Castle Roogna

Locus Award nominee 1980.

Millie had been a ghost for 800 years. But now, restored by the magic of Xanth, she was again a maddeningly desirable woman. She could have had any man she wanted... except the one she did want, Jonathan the zombie.

To grant Millie her desire, and to prove his right to rule Xanth in the future, young Magician Dor embarked on a quest for the elixir which would restore Jonathan to full life.

But the potion could be found only in the past... so, through a magic tapestry, to the past he went, taking over the body of a barbarian warrior. The first person he encountered there was Jumper, a giant spider – a nightmare monster but a staunch friend and much-needed ally in peril-haunted, ancient Xanth.

Then Dor met Millie – 800 years younger, but just as lovely. And he realized that, in his new body, he was no longer twelve years old...