- Pet Peeve (Xanth)
Infobox Book |
name = Pet Peeve
image_caption = cover of "Pet Peeve"
author =Piers Anthony
country = USA
language = English
cover_artist =Darrell K. Sweet
genre =Fantasy novel
publisher =Tor Books
release_date =2005
media_type = Print (Hardcover andPaperback )
pages = 332
isbn = ISBN 0-765-30408-2
preceded_by =Currant Events
followed_by =Stork Naked "Pet Peeve" is the twenty-ninth book of the
Xanth series byPiers Anthony .Plot introduction
Plot summary
Goody Goblin, the only nice male goblin, goes to see the Good Magician Humphrey so he can get his question answered. As the magician charges a year's service or the equivalent, Goody has to find a good home for a pet peeve. The pet peeve is a very annoying bird who can mimic the voice of the person carrying it.
Goody starts out with the bird and Hannah Barbarian, whose service is to accompany the goblin on the quest and protect him. Throughout the journey, we discover that Goody is nice because he had to take reverse wood and disguise himself as a girl to avoid being captured by an invading goblin tribe. He was also married, but his wife is dead, due to the fact that she was fated to die young.
On the trip, Goody and Hannah meet various people. They all refuse to adopt the pet peeve, or in the case of Princesses Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm, are not allowed to by their mother. Goody and Hannah travel to Robot World,. one of the moons of Princess Ida, and bring back some robots to live in Xanth. Unfortunately, the robots decide to take over Xanth, which means all of Xanth must join together to fight the menace.
Goblins, ogres, dragons, and other creatures come to combat the robots, which have been expanding, and the harpies feed the armies with lunch boxes from their lunch box plantation. Eventually the robots are defeated, In the process, Goody finally gets over his late wife's death and falls in love with Gwenny Goblin, the first female goblin chief. She in turn, falls in love with him, as her time spent with a family of winged centaurs cause her to like only polite goblins. The pet peeve finally gets a home with Grundy Golem, Rapunzel, and their daughter, Surprise Golem.
Characters in "Pet Peeve"
Goody Goblin Son of a goblin chief. Was turned into a nice goblin as a result of ingesting reverse wood as a child to avoid being captured. As his service for the Good Magician Humphrey, he has to find a good home for the pet peeve, a very annoying bird.
Hannah Barbarian A warrior woman who is to help Goody on his service.
Pet Peeve An annoying bird resembling a parrot. It can mimic the voice of the person carrying it, making others think the person is insulting them.
Gwenny Goblin First female goblin chief.
Grundy Golem A loud-mouthed golem that was animated by Humphrey and later given life by the Demon Xanth. He can communicate with all living things. He is married to Rapunzel and has a daughter named Surprise. He eventually adopts the Pet Peeve.
Good Magician Humfrey Magician of Information. He answers questions, but the asker has to pass three challenges to enter his castle and then do a year's service or the equivalent for the answer.
Wira Humphrey's daughter-in-law-, wife to his son Hugo, and is blind. Humphrey has a soft spot for her.
Princesses Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm The triplet daughters of Princess Ivy and Magician Grey Murphy. They are sorceresses. Melody hums, Harmony plays a harmonica, and Rhythm drums to make reality happen. If two of them play together their power is squared and all three together cubes their power.
various harpies, dragons, ogres, goblins, and other magical creatures
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