Many outdoorsfolk would call this a deadfall, but I saw that the gradually decomposing tree was in fact a source of life. Mosses, insects and fungi were recycling the nutrients for the next generation! I sprawled upon this old fellow, leaned back and finished the novel I had set out to complete. The adventure I digested with my eyes might indeed be fiction, but it inspired me to imagine and discover life anew. This tale might not be considered high literature, but, damn, it was a page turner.

Perhaps, I could share this experience with someone else. A powerful energy seemed to direct me from the sky above, but in actuality it was my own imagination. I opted to leave this fine novel behind, hidden for another adventurer to discover. From the point on the tree where the trunk divided into two, I paced 8 hearty pirate style paces toward the exposed roots. Beneath the tree and some mossy bark, I left my story to be read by another….and to pass it on!

My husband became interested in Letterboxing about a month ago, and has been hunting up most of them all around Bucks and Montgomery Counties. I've gone with him on a couple. I just recently became aware of Bookcrossing, and when he decided to seek this Letterbox/Bookcrossing, it seemed the perfect time to join him. We had fun tracking it down through the melting ice and snow. And I'm very excited to see that this is the book that was waiting for me. I had read this book years ago, and had pretty much forgotten about it. But now that it is back in my life, I am excited to read it again before I send it back out in the world.

Thanks for passing it along!

I finally finished reading this book. I had forgetten how much I had enjoyed it many years ago. Its nice to go back to a book years later and have forgotten enough that you don't know what will happen.

I really enjoyed the characters, and the fictional world which was so very easy to step into. I'm looking forward to going out and getting copies of the next books in the series, and releasing this one back into the wild to be found by another.