Post by Rook on Nov 2, 2008 10:51:28 GMT -5
On A Pale Horse
Piers Anthony
First Published 1983, hardcover
A Del Rey Book Published by The Random House Publishing Group
-
The summation on the back of the book is:
The man who murdered death. Shooting Death was a mistake, as Zane soon discovered. For the man who killed the Incarnation of Death was immediately forced to assume the vacant position! Thereafter, he must speed over the world, riding his pale horse, and ending the lives of other.
Zane was forced to accept his unwelcome task, despite the rules that seemed woefully unfair. But then he found himself being drawn into an evil plot of Satan. Already the Prince of Evil was forging a trap in which Zane must act to destroy Luna, the woman he loves.
He could see only one possible way to defeat the Father of Lies. It was unthinkable - but he had no other solution.
In this first novel of the Incarnations of Immortality Piers Anthony Combines a gripping story of romance and conflicting loyalties with a deeply moving examination of the meaning of life and death. This is a novel that will linger in the reader's mind.
-
Luckily I read this book first, it being the first in the series, which doesn't always happen. Since then I've read two more of the books from his Incarnations of Immortality and have found this one to be the best so far. The summation is decently accurate, but leaves a few things out. For one, this is a high fantasy sci-fi blend. The world that he has created is one where science and magic are working in the same worldview, and sometimes augmenting each other. It's a very clever world build as well, which allows for a lot of leeway in what he writes considering it's all about the supernatural.
It is indeed a romance novel, though not nearly as sexually inundated as many romance novels are, including some of the later ones in this series, but it is also an adventure novel. It is also a mystery in a way, because there's plenty of twists to figure out, though many of them can be quite obvious. My favorite part of this book though is that it is an extremely original world view on the supernatural.
The Incarnations are humans who have gained immortality and now control an aspect of existence, in this book death. There are other incarnations of course, Time, War, Nature, Fate, Good (God) and Evil (Satan.) Satan's entire life is bent on casting the balance of good an evil in his favor, destining everyone to hell. God is honoring the non involvement agreement and butting out. The rest are stuck in the middle, trying to make sure Satan doesn't mess with their area of expertise too much in his quest to damn the world! It doesn't help the devil's case that all the incarnations turn out to be good and foil is plots.
Now this book isn't perfect, his dialogue isn't the best I have ever seen and no one in the book, except maybe Satan, strikes me as having a legitimate personality. The characters in this book strike me as personifications of roles, and soon as I came to grips with this I stopped pausing to think "Now honestly, does anyone really think, or for that matter talk, like that?" Beyond that the story is wonderful, the fantasy is elaborate and the interesting view on how the supernatural and afterlife function make for a quick and exciting read.
Piers Anthony
First Published 1983, hardcover
A Del Rey Book Published by The Random House Publishing Group
-
The summation on the back of the book is:
The man who murdered death. Shooting Death was a mistake, as Zane soon discovered. For the man who killed the Incarnation of Death was immediately forced to assume the vacant position! Thereafter, he must speed over the world, riding his pale horse, and ending the lives of other.
Zane was forced to accept his unwelcome task, despite the rules that seemed woefully unfair. But then he found himself being drawn into an evil plot of Satan. Already the Prince of Evil was forging a trap in which Zane must act to destroy Luna, the woman he loves.
He could see only one possible way to defeat the Father of Lies. It was unthinkable - but he had no other solution.
In this first novel of the Incarnations of Immortality Piers Anthony Combines a gripping story of romance and conflicting loyalties with a deeply moving examination of the meaning of life and death. This is a novel that will linger in the reader's mind.
-
Luckily I read this book first, it being the first in the series, which doesn't always happen. Since then I've read two more of the books from his Incarnations of Immortality and have found this one to be the best so far. The summation is decently accurate, but leaves a few things out. For one, this is a high fantasy sci-fi blend. The world that he has created is one where science and magic are working in the same worldview, and sometimes augmenting each other. It's a very clever world build as well, which allows for a lot of leeway in what he writes considering it's all about the supernatural.
It is indeed a romance novel, though not nearly as sexually inundated as many romance novels are, including some of the later ones in this series, but it is also an adventure novel. It is also a mystery in a way, because there's plenty of twists to figure out, though many of them can be quite obvious. My favorite part of this book though is that it is an extremely original world view on the supernatural.
The Incarnations are humans who have gained immortality and now control an aspect of existence, in this book death. There are other incarnations of course, Time, War, Nature, Fate, Good (God) and Evil (Satan.) Satan's entire life is bent on casting the balance of good an evil in his favor, destining everyone to hell. God is honoring the non involvement agreement and butting out. The rest are stuck in the middle, trying to make sure Satan doesn't mess with their area of expertise too much in his quest to damn the world! It doesn't help the devil's case that all the incarnations turn out to be good and foil is plots.
Now this book isn't perfect, his dialogue isn't the best I have ever seen and no one in the book, except maybe Satan, strikes me as having a legitimate personality. The characters in this book strike me as personifications of roles, and soon as I came to grips with this I stopped pausing to think "Now honestly, does anyone really think, or for that matter talk, like that?" Beyond that the story is wonderful, the fantasy is elaborate and the interesting view on how the supernatural and afterlife function make for a quick and exciting read.