Date Posted:17:44:54 09/10/04 Fri Author: Syl Subject: Incarnations of Immortality
This week’s review is kindly submitted by Serena. Very interesting!
TITLE: Incarnations of Immortality
AUTHOR: Piers Anthony
GENRE: Fantasy series
What if Death had human emotions? What if all Time was at your fingertips? What if Fate was your mother, or grandmother? Can War be reasoned with? Is Gaea the heartbeat of Earth? What if Satan was God's Stepfather? Is God a woman?
Let's be honest, these books deal with mildly touchy subject material. They are not presented as irreverent, but as a fantasy tale based on old myths and modern workforce structures. What this series can and will do for you, if you give it the chance, is take you away from the deeply personal aspects of faith and show you what it would be like if Death, Chronos, Fate, War, Gaea, Satan and God were not the entities that we usually tend to believe them to be. It will show you what it might be like if those Offices were just that. Positions held by fallible men and women simply doing their level best to perform a job that is hard and exacting, and has the weight of the human condition resting in the balance.
There are seven books in this series. One dedicated to each of the 7 major offices of Incarnations of Immortality. They are not light reading by any stretch because of the author's uncanny knack of interweaving every aspect of each tale into the thread of it's successors and predecessors. But neither are they heavy handed philosophising either. The challenge of reading the books is more than equal to the enjoyment they give. Can you follow the author's bread crumbs? He does leave enough trails of them for you!
Zane has committed suicide, or has he? By a simple accident of Fate he has become the newest Incarnation of Death. And this job is hard! But with Luna and Death's ever present companion of Mortis, the Death stead, he will learn the job & thwart Satan's latest attempt to corrupt all of mankind.
Norton has loved and lost. In a desperate move he has taken up the Hourglass, the symbol and tool of the Office of Time. Norton is now Chronos, an Incarnation of Immortality. Can he learn how to use this unique and most powerful of tools to stop Satan from killing Luna and owning humanity forever?
Niobe is a simple woman, with a son, daughter and granddaughter destined to foil Satan's greatest plan ever. Will taking up one aspect of the Office of Fate not once, but twice help to ensure their survival? Can an Incarnation of Immortality really stop Satan with nothing but the simple tools of thread and skein?
Mym isn't his real name. He isn't really just a mime with a traveling band of Gypsies either. But when his father's demands tear him from his first love, and he takes up the mantle of Prince of the Realm, his new love and he bring peace to the whole world. In that moment Fate asks him to be the Incarnation of War. Grasping the hilt of the red sword, Mym ensures that Satan will now try everything in his power to corrupt the most vulnerable of all Offices. Can Mym prevent the destruction of the world, or will Satan prevail?
Orb has magic that is beyond measure in her voice. She seeks the ultimate song, the Llano for her use. Unbeknownst to Orb though, Satan is already aware of her movements and he knows that Orb must find the Llano if she will ever be Gaea. And his wife. Can orb find the Llano? Can she use it to stop Satan's latest attempt on the Earthly plane to destroy the world as she knows it?
Parry was a pious man. He attempted to battle evil on each and every front he could imagine. He was a monk. He was a member of the inquisition. He was a man with a mission. Until he was seduced to evil. In Lucifer's control Parry had no recourse but to slip into hell at his death. Except that Lillith loved him better than she loved Lucifer. And Lucifer had become careless. Something that Parry vowed as Satan he would never do. Until he found love again...in his nemesis, another Incarnation of Immortality.
Orlene was doomed. The bastard child of parents she had never known. The bride of a ghost whose prenuptial contract demanded infidelity. The mother of a condemned child. And now a suicide. Surely she was bound for hell. But her soul was in perfect balance. She was now a ghost as well. Her friend Jolie walked her through the ropes, and they tried to find a way to save the soul of her doomed child from Nyx, the one Incarnation of Immortality that was unapproachable. On top of all that...somehow Jolie the ghost lover of Satan, and Orlene the child who didn't know her family's long history with Satan were now enlisted to help find the next officeholder of the position of God.
Correct reading order is the one given below::
On A Pale Horse
Bearing An Hourglass
With a Tangled Skein
Wielding A Red Sword
Being a Green Mother
For Love Of Evil
...And Eternity
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Heavy reads these are not. It's been years since I've looked at this series, but as I recall they fall into the "middle road" of Piers Anthony's range--which goes from the incredibly light-hearted Xanth series to the longer, more traditional sci-fi Macroscope. In either form, Anthony's books are very readable (and unfortunately, often forgettable shortly thereafter). (I hope I'm not breaching ettiquette by saying that--the reviews on this board seem to be very positive with not much discussion of the not-so-great aspects.) -- LadyBluesy, 12:54:05 09/14/04 Tue
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For my money LadyBluesy, I only review the books I enjoy, which is why the reviews I write are always positive, but I wouldn't have a beef with someone saying they didn't like them, or starting a discussion on what they didn't enjoy about any books I've reviewed, we can't all like the same stuff. I have said on occasion that a book listed didn't sound like my kind of thing, but I always read the reviews because I appreciate that someone took the time to write them up. -- Margy, 12:37:59 09/17/04 Fri
beccabee, 15:44:54 09/11/04 Sat