Luck of the Draw (Xanth #36)

For eighty-year-old Bryce, life didn’t hold much hope or promise. Since his wife had died and his children had grown, his health had failed, and his doctors doubted he would live more than a year or two.

But all that changed one fateful day as he was clearing out his rat-infested garage. For among the debris and detritus of his long life, he discovered a miraculous find—a magical box of brilliant yellow that had the power to transport him to the magical land of Xanth! And there he found himself transformed by a mysterious spell that gave him the body of a much younger man. A high-stakes wager between three cosmic Demons decreed that Bryce would face competition from a slew of suitable suitors to win the hand of the Princess Harmony. The only advantages Bryce possesses in this quest he has been forced to enter are a magical pen and pad that allow him to bring whatever he sketches to life, and the wisdom of his long years that tells him he is far too old for an impetuous princess barely out of her teens.

As the half-dozen contestants travel together to the far corners of Xanth, facing obstinate obstacles, tantalizing temptations, and pun-filled perils, Bryce begins to realize that in this enchanted realm nothing is quite what it seems, and the loser in this dangerous game might be the greatest winner of all.