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Piers Anthony
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The Metal Maiden Collection: To Be a Woman, Shepherd, Fly Trap, and Awares Kindle Edition

by Piers Anthony (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 41 ratings
Four novellas in one volume—the thrilling science fiction saga of a female robot who becomes sentient and fights to save humanity from destruction.

With nearly two hundred published works and more than twenty New York Times bestsellers to his credit, Piers Anthony is without a doubt one of the most prolific and creative authors in science fiction and fantasy. Among his most ingenious literary creations are the four books of his remarkable Metal Maiden saga, collected here in one volume: the breathtaking tale of Elasa, the fembot who desires nothing more than to be human.

In “To Be a Woman” we meet Elasa, who is perfect in every way—a female machine created for pleasure, whose newborn consciousness makes her strive for more. The story moves to a distant colony planet in “Shepherd,” in which a young man participating in a student exchange program finds himself in another body and suddenly the caretaker of a herd of telepathic and eminently wise sheep. “Flytrap” brings Elasa’s friend Mona to the colony in the body of a pregnant woman, through which she learns that her work with a young precognitive lamb could have a major impact on more than one existence and more than one world. Finally, in “Awares,” Elasa must work closely with a unique group of environmentally attuned beings in order to protect the earth from an onslaught of gigantic, world-devouring extraterrestrial maggots.
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  1. Print length
    447 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy
  4. Publication date
    October 21, 2014
  5. File size
    9.5 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“The fertile imagination of Piers Anthony knows no bounds.” —Science Fiction Review Site

About the Author

Piers Anthony is one of the world’s most popular fantasy writers, and a New York Times–bestselling author twenty-one times over. His Xanth novels have been read and loved by millions of readers around the world, and he daily receives hundreds of letters from his devoted fans. In addition to the Xanth series, Anthony is the author of many other bestselling works. He lives in Inverness, Florida.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00N5E57GK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy (October 21, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 21, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 9.5 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 447 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 41 ratings

About the author

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Piers Anthony

Piers Anthony

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Piers Anthony is one of the world's most popular fantasy authors, and a New York Times bestseller twenty-one times over. His Xanth novels have been read and loved by millions of readers around the world, and he daily receives hundreds of letters from his devoted fans.In addition to the Xanth series, Anthony is the author of many other best-selling works. Piers Anthony lives in Inverness, Florida.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
41 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Paul Britton
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, intriguing stories
    Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    I really, really enjoyed this serices
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  • FLMJ Goodyear
    4.0 out of 5 stars Sexually explicit
    Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Sexually explicit. A future story of man and sexual progress of a mechanical nature. Interesting storyline.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Keeli
    5.0 out of 5 stars Always love me some Piers Anthony
    Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This man has an amazing inventive and creative mind. It is always a fun read. This series was no exception.
    One person found this helpful
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  • John Romero
    3.0 out of 5 stars Piers has written better
    Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    I believe Piers is a wonderful human being, full of compassion for his fellow man. His extensive 'author's notes' regarding dealings with fans have always impressed me as the mark of someone who cares deeply about others (as well as third party accounts of his kindness and charity). I also believe Piers to be a past-master of the craft of writing. He is well able to shorthand characteristics into as little as two or one sentences to flesh out a character. However, I think these days he goes to an extreme on that front.

    I think he has an interesting idea, and develops his characterization to the exact minimum required to tell the story, resulting in characters that easily come off as one-dimensional and flat, filling in the blank of actor for the part needed to develop the plot he has in mind. It is also rare in a Piers Anthony story for the character meant to be the central character to ultimately meet with a hard fate, thus predictability sets in. This is a set of 4 related novelettes, which, in Anthony's heyday, had they been developed into full-blown novels, would have been on a par with some his greater trilogies such as the Adept series. In fact, I picked up and read this series because of how enamored I'd been in my youth with the concept and character of Sheen, the robot maiden from the Adept series, but in my opinion, the robot heroine of this series was a shadowy reflection of that character.

    With regards to sex as depicted in the work, if you're reading for (ahem) stimulation, then I feel you'd be disappointed with this work as an example of erotica. The characters do have sex, in several permutations in terms of positions and activities as well as combinations of partners (the heroine after all starts out as a sex toy), but the actual descriptions are as clinical and outlines as one might imagine, as though from written notes for the story to final draft, little was added. The author leaves the reader to fill in the blanks, I suppose, and that's fine if you're reading for the sake of how the plot is going to work out. It has always been as if Piers has wanted to write his characters as real sexual beings, with varied desires and interests, and gives them permission to do the deeds, but then the text looks out the window while they engage. If you're a longtime fan of Piers, you'll be used to this by now. New readers should be more interested in the plot than the sticky stuff, if you're searching for a new author.

    I certainly mean no disrespect to the author. He has provided me with many happy hours of reading over my lifetime, and I would heartily recommend the vast majority of his works, especially the Adept series, the Incarnation of Immortality series, and the early volumes of Xanth (you'll know when it's time to stop). I simply do not feel that the Metal Maiden Collection is in the same caliber as these efforts.
    17 people found this helpful
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  • Daniel H Dixon
    5.0 out of 5 stars In true Piers style - A fun story.
    Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    In true Piers style - A fun story of sex and adventure from interesting perspectives. He is Adept at his craft! Buy it.
    One person found this helpful
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  • tobiasj
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Nice to get them all in one collection!
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  • cbandc
    1.0 out of 5 stars Schlock and drivel
    Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Nothing but misogynistic sexual fantasy very thinly veiled as fantasy. Don't waste your time.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • D. E. Evans
    3.0 out of 5 stars SciFi erotica
    Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2018
    Shepherd was my favorite. This series made too much of erotic elements, and the final story, which had idea potential, did not fair well in comparison with his earlier science fiction novels.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Kindle Customer
    3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good story, dozens of typos
    Reviewed in Canada on September 7, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Pretty good story.
    There are dozens of typos, which is annoying. I submitted corrections through Kindle on this and other books by P Anthony, but he has not fixed anything yet.
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