The Works of Piers Anthony

Piers Anthony is a prolific writer of fantasy and science fiction. He was my first favorite author and I devoured his works as a child, declaring that I wanted to grow up to be a novelist just like him.

Formative Tier

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Characters I was exposed to when quite young that had significant impact on what kind of women I found attractive.

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  Electra

  from The Works of Piers Anthony

  Electra is a character from the long-running Xanth series. Introduced in the eleventh book, Heaven Cent, she spends some time as the Betty in a Betty and Veronica love triangle with Princess Nada and Prince Dolph. In the thirteenth book, Isle of View, Dolph finally realizes that he loves Electra and the two marry.

  I was close to Dolph’s age (nine years old in Heaven Cent) when I read these books and I identified pretty strongly with his character. As a result, I considered Electra to be the type of girl I should marry. As a formative character, Electra instilled an appreciation of “Betty” type characters.

  Portrait art taken from Return to Centaur, a graphic novel adaptation of the Xanth book Isle of View.
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  Fleta

  from The Works of Piers Anthony

  Fleta is a supporting character from the Apprentice Adept series. She’s the love interest and eventual wife of major character Mach in the series’s second trilogy. She’s sweet and supportive and their love is described as having tremendous power and depth.

  Mach was the character I identified with most in the series and Fleta the most appealing love interest. As a formative character, Fleta instilled an appreciation of “nice girl” characters who support and cheer up the people they care about.

  Portrait art taken from the only image of Fleta I could find - Darrell K. Sweet’s cover art for the book Robot Adept.