I'm talking like proper ass pulp shit with some Frank Frazetta ass shit on the cover, like a big Barbarian dude throwing an axe at a sorcerer with a pet giant snake.
I've never actually read any of that stuff but I'm curious what that genres Citizen Kane is.
The Zanth novels are peak corny. They're sexist and weird with constant reminders of the Author's fetishes, don't get me wrong, but you get gems like unicorns competing to see who is the strongest by jumping up in the air and driving their horns into the ground. The winner is whichever can balance on their horn the longest. Or, the protagonist getting caught by a harpy while pooping in the woods, then he tries to run away with his pants down, the harpy shouting abuse at him.
Do I recommend them? No, absolutely not.
I would not reccomend Zanth at all. Piers Anthony was a pedophile, a real pathological sexual attraction to pre-pubescent children pedophile, and it's spread all through the books. I don't think he ever actually attacked kids. But his condition cannot be removed from his writing and anyone who tries to read the books should be informed going in.
I loved that shit when I was a kid and I tried to reread some as an adult
Right? People say "how did they get this in to a kids film/show/book?" All the time and it'll be fairly mild sex jokes or whatever. And then there's Zanth.
His prose is absolute dogshit also
Many such cases
Yeah, I can read a good book that occasionally makes me want to throw it against the wall with great force, heck, I like John C Wright!
But avoid Zanth it's....not a good time..., if you must embrace cheesy problematic author's barely disguised fetish stuff there's good old Jack Chalker.
I actually suspect that old Jack might have been less about hardcore sexist transformation fetishes and more sublimating some gender stuff and getting it out in writing. in which case good for him, but, "oh Jack Chalker no!"