Castle Roogna

Infobox Book |
name = Castle Roogna


image_caption =
author = Piers Anthony
country = United States
language = English
cover_artist = Darrell K. Sweet
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Del Rey Books
release_date = July 1979
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 329 (paperback 22nd printing)
isbn = ISBN 0-345-35048-0
preceded_by = The Source of Magic
followed_by = Centaur Aisle

"Castle Roogna" is the third book of the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. The castle itself is also the residence of the present King of Xanth.

Plot introduction

Dor, son of Bink is a 12 year old magician and next in line to inherit the throne of Xanth. To teach him the skills he will need to rule the kingdom, King Trent sends him on a mission 800 years into Xanth's past to find the ancient and mysterious Zombie Master. Dor travels to the past via the magic tapestry of Castle Roogna and inhabits the body of an invading mundane barbarian. While in the past Dor is accompanied by a (not normally) giant spider named Jumper, who had been drawn into the tapestry with him and meets his current governess Millie the ghost, a short time before her unfortunate demise. Dor must use his magic and every other resource he possesses to help beat back an invading wave of mundanes and find a way to restore Millie's zombie lover to life back in the present.

Plot summary

Xanthchar
Primary=Dor
Major=Jumper Millie Jonathan Grundy the Golem Murphy Vadne

The novel centers on the adventures of young prince Dor who is the son of the Magician Bink and Chameleon. As is the custom in Xanth Dor is the next in line for the throne because he is a magician. Bink in the previous book was given a gift by the demon Xanth that ensured that all of his descendants will have magician caliber talents. Dor is at the tender age of twelve and is frequently picked on by other children with their lesser talents. Dor's talent of being able to speak with all manners of inanimate objects gives him the ability to gather information of all sorts but does not protect him from bullies. Dor finds himself wondering how he can be more of a man when King Trent sends him on a quest to prepare Dor for the throne. The quest is to restore the zombie Johnathan who is the love of his nanny, Millie, who was restored from life (or absence of one) as a ghost by his father Bink in the previous book. Unfortunately, Millie's talent of sex appeal affects Dor, complicating the quest that the King has sent him on: to restore Johnathan, his competition for Millie's attention, to full life.

Dor begins his quest like most Xanth quests with a trip to the good magician Humphrey. After the obligatory three challenges Humphrey explains to Dor that he must find the Zombie master, a magician from eight hundred years ago in Xanth's past. In order to complete his quest Humphrey first sends Dor to the Brain Coral from the Source of magic to arrange for the animation of Dor's body while he travels in Xanth of the past. He then tells Dor to use a spell that will transport him into the magic tapestry that hangs within castle Roogna.

His quest takes him eight hundred years into Xanth's past when Castle Roogna was still being built. Along for the ride is Jumper the spider who is inadvertently drawn into the tapestry, which serves as a portal to the past, with Dor. Dor finds himself in the body of a mundanian barbarian who was part of the fourth wave of invaders into Xanth. Jumper arrives as a man sized specimen of spiderdom, who identifies himself as Phidippus Variegatus of the jumping spider family Salticidae. During his adventure he meets a pre-ghost Millie the maid. Dor spends much of his time contemplating what it means to be a man. Jumper proves to be an invaluable presence to temper Dor's impulsiveness and lack of experience. Dor still has feelings for Millie even though he is eight hundred years into the past but he is also keen to notice that this Millie is also much more immature and does not help much in dangerous situations.

At one point in his quest he and Millie are captured by harpies where Dor is propositioned by a young female harpy. All harpies are female because the goblins have lured away all of the males of the harpy species. The only way to maintain without a male of the species is to alternate generations of mating with male vultures and humans which apparently only produces female harpies. Dor and Millie escape and are joined by Jumper only to be captured by Goblins who are the sworn enemies of the harpies because they cursed all female goblins to become attracted to the least noble of their species.

After they escape the goblins the team meets King Roogna who is locked in a contest with the magician Murphy to see whether King Roogna can complete his castle by a certain date. King Roogna's talent of modifying magic to suit his purposes allows him to change magic to his uses but Murphy's talent of cursing causes things to go wrong all the time. The team is shocked when it is revealed that the harpies and goblins are planning a great battle right on the grounds of the castle which is sure to level the castle in the process. This of course is the doing of Murphy's magic.

Dor departs to seek the aid for the Zombie Master whose castle coincidentally is on the same spot that Humphrey will build his castle hundreds of years later. The Zombie Master, because of his talent of turning any corpse into a zombie, is not welcome in most social circles of living folk and therefore has become disinterested in the lives of the living. The Zombie Master at first is reluctant to help Dor but Millie uses her talent on the Zombie Master to change his mind. The Mundanian Horde is fast approaching the Zombie Master's castle. Dor sneaks past the siege to make a pact with the monsters of the Forrest to attack the Mundanians while preserving the allied forces. During the battle Millie lets it be known that she wants Dor but Dor, though tempted, refuses Millie's offer because he knows that his stay is temporary and that it would not be fair for him to take advantage of Millie in that way only to abandon her later. Afterwards she offers to become the Zombie Master's bride in order convince him to send his army to assist King Roogna who is preparing to defend the castle from the epic battle between harpies and goblins at the castle. That evening Dor reveals to the Zombie master that she is fated to die soon but that does not deter the Zombie Master's love for Millie.

By the end of his quest Dor has abated the conflict between the goblins and harpies, saved Castle Roogna from being destroyed, and causes the release of the forget spell that permeates the Gap that bisects Xanth to this day. After the battle though the neo-Sorceress Vadne transforms Millie's body into a book and hides it in an effort to secure the love of the Zombie Master who initially will have no part of it. Eventually he offers Millie to Dor who refuses. Dor knows that he has doomed her to the life of a ghost for eight hundred years, but answers "what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong." Vadne ultimately is banished to the preserving fluid of the Brain Coral where Murphy eventually joins her. The Zombie Master, his love lost to him, hangs himself and in the process turns himself into a zombie. The Zombie Master's army remains to defend the castle.

When Dor returns to his twelve year old body he finds that he has indeed changed into more of a man even though he is still in the body of a twelve year old boy. While he was gone the Brain Coral has animated his body and asked some peculiar questions about the differences between males and females. When he goes to apologize for anything that the Coral may have done that was inappropriate, Dor discovers that Princess Irene(The daughter of king Trent and queen Iris) is more complex than he originally thought. He also discovers that she can be quite attractive when she is not being a brat. Dor is complimented by both King Trent and Humphrey on how he conducted himself during his quest. They later commented on how Dor reminded him of his father, Bink, which Dor takes as a great compliment. The novel ends with Johnathan, Millie's zombie lover, being restored to life where it is revealed that he is the Zombie Master who quickly sets up house with his bride afterwards.