high sale numbers: first, "WotC has a huge untapped market out there for D&D player-targeted books and Xanathar's Guide is the first 'official' [...] player-oriented book released by WotC in almost two years. With that level of pent-up demand, it is no surprise that sales of the book took most stores, and WotC, by surprise". And second, Amazon sale discounts since "unlike some other gaming manufacturers, which have started protecting the value and price of their books though a MAP, a customer can, when it comes back into stock, order Xanathar's Guide from Amazon for $29.95, a 40% discount. One Amazon seller even has the book, as of this writing, listed at $19.30 with shipping, a whopping 61% off". In Polygon's review, Charlie Hall wrote "like Volo's Guide to Monsters, which was released late last year, Xanathar's has a narrator named Xanathar. He's a beholder — a multi-eyed, floating monster from D&D lore — who just happens to be a powerful crime lord in the city of Waterdeep. Think Jabba the Hutt, but with disintegration rays shooting out of its eyestalks. Nearly every page of the book is annotated with little quips and observations. Unfortunately, the humor of those narrative snippets fell flat for me. Xanathar's voice, as applied in this book, feels a bit too modern. He sounds more like a cranky Redditor than a fantastical crime boss. Luckily, the bulk of the content in the book is outstanding. In my estimation, it's the first must-have new book from Wizards of the Coast since the latest edition of the Dungeon Master's Guide. [...] Up front, there are more than 30 new subclasses for players to choose from. They include some vital and popular builds from previous editions of the game, like the Cavalier and the Samurai. But they also include some brand new versions of classic character classes that will liven any newly-formed party. [...] Best of all, WotC has instilled all of these new subclasses with strong role-playing hooks. These aren't just stat-blocks with new art, but rather inspirations for storytelling in and of themselves. That being said, most players will have no need for the remainder of the book. Chapters two and three are mostly for Dungeon Masters, and include a host of new tools and tables". Rob Wieland, for Geek & Sundry, wrote that "backgrounds in Fifth Edition offer a good place to start talking about