“With a Tangled Skein (Book Three of Incarnations of Immortality)”, by Piers Anthony

404 pages, Ballantine Books, ISBN-13: 978-0345318855

Incarnations of Immortality is the name of an eight-book fantasy series by Piers Anthony, of which With a Tangled Skein was Book Three. Okay, so here we go: Niobe, a young Irish weaver, loses her husband Cedric to murder, all part of a devious plot of the Devil’s. So Niobe descends to Purgatory to appeal to the Incarnations and Satan himself for Cedric’s life; however, there’s nothing to be done, and so when the inconsolable Niobe is instead offered a position as an one of the Incarnations, she accepts and becomes the nubile Clotho, the spinner of the thread of life and the youngest of the three Aspects of Fate (along with the matronly Lachesis who measures the threads; and the crone Atropos who cuts them). As more facets of Satan’s enormous plot are revealed, the other Incarnations take a hand (readers will need good memories to recall what’s been happening in the previous books). Later, Niobe decides to retire and once again become mortal, and she remarries and has more children, all of whom are caught up in the plot. Then, as Satan becomes particularly threatening, Niobe is induced to emerge from retirement where, as Lachesis, she must thwart Satan one more time by solving a hoary set of brain-teasers tricked out in fantastical disguises.

As with the other books in the Incarnations of Immortality series, I read this book back in the day and thought that it was cleverly done…then. Not surprising, as it seems like this was written with the average horn-dog not-a-boy and not-yet-a-man teenage boy in mind. Most irritating, however, are the huge jumps in time that were accomplished it in just a page or two, unlike the other books in the series in which time took its toll. Understanding the reasoning behind this was to get Fate to the right time and place to best Satan, alongside the other characters in the series thus far; however, the first half of the book was all about Niobe as a mortal and her marriage to Cedric, and then a long view of her life as Clotho, the second half of the book spanned decades with brief explanations that played like the book was wrapping up only to begin again in one long final scene of the maze (which, I must admit, was still interesting as it used common brain teasers that have been used for generations, like the boat crossing and the weighing of coins, for example). Overall, though, a sprawling, inconclusive plot with a routine, rather lumpy drama, with none of the main issues fully explained or resolved. A frustrating affair that will appeal mainly to Anthony fans prepared to stick around for the complete series.

“Bearing an Hourglass (Book Two of Incarnations of Immortality)”, by Piers Anthony

372 pages, Ballantine Books, ISBN-13: 978-0345313157

Incarnations of Immortality is the name of an eight-book fantasy series by Piers Anthony, of which Bearing an Hourglass was Book Two. Just like with On a Pale Horse, Bearing an Hourglass suffers under my adult eyes. There is far less tension as compared to the previous book, and I found it hard to invest myself in the story since there was so little I really gave a damn about. The main character’s (Norton) girlfriend is killed off fairly early on and, while she had potential, she is never really returned to. In place, we get a bunch of filler and a rather vague plot with nothing to really latch onto and make you care. Norton seems to trust Satan to a ridiculous degree; while other characters in the series are legitimately deceived or forced into situations where they come out losing to the enemy, Norton simply trusts him at his word, despite knowing full well who he is. Later, he’s surprised to find that he’s been lied to (um, yeah; “Father of Lies’, remember?) Norton also relies entirely too much on his nearly-omniscient magic ring to give him answers when he needs them (I thought of the modern incarnation of Doctor Who and his G**damn Sonic Screwdriver). I mean, you’re Time! Just take a hop to the future and see how things would have turned out? Then use that as a further plot device of avoiding paradox? Entire episodes of the story contribute nothing to the story; a visit to a space opera realm, a visit to a fantasy realm, and a long, drawn-out reverse-time episode just drag on and on…and the characters met in these realms are completely inconsequential to the story, as is apparent even as you read these sections, not just in hindsight. Besides all that, time travel (which I have come to loath) is a staple of science fiction and can make for some of the best stories when done right, but Bearing an Hourglass was a huge squandered opportunity; time travel should have been the cause of and solution to most of the protagonist’s dilemmas, but instead, all the fun and peril of time travel is brushed aside and in its place, the plot tension comes from learning to detect the enemy’s various deceptions.

Okay, okay, okay…adult Don is done; now let adolescent Don speak: the character of Norton is rather likeable; while independent and intellectual he is also oddly naïve, which is why Satan seems to be able to lead him around by the nose. Just like Death, the concept of the Office of Chronos is awesome; an entity who lives his life in reverse time compared to the rest of the world, whose job it is to fix the timeline when things go awry, and to maybe tweak things at his discretion, he carries great power but, unlike the other incarnations, he usually must operate alone. Able to travel forward and backward, able to change the past, remaining immune to paradox…all of these concepts are fascinating and, the way they’re written, they work well. It is with these kinds of concepts that Anthony in particular is so good at coming up with, and why his writing can be so enjoyable (at least to my younger, not-yet-jaded self). And speaking of Anthony, he was so capable of creating unique universes and exploring their implications: his worlds came to life, made you smile, got you excited to see how things will work, while the humor was almost always understated by just the right amount, though sometimes coming off as cheesy. There’s really no reason you’d ever want to read this book on its own; it meanders on and on, while managing to have little depth; however, in the context of the series, it fits in well, and the series itself is still fun – yes fun, but no longer as deep as I thought it was, lo those many moons ago. If you’ve read the first book and plan to read this second one now, don’t expect much, but don’t forget that this is a series.

“On a Pale Horse (Book One of Incarnations of Immortality)”, by Piers Anthony

336 pages, Ballantine Books, ISBN-13: 978-0345338587

Incarnations of Immortality is the name of an eight-book fantasy series by Piers Anthony, of which On a Pale Horse was Book One. I was introduced to this series by my brother Tom (um…Thank You?) and read each of the first five after he had had his way with them (ah…Thank You?) and devoured them as fast as I could read. It was 1983 and I was 11-years-old, so I found the premise to be irresistible: eight novels, each based on one of the seven immortals (that would be Death, War, Earth, Fate, Time, Evil, Good and...Night?). The plot here is a clever one, and from the outset Anthony shows that he’s a very inventive world builder: when Death comes for Zane, a young man contemplating suicide, said young man instinctively shoots Death instead, and is thus called to assume the office of Death. We see various aspects of Anthony’s cleverly-constructed world through the eyes of a character who must travel all around it, looking at it through, as it were, new eyes. This is great stuff, and a moderately competent writer could turn it into pure gold. And when I was, in fact, 11-years-old, I found it to be pure gold, as this once-mortal is “gifted” with immortality and given the power of Death itself, with all of the consequent responsibilities and burdens it brings (with great power comes great responsibility, after all). Oh, and he has to battle Satan, to boot. Again, to my addled preteen mind this was heady stuff, and I couldn’t wait for each new book to be unceremoniously shoved into my hands by big bro Tom.

However, looking back at this book and this series through my jaded post-pubescent eyes, there is so much that is lacking with it, as is true with so much of Anthony’s work. The first half or so of this book is mainly concerned with Zane learning the ropes of his new job and along the way comes to question why things in the afterlife are set up the way they are, where the Devil can seemingly do whatever he wants while God is conspicuously absent. The latter half of this book deals mainly with Zane’s interaction with Luna, daughter of a very high-ranking magician who has arranged his own death just so Zane will be forced to meet and interact with her. As Zane slowly becomes aware, Luna is important, as she will be a major figure in determining the outcome of the eternal battle between the Devil and God some twenty years in the future (if she survives that long). Anthony does an excellent job of describing the mechanisms and paraphernalia that are part of Death’s job, especially Death’s horse, who is a character in his own right. The moral questions of what is truly good and evil receive a fair amount of discourse, a discourse that elevates this book above a light entertainment into something with some real meat on its bones, although I found the points presented to be fairly elementary.

But characterization is very light for everyone except Zane, the absence of God in any of the events or moral questions was a definite negative and the reasoning and set-up of the basic conflict of this work confusing and not quite logical. I was also bothered by the fact that the protagonist, although quick to learn that rules and preconceptions are not to be trusted, never bothers to converse with God, and he doesn’t hesitate to reach to the other incarnations or even to the Devil, for…God’s sake. Why is that I wonder? Out of all the regulations and parameters he chooses to successfully break or circumvent, the main character unquestionably accepts that God will never bother to listen or interfere. I suppose it’s just a personal point of view. Unfortunately that, along with the generalization of what handicapped elderly truly desire, ultimately ruined the story for me…as an adult. As I kid I though all of this was swell, and it made me think deep thoughts about life, the universe and everything, so perhaps I’ll leave it at that: a great introductory title to deeper themes and belief systems that a kid with few friends and an over-active imagination will find intriguing. Yeah, let’s go with that.