The Xanth Novels, Books 38–40: Board Stiff, Five Portraits, and Isis Orb

Three volumes from the New York Times–bestselling Xanth series, set in a magical land filled with adventure and puns. Xanth is a world of unusual heroes and unexpected journeys. In these three books, characters navigate misadventures to reach their goals, aided and hindered by wordplay along the way. In Board Stiff, a mental typo and a wishing well transform the once-beautiful Irrelevant Kandy into a board of wood with mind control powers. Ease finds that everything comes too easily. The Good Magician Humfrey sends them on a quest to save Xanth's puns after a virus threatens to destroy them. Five Portraits follows Astrid Basilisk, a girl whose glance is deadly. She undertakes a mission to rescue five difficult children from future Xanth while fighting the pun virus that endangers the magical world. In Isis Orb, Hapless can conjure any musical instrument but cannot carry a tune. Seeking to learn music and find a girlfriend, he is sent by the Good Magician to find the Isis Orb, a magical talisman that might grant his wish. An Egyptian goddess guards it and will not surrender it easily.