1. A Spell for Chameleon Bink must journey across Xanth to ask advice of the Good Magician Humfrey, for Bink will be exiled to Mundania with the other nonmagical people unless he finds this own magic. After a slow chapter in Bink's home village, Bink's travels take him more places than he expected, and he encounters many interesting people, especially unusual women such as Cherie Centaur, Sorceress Iris, and Fanchon (also known as Chameleon). Bink and Fanchon confront the exiled Evil Magician Trent, who is leading an invading Mundane army that is held out of Xanth by a magical barrier. They escape the army, but not Trent. Yet the wilderness of Xanth is so dangerous that Trent, Bink, and Fanchon must put aside their hostilities to survive, even after they find shelter in lost and haunted Castle Roogna.

2. The Source of Magic Bink, Crombie, Chester Centaur, Good Magician Humfrey, and Grundy the Golem set out to discover the secret source of Xanth's magic. Guided by both Crombie's direction talent and Humfrey's information talent, they march through wild and unexplored parts of southern Xanth, but still find friendly people, such as Crunch the vegetarian ogre, to offer them nightly lodging. Not only do they encounter the permanent hazards of Xanth, such as the Region of Madness and the curse fiends of Lake Ogre-Chobee, but their quest is opposed by an unseen guardian of the source of magic. Upon facing the guardian and discovering the source of magic, Bink finds that he himself is the greatest threat to Xanth's unique magic, or perhaps its greatest protection against future threats.

3. Castle Roogna On a coming-of-age quest, twelve-year-old Prince Dor seeks a lost zombie-resurrection formula. Using a magic tapestry that views past events, Dor takes over the body of an adult barbarian warrior in Xanth's half-forgotten past of eight hundred years ago. A neighborly giant spider, Jumper, becomes Dor's trusted companion and advisor. Dor needs that advice as an appealing young woman becomes romantically interested in him, as Dor takes sides in a conflict between magician king Roogna and rival magician Murphy, as Dor bargains with the Zombie Master for the formula and his help in the conflict, and as a goblin and harpy war threatens to destroy brand new Castle Roogna.

4. Centaur Aisle The king and queen of Xanth fail to return from a trade mission to nonmagical Mundania. While the leaderless Xanthian adults hesitate, sixteen-year-old Prince Dor and some teenaged friends rush off to the rescue. First, they must overcome their lack of magic in Mundania and figure out the unstable time-traveling interface to that land, so Humfrey advises them to go to Centaur Isle south of mainland Xanth to look for the Centaur Aisle. After that, the teenagers go to Mundania, both in the 20th century and in the 7th century. They innocently trust the scoundrel who trapped the king and queen, but that scoundrel underestimates their magic.

5. Ogre, Ogre Smash Ogre and Tandy the Nymphly Maiden both sought advice from Good Magician Humfrey, who sent them to travel together with no explanation. They encounter other young women--siren, fairy, centaur, dryad, goblin, and brassie--who believe Tandy's trust in Smash's protection. Although Smash wants to be a properly ferocious and stupid ogre, he nevertheless escorts the seven maidens on their journeys, speaks eloquently due to a mishap with an Eye Queue Vine, overcomes puzzles and battles in a magical dreamland called the Gourd, and explores uncharted parts of Xanth. But upon finally meeting the truly ferocious and stupid ogres Smash realizes he would rather be a hero than a brute.

6. Night Mare A night mare from the Gourd comes to Xanth with a warning against an invasion from bronze-age Mundania: "Beware the Horseman." The warning is perplexing, for the eight magicians of Xanth can handle a mere invading army. Mare Imbrium stays in Xanth and assists sweet and beautiful Chameleon in scouting missions. Alas, while the magicians use their individual skills and unique magics to wipe out divisions of the army, they are repeatedly outmaneuvered by an elusive renegade known as the Horseman. One by one the magicians of Xanth fall. Yet in the end, Chameleon has grown smart enough to outwit the Horseman, provided that Mare Imbrium can carry out Chameleon's suicidal plan.

7. Dragon on a Pedestal Three-year-old Ivy, daughter of king Dor and Queen Irene, wanders off at the same time Good Magician Humfrey is incapacitated when his plan to neutralize a major dragon running loose backfires. The king and queen must split their efforts to stop the dragon and find Ivy, not to mention preventing a rekindling of the goblin and harpy war and stopping a wiggle swarm. But their very determined and very magical little girl stays one step ahead of them so that she can team up with Humfrey's son Hugo, tame a dragon, quench a dispute between age-old enemies, and--with help from her new friends--battle a swarm of deadly wiggles.

8. Crewel Lye Grounded after a misadventure so ridiculous that it was cut out of this book, six-year-old Princess Ivy listens to the sad tale of the six-hundred-year-old ghost of Jordan the Barbarian. Jordan left home to seek adventure, and after a journey where only his regeneration talent kept him alive, he ended up with a quest from dying King Gromden. To decide which of two rival magicians would inherit the throne of Xanth, Jordan had to recover a runaway princess who knew too much. Jordan himself grew to love the princess, but he died due to a cruel lie. But with Ivy's meddling, Jordan gains a chance to redeem his life.

9. Golem in the Gears Grundy the Golem (really a golem transformed into a doll-sized man) has been a sidekick in four previous adventures, but he wants to do something on his own. After Ivy's dragon disappears, Grundy volunteers to find it. Teaming up with the monster under the bed, Grundy not only finds the dragon but also rescues Rapunzel, an elfin maiden small enough to marry him. But Rapunzel's captor, the Sea Hag, wants to take over Rapunzel's body to gain Rapunzels' youth, beauty, and education, and she is willing to take over any unwary creature's body to reclaim Rapunzel. Only Grundy's experience with the magic of Xanth can stop an immortal and relentless foe.

10. Vale of the Vole Three separate travelers: Chex the Winged Centaur, Eskil Ogre, and Volney Vole--arrive at Humfrey's Castle to discover that Humfrey is not there to solve their problems. Leaving the disappearance of Humfrey to others, they pool their efforts to solve Volney's problem: demons infesting the valley of the voles. To drive out the demons, they seek alliances with people from the crossbreed heritages of the three characters. The visits illustrate those heritages and a fluke side trip to the Gourd reveals more about the three protagonists. Some alliances fail, some succeed, but in the end all three problems of the protagonists are solved.

11. Heaven Cent Good Magician Humfrey has been missing for a year, but investigating that disappearance seemed a good coming-of-age quest for nine-year-old Prince Dolph. Accompanied by the adult walking skeleton Marrow Bones, shape-changing Dolph races across Xanth following the one clue he found in Humfrey's Castle: "Skeleton Key to Heaven Cent." He discovers that avoiding betrothal to several prince-desiring women of many magical species is more difficult than conducting an investigation. Two women, Grace' Ossein and Nada Naga, join Dolph and Marrow in their travels, though both harbor secrets that they prefer the men not learn. Dolph finds the sleeping princess who is not a princess to solve the mystery of the Heaven Cent.

12. Man from Mundania Eighteen-year-old Princess Ivy tries the Heaven Cent, hoping it would find the lost Magician Humfrey, but instead it transports her to modern Mundania, also known as the United States of America. Grey Murphy, a lackluster college student, helps Ivy return home. Grey discovers that he is quite capable while helping others, and Ivy discovers what it is like to be loved for herself rather than her status. Because of Ivy's status, Grey must prove his worth to marry Ivy. Unfortunately, Grey's efforts uncover a secret plot to conquer Xanth and Grey is on the wrong side. The only hope is for Grey to be even more capable and find Humfrey.

13. Isle of View Prince Dolph is old enough to marry one of the two fiancees he acquired in "Heaven Cent", but which one? As he tries to decide, he and his fiancees aid the search for the winged centaur foal Che. All winged monsters in Xanth had pledged to the all-wise Simurgh that they would protect Che, but goblins have kidnapped Che. Jenny, an elf from the World of Two Moons, frees Che only for both to be captured by worse goblins. A deal with the original kidnappers saves Jenny, Che, and a mysteriously important lame girl named Gwenny. But this deal leaves Che captive, triggering a war between the goblins and the winged monsters. Jenny's dilemma to negotiate a compromise between two warring species contrasts well with Dolph's dilemma to decide on one bride without breaking anyone's heart.

14. Question Quest Now is the time for Good Magician Humfrey to end his long vigil. But first, Humfrey must define the magic of the moment by telling his past to Lacuna, who was sent to Humfrey for advice. This autobiography of a 157-year-old major character spans Humfrey's humble beginning, his travels as a surveyor to King Ebnez, Humfrey's own years as king, adventures from previous novels, and the stories of Humfrey's five and a half wives. But Humfrey's meddling with the source of magic leads to an unexpected twist in Humfrey's future.

15. The Color of Her Panties Gorgeous and prosperous Mela Merwoman, having given up her chance to betroth Prince Dor in "Heaven Cent", shapechanges her fishtail into legs and travels across Xanth to find an equally good prince. But her ignorance of details such as underwear and her teaming up with two women, Okra Ogress and Ida, who are also unfamiliar with the major cultures in Xanth, make her quest a farce. Meanwhile, Che Centaur, Jenny Elf, and Gwenny Goblin continue on their quest to civilize the goblins despite themselves. Yet when the three unlucky women reluctantly agree to rescue Che, Jenny, and Gwenny after the goblins cheat, their unselfishness brings about their true destinies.

16. Demons Don't Dream The demons design a Xanth computer game, but this software transports two selected American players to Xanth. Dug (his parents left out the o in Doug) and Kim may finish their games traveling across Xanth in person with Kim guided by Jenny Elf and Dug guided by Nada Naga. This delights Kim, who is a Xanth fan, but Dug is more interested in ogling his sexy half-human guide. Dug later realizes that Kim is the proper girl for him, but he must finish the game successfully to catch up to Kim and warn her of a deadly twist in the game.

17. Harpy Thyme Gloha the winged goblin is the only known member of her spicies, so she goes to Good Magician Humfrey for advice on finding a husband. Humfrey recommends a quest: accompany the Magician Trent, youthened by the Fountain of Youth, as he rights an old wrong from his evil past, and then Trent will help her search. But Humfrey intends for Gloha to find more than a male winged goblin--in exchange for Gloha reuniting Humfrey with his estranged son, Humfrey has sent Gloha on the heartrending quest of finding true love.

18. Geis of the Gargoyle Trent chose to stay young after last book's adventure, so now his wife Iris needs some youth elixir too. To earn it, she has to babysit Surprise, a six-year-old girl whose behavior and magic are often out of control. (People once said the same thing about the Sorceress Iris.) She has the help of Gary, a gargoyle in human form on a quest to block Mundania's water pollution from Xanth by finding a lost filter, and Hiatus, a man hopelessly in love with a dying dryad. But their quest for the filter is more important than they thought. Iris reanimates the ruins of Stone Hinge, revealing that the filter lost two thousand years must be used this year to save Xanth and the dryad.

19. Roc and a Hard Place Simurgh, an immortal bird reputed the wisest creature in Xanth, assigns the Demoness Metria to gather judge, jury, staff, and witnesses for the trial of Roxanne Roc. Whatever the flying, shapechanging, indestructible, formerly irresponsible demoness cannot accomplish, her zany alternate personality, D. Mentia, can usually manage: even persuading over a dozen people to voluntarily serve their civic duty and traveling across and outside Xanth to deliver them to the trial. After this delightful romp is a crazy court case that determines a strange fate for Roxanne Roc.

20. Yon Ill Wind The time-shifting interface around Xanth usually keeps hurricanes away from that magical land, but a glitch not only let one hurricane through, it also dumped an American family and their RV into Xanth. Chlorine and her unexplainable dragon ass Nimby are assigned by Good Magician Humfrey to escort the Baldwin family back home before the hurricane turns Xanth into a wasteland of windswept magic dust. But when the Baldwins learn that their lack of magic lets them resist the magic dust, they care enough to try to save Xanth, with the help of Nimby's omniscience, a bunch of common Xanthians with just the right talents, and the villainous living cloud Cumulo Fracto Nimbus.

21. Faun and Games Forrest Faun serves as the dryad of a sandalwood tree. When the faun of a neighboring tree dies, Forrest goes to Good Magician Humfrey to recruit a new dryad for that tree. Humfrey sends Forrest and former night mare Imbrium to the realm of all possibilities, which is the tiny moon Ptero that orbits around the head of Princess Ida. However, the copy of Castle Roogna on Ptero is under attack. Ptero has its own Ida with her own moon Pyramid; Ptero's grownup versions of Princesses Dawn and Eve hope to stop the attack by going to Pyramid; and Forrest and Imbrium accompany them. But Pyramid's Ida has her own moon, and the quest continues there too.

22. Zombie Lover Born of the Mundane Black Wave and gifted with a magic talent, Breanna is a teenage Xanthian girl with a brash Mundane attitude. After accidentally becoming betrothed to Xeth Zombie, Breanna flees, causing all zombies in Xanth to search for her. Curious about the wandering zombies, King Dor, Prince Dolph, and Grandfather Bink (youthened to younger than his grandson Dolph) seek out the Zombie Master, but run into trouble on the way home. Gaining a telepathic link to the wise advice of Justin Tree, Breanna sets out to settle the problem with Xeth, detours to the Isle of Women with the three men, and resolves to right a social injustice in Xanth of which she herself is guilty: prejudice against zombies.

23. Xone of Contention Having heard of Xanth from Dug and Kim, the programmer Edsel believes in it enough to find its web page. Using that page as a conduit, Edsel and his wife Pia exchange places with Nimby and his love Chlorine. Edsel hopes that the magic of Xanth will repair his crumbling marriage. Nimby hopes that his substitution for a nonmagical human will fool the omnipotent demon of Earth long enough to win a wager that will keep Xanth safe from planetary demons. Pia learns to care for more than herself, but must then act on that care to save an endangered forest in Xanth. Nimby wins the first part of the bet, but needs the help of Xanth's friends and fandom on Earth to survive the race to reclaim his magic.

24. The Dastard A young man Anomy trades his soul to a demon for a new magic talent: he can temporarily step back in time, alter a key event, and return to find the present altered by his actions. Losing his morals along with his soul, Anomy renames himself "The Dastard" and sets out to make people miserable by undoing the joyous events in their lives. Three four-year-old princesses, Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm, want to stop the Dastard, but first they travel to an alternate world to switch themselves with their adult versions. The villainous body-stealing Sea Hag wants to join forces with him. Good Magician Humfrey mysteriously sends Becka, a girl who can transform into a dragon, to be the Dastard's travelling companion. Under Becka's influence, the Dastard is almost honorable, but the Sea Hag becomes almost more than Harmony and Rhythm can handle when she steals the adult Melody's body and gain's Melody's reality-altering powers.