On A Pale Horse (Incarnations of Immortality, #1)

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On A Pale Horse (Incarnations of Immortality #1)

4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 · rating details · 18,050 ratings · 742 reviews

When Zane shot Death, he learned, too late, that he would have to assume his place, speeding over the world riding his pale horse, and ending the lives of others. Sooner than he would have thought possible, Zane found himself being drawn to Satan's plot. Already the Prince of Evil was forging a trap in which Zane must act to destroy Luna, the woman he loved...unless he cou...more

Mass Market Paperback, 336 pages

Published September 12th 1986 by Del Rey (first published September 1st 1983)

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Aug 20, 2007 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the first in the Incarnations of Immortality series, and probably the best of the batch. I believe I read somewhere that Anthony originally intended only to write the five (Death, Time, Fate, War, and Earth), and I think he probably should have stopped there, because while With a Tangled Skein is probably the best book of the series in terms of pulling the other books together, they did (as Sci-Fi series so often do) start to drag quite a bit towards the later books, and ended up just pl...more

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Oct 25, 2010 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

In my opinion this is the best of the incarnations series. Interesting where the guy discovers he's "become" the new incarnation of Death (and of course how he became "Death"). I think this was a pretty good book and it's one of only a few Anthony books I really like. I read a few others of the Incarnation Series, and incidental other Anthony books. Not in general a fan of his.

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Sep 02, 2010 Kat Hooper rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

When the grim reaper shows up a few seconds early, Zane shoots him instead of using the gun on himself as he’d planned. Now, instead of being dead, Zane is Death. He has to take over the office, riding around the world in his convertible pale horse collecting and measuring the souls of those who’ve committed equal amounts of good and evil during their lives — those who are “in balance.” In his new guise (complete with all of the accoutrements: scythe, hood...more ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

When the grim reaper shows up a few seconds early, Zane shoots him instead of using the gun on himself as he’d planned. Now, instead of being dead, Zane is Death. He has to take over the office, riding around the world in his convertible pale horse collecting and measuring the souls of those who’ve committed equal amounts of good and evil during their lives — those who are “in balance.” In his new guise (complete with all of the accoutrements: scythe, hooded cloak, skeleton face, etc), Zane sets out to change Death’s image while dealing with his own personal demons.

This is a fun premise and I expected Piers Anthony to do a lot with it, but unfortunately I found On a Pale Horse to be mostly illogical, trite and, worst sin of all, just plain boring. Part of the problem is that it doesn’t know if it wants to be a comedy, a love story, or a heavy philosophical treatise. It tries to do all three (it should have been possible), but it fails at all three. The comedy, as usual for Piers Anthony, consists of puns, allusions, and light black humor. For example, when Zane asks Mortis (the pale horse) something to which the answer is negative, Mortis says “neigh” (that was the only one I actually laughed at). I enjoy puns in real-life dialogue (they indicate a quick wit), but they don’t often work for me in print and this is one of the reasons I don’t read Piers Anthony (I gave up on the first Xanth book after 4 chapters, but I tried On a Pale Horse because it sounded mature and interesting).

There were some things I did find funny — Death lives in a house that looks like a funeral home and answers fan mail, Satan uses his publicity budget to sponsor Hellathons, group plans, and billboard advertising, a soul’s balance of good and evil is computed like an income tax, and you should hear Satan argue with a female Irish fishmonger — but mostly I found the humor and cheesy dialogue to be juvenile.

The love story is juvenile, too. Zane meets and immediately falls in love with Luna, whose main attractions are that she is beautiful, well-dressed, serious, and likes the same kind of art as Zane. After only a couple of conversations which they apparently think are deep, they are in love, but the reader certainly doesn’t feel it.

The humor and the romance are silly, but the thing that really killed On a Pale Horse for me was that it tries to be thoughtful and enlightening as Zane attends a variety of deathbed scenarios that illustrate the unfairness, loneliness, guilt, relief, grief, and ugliness of death. In these scenes (there’s a long string of them), there is a lot of repetitive introspection and pondering and some “lessons” about the selfishness of suicide, the effects of incest or rape, the tragedy of an untimely death, the positive and negative aspects of war. Sounds like it could be profound, and I know it’s supposed to be profound because in the rather pompous and lengthy (one hour on audio) author’s note at the end, Mr. Anthony says “it is a satiric look at contemporary society with some savagely pointed criticism. It’s also a serious exploration of man’s relation to death… an ambitious hard-hitting social commentary.” Except it’s not. It’s rather superficially processed and it’s all stuff that most thinking adults have pondered many times before. There’s nothing new here, even for 1984 when it was published.

Just as one example, there’s a long scene in which Zane (as Death) enters a medical facility where machines are keeping dying people alive against their wishes. When he shuts down the power and they all are relieved that they can now die, he thinks he has greatly sinned and that now he’ll have to make up for it by doing more good deeds. Of course, we the readers recognize that his mercy is the good deed and that it’s not a sin to let people die naturally, but why hasn’t this occurred to him before, especially since he’s had personal experience with the issue and he’s been thinking about it for months? Luna tells him “I think sometimes you just have to sin in order to do the right thing” which is a profound revelation for Zane, but it makes me wonder why an adult who hasn’t advanced very far through Kohlberg’s stages of moral development was chosen to be Death. This sophomoric philosophizing might work better in a YA novel, but On a Pale Horse, with its succubi and other sexual references, is marketed to adults.

I was beyond bored with On a Pale Horse and the only reason I managed to finish it was so that I could thoroughly review it. Unfortunately, I was listening on audio and couldn’t skim. The reader, George Guidall, wonderful as he is, actually seems to slow down during the introspective scenes (I guess so that I can have time to process the heavy material?).

Another reason that the attempted weightiness of the story didn’t work for me is that On a Pale Horse is completely based on Christian theology. It’s okay that Anthony gets some of it really wrong (purgatory is not Biblical, and neither is the idea that criminals and children of rape or incest are unacceptable to Heaven), but what’s hard to overlook is that no mention is made of redemption, which is the crux of Christian belief (and a popular theme in fantasy literature). The whole point of Christianity is that Jesus paid the price for sin, so souls are not measured by the balance of good and evil deeds, but by whether or not they belong to Jesus.

Of course, a savior would completely throw off Piers Anthony’s entire premise, which is that man must secure a place in heaven by doing more good than evil. In order for this to work, Christ must be excluded, but in that case it seems that it would be better to not use CHRISTianity as the basis for the story because it forces the premise to fail. Mr. Anthony knows that, he knows we know it, and he wants us to just wink it away so that his story works with all of the clever Christian puns and allusions. For the most part I was able to do that, and I could have been perfectly happy doing that if On a Pale Horse didn’t ask me to think. But when it asks me to seriously consider eternal issues and the nature of sin and death, good and evil, and Heaven and Hell in the context of a Christian system, then I have trouble leaving redemption out of the picture — my thinking is restricted and I don’t get very far if I have to omit key elements of the doctrine. For this reason, On a Pale Horse would have worked better as strictly a comedy

.ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.(less)

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Apr 23, 2011 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook, 1980-1989, science-fantasy, favorite-ideas, mythstories-and-legends, angels-demons-heaven-hell

4.0 stars. Piers Anthony is a MIND-NUMBING ENIGMA to me. He is capable of writing extremely thought-provoking, imaginative stories that are both original and speak to fundamental aspects of the human condition. The mystery is that he does so infrequently, despite being one of the most prolific authors in the speculative fiction. Wait....on second thought, maybe that is the answer. Quantity of production slamming right into the proverbial nuts of quality.

Well this first novel in the Incarnations of Immortality series is certainly one that resides in the relatively exclusive group of high quality Piers Anthony books. Along with Macroscope (which I need to re-read soon), it is my favorite of his novels and I found myself impressed by both the general concept of the story as well as his execution of it.

The Incarnations series is founded on the premise that humans assume the roles of 5 of the 7 major supernatural offices called "Incarnations" (i.e., Death, War, Fate, Time and Nature). The other 2 Incarnations, Good and Evil, are permanently held by the Big G and the man downstairs who are engaged in a perpetual fight for the souls of all mankind. All of this takes place in a world similar (though advanced) to ours, except that both science and magic exist side by side (e.g., flying cars and flying carpets, organ transplants and healing elixirs).

As you can guess based on the title, this first book in the series focuses on the Incarnation of Death...DUH!! Zane is a lonely, suicidal man who, while contemplating taking his own life, accidentally kills Death (I know, ironical). Zane is then tasked with assuming the role of Death. I know this may sound cheesy, but it is actually handled pretty well in the story and has some very humorous moments.

Death's role is to send the souls of the deceased to either heaven or hell (or purgatory) depending on the balance between the good and evil present in the soul at the time of death. (QUICK NOTE: yep...turns out a person's religion has NOTHING to do with it and heaven or hell is solely (no pun intended) a matter of doing more good than harm during your life.). Kinda comforting isn't it.

Anyway, good deeds are extremely light. In fact, they are lighter than air and actually float. On the otehr hand, evil deeds have substantial weight and weigh a soul down. So a good person's soul will float up towards heaven whereas a bad person’s will....you get the idea. Finally, when a soul is in extremely fine balance between good and evil, Death is the final arbiter of the soul’s final destination.

That's about all you need for set up. The rest of this very interesting novel involves Zane learning about how the universe is run and coming into conflict with Satan over the soul of a particular person. It seems their is an ancient prophecy that says that this individual will foil Satan’s plans for the world, so naturally ole horn head wants the person dead. In addition to being very entertaining, there are some very neat discussions about the nature of good and evil.

This is Piers Anthony at his best. Taking a “big picture” concept and making an entertaining yet thoughtful examination of it in the context of a terrific story. I have read the next two books in this series and while not as good as this one, they are generally entertaining with “flashes of brilliance.”

Highly Recommended!!(less)

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Jul 28, 2007 Molly McBisterson rated it 4 of 5 stars

On a Pale Horse is the best book Piers Anthony's ever written.

Sadly, that's not saying much. Anthony has some very creative ideas, but his prose is mechanical at best and plainly clunky at worst.

Even so, some of the ideas are worth the slog. The Incarnations of Immortality series, though it fades at the end as all of Anthony's series do, is a clever and occasionally inspired look at religion, spirituality, and morality. In different hands it might have been pure art (see also, Good Omens by Prat...more

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Jul 11, 2007 Brianne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: previouslyread

This was the beginning of my Piers Anthony kick a couple years ago. This series was very interesting. It is called the Incarnations of Immortality, with this first book being the best of the series. The others were interesting. The premise is that regular people take on the mantle of Death, The Fates, Mother Nature, Mars, Father Time, etc. There are a total of seven books, so you can guess who the 6th and 7th are. I never could get ahold of the 6th book and I'm not one to skip on to the last wit...more

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Jun 26, 2011 François Declercq rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

When I met my girlfriend back in March, we soon got on the subject of books and being both fantasy aficionados, she asked me whether I'd read anything from her favorite author, Piers Anthony. I hadn't so she went on to describe how good his novels are.

A couple of days later, we meet up and she pulls out a present for me from her bag. A copy of Piers Anthony's On a Pale Horse. When she left, later that day, I began to read the novel and was immediately submersed into Anthony's universe. The story...more

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Dec 01, 2008 Rhonda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: future-fantasy

Death does ride a Pale Horse but that Horse can be so much more if that is what the job calls for, or at least that is what Anthony will have us believe.

A friend of mine in high school pushed this series on me and I reluctantly started to read it. Have I mentioned that science fiction really isn't my favorite yet? Because yeah, it takes something special for me to really delve into science fiction.

Anyway, I started to read this book and was drawn in quickly. I think the basis is what did it for...more

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Aug 08, 2007 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasysci-fi, mindcandy, youngadult

Piers Anthony is an author who is more conceptually innovative than literary. His writing is like puff pastry and not very substantive, but his characters are likable and the plots engaging. He has moments of preachiness mixed in, and sometimes a puerile sense of humor, but if you don't mind these things (or indeed, revel in them) you should give him a try. None of Anthony's books takes long to read, and you'll be able to tell by the first 100 pages of a series whether you're into his concept.

Th...more

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Apr 10, 2008 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of humorous fantasy

Shelves: fantasy, humor

This is the only Piers Anthony book I really liked. For once there's enough actual plot to distract the author from his usual preoccupations of breasts and bad puns.
The premise is similar to "The Santa Clause", but instead of the jolly old elf, it's the Grim Reaper who kicks the bucket. Erm, gets shot to death by the protagonist. It's an ACCIDENT, okay!
Now the protagonist has to take his place, and figure out all the gadgets Death uses to find the souls he collects. There's a cool car/horse, an...more

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Aug 31, 2007 Sarah Cooley rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who enjoys a good Sci-Fi or Fantasy novel now and again

It is the outstanding first book in the Incarnations of Immortality series recommended to me by my father who read it when he was my age.
The series questions the nature of life by having mortals take on immortal offices which they can execute in whichever way they so choose... for the most part anyway.
This book in particular follows the story of Zane and then Luna. His soul is fairly balanced between good and evil... or at least enough so that he has to be attended to by Death himself when he tr...more

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Mar 26, 2008 Erika rated it 5 of 5 stars

One summer while in Jr High, my brother handed me a book. The cover was yellow and depicted Death driving a very nice looking sports car. I loved the book, and unlike Anthony's Xanth series, Incarnations is still very readable for me today. I've heard the argument that many feel that Anthony has far too many sexual scenes in the Incarnations books. I guess I never really latched onto those scenes as being particularly offensive. There are worse books than these out there for that.
The books thems...more

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Jun 21, 2007 Claire rated it 4 of 5 stars

My ninth grade English teacher assigned this as extra credit. I had heard about this book a year earlier when I was sitting with a friend waiting for an ambulance to show up. I thought he'd addled his brains until freshman year.

Zane has lost everything. Watching his future disappear in a world that equally embraces magic and modern technology, he finally decides that suicide is his only option. However, Zane didn't expect to have the Grim Reaper walk through the door. The surprise leads him to r...more

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Nov 25, 2008 Crystaline rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Possible the best book that I have read. This is a straight-faced comedy about a man who, by accident, kills death. I think that I read it all in one day. Great story.

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Mar 13, 2011 Peter added it · review of another edition

Operates on two levels, without contradiction: I see "On a Pale Horse" as operating on two levels simultaneously. If you read the author's notes (which are a bit long-winded), you find out that Piers Anthony has a deal with his publisher that for every X number of high-volume sales books he writes, he gets to write one completely of his choosing, regardless of sales potential (see the truly stunning "Tatham Mound"). To this end, Anthony wrote "On a Pale Horse" as fun, easy-to-read, and somewhat...more

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Feb 27, 2009 Ron Gunz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Piers Anthony tells an interesting tale, and while the book certainly has flaws, this series remains a "guilty pleasure" for me.

On a Pale Horse starts quickly, and Anthony begins to attempt to weave his complex tale, unfortunately at the expense of the pace of the book. While his actual prose should never be considered anything except utilitarian and his characters (regardless of intention) are absolutely one-dimensional and his uneven tempo is only magnified by the obvious fact that Anthony is...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Rachel Coles rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mythological-fiction

I remember reading Piers Anthony as a kid. The book I had read was For Love of Evil, which I'd like to re-read at some point. But I had never read about his incarnation of Death.

I am fascinated by points of view of normally feared characters, like Death, or the Devil. I think that there is always more than one side to a story, and I love exploring that. So On a Pale Horse was like catnip for cats, to me.

I liked his very human characterization of Death. I liked that Death made mistakes, very funn...more

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Dec 15, 2012 Matt Holgate rated it 4 of 5 stars

I re-read this book recently, and found that I still loved it. It is both the first book in the Incarnations series and easily the best, as you can tell it came from a place of deep feeling for Piers Anothony - which he talks about in his appended notes. He had a brush with mortality, and he poured that into a book around the time he was writing some of his best Xanth books. It shows in his style.

That being said, there are few surprises to the book, although he makes his interpretation of Thanat...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Quinn Severson rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thought this was a great book. Not fantastic, but great. There are some parts of this book where I just got bored, but that might be because you are always anticipating something neat to happen. This book is a bit slow, so for anyone that doesn't like that sort of thing avoid reading this. However, if you have patience, I encourage you to read it. The writing is fantastic, Anthony does a great job of building the world and characters without boring you too much, and this book contains much hum...more

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Oct 05, 2012 Will Hogarth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Let me start from the off and say that the best thing about this book is the main character, Zane/Death, the book quickly batters Zane down the starts the rebuild, in the process a fully believable 3-D character is formed that as a reader I rooted for and empathised with.

I am not putting the rest of the book down; I am just saying the main character was superbly formed.

As a whole the story kept me hooked and I read the book over a couple of weekends, so not fully a ‘couldn’t put down’ read but q...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Thom Foolery rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Adolescents

Shelves: fantasy, death-and-dying, fiction, religion, genre-crap, philosophy

I vaguely remember reading this book and presenting a report on it in 8th grade, although I couldn't have told you much about it apart from what happens in the first chapter, when Zane kills Death and has to assume the mantle of the Grim Reaper. (As my wife noted last night, it's like a grimmer version of The Santa Clause.) I had wanted to read the rest of Anthony's "Incarnations of Immortality" series at the time but didn't for various and sundry reasons.

Fast forward 27 years. (Yikes! Speaking...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Cyberpope rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is my review of the whole "Incarnations of Immortality" series.

Anthony's best series by far.

The first seven are obviously part of his original concept, & fit very well together. Each book builds on the one before, leading to the climax in book 7!

Beginning with Thanatos(Death) the series introduces one major immortal in each book.

Each has unique attributes, not necessarily 100% matching to any myth you've read previously on the character.

Thanatos: a human who successfully catches the pre...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars

The first book of the Incarnations of Immortality series follows the life of Zane who, at the end of his rope, decides to commit suicide. In an act self-preservation he shoots Death who has come to reap his soul. After this Zane takes the mantle as the new death and must manage his difficult duties to ensure that the world continues in a moderately normal fashion.

The main plot concerns Zane attempting to save his love interest,Luna, from the hands of Satan although generally the novel best succe

...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Megan rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: too-bad-to-finish

I read more than half of this book because I really tried to like it. The premise of the story was intriguing and beneath the pen of a great writer, it could have been an amazing novel. This is the only book I've read where I have skipped over whole sections because the scene was pointless or so tediously described that it didn't make sense. The main character's thoughts and actions seemed to be contradictory most of the time. Mr. Anthony used so many exclamation marks while punctuating Zane's d...more

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May 30, 2012 Leilani rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thought this book was great. It was an easy read, and the writing style was fresh and fast pace.

Piers puts a whole to concept to the word "death". It's not just something that happens, a state that livings things fall into, but he turned it into an office; a type of job. The story begins with a young man who was about to commit suicide and when Death shows up at the door to take him, he accidentally kills Death. By rule, he must now fill the office. He has no idea what he is doing, but once h...more

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May 16, 2012 Chandra Rogers rated it 3 of 5 stars

This whole series has some fascinating concepts about the icons of Death, War, Nature, Time, Fate in that these are offices that people hold. These people are removed from mortal daily (aka typical) life and instead fulfill the requirements the world has for such tasks ruled by those offices. On a Pale Horse is the first volume and has always been my favorite in the series.

When I was in my early teens I started reading Piers Anthony's Xanth books and I eventually read most of his books that were...more

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May 06, 2012 Angela Conley rated it 3 of 5 stars

I first read this series in high school. I loved it! Sometime toward the end of my college career, I bought the series and began reading it again. I loved it a little less.

Let's start with the major problem I have with this series. Piers Anthony writes almost every single female character as some crazy or weak person that needs a man to come save the day. How insulting! As if women can't be just as tough, reasonable or resilient as men? I don't know how I missed it the first go round - maybe I f...more I first read this series in high school. I loved it! Sometime toward the end of my college career, I bought the series and began reading it again. I loved it a little less.

Let's start with the major problem I have with this series. Piers Anthony writes almost every single female character as some crazy or weak person that needs a man to come save the day. How insulting! As if women can't be just as tough, reasonable or resilient as men? I don't know how I missed it the first go round - maybe I felt that way a little bit growing up - but after re-reading it, the misogyny is so apparent.

Now for the reason I gave it three stars: This series is redeemed by its concept. The whole idea of this book is that Death, Time, The Fates, Nature, God, Satan and War are each a job held by a former mortal. This, to me, was so innovative and really spurred my imagination regarding the workings of the universe. Maybe not too many others have felt this way, but I think the concept is intriguing.

I love the portrayal of God and Satan, as well. The idea being that they are in competition to see who can win the most souls before the end of days. Both signed a contract stating they could not actively participate in the recruitment of souls, but rather could only stand watch as the mortals made their own decisions. God maintains the contract and Satan does not. How does that line up with conventional ideals?!

Also, what I found intriguing is how a mortal is put into these offices. This means the office is presented and run differently depending on who's in office. That blew my mind in high school and still incites deep contemplation now. It's just such an interesting idea to me.

Anyway, maybe a lot of my love comes from my remembering of how the series made me feel the first time I read it. In high school, these ideas are mind boggling. But, reading it as you get older, maybe it will be less impactful. Either way, I think they're good books, good for the stories and worth a read, just try not to mind the portrayal of women.(less)

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Apr 17, 2012 Jordan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Another book I randomly picked up at the library... This one for the cover. Like it? :P Death in a yellow car with a magic carpet... my book.

I'm glad I did; it's a new favorite. It had everything I could have asked for from this concept. It was fun, and interesting. At a healthy pace, things were always happening. New things that made the story interesting. You know how many different ways people died? At the same time, it asked many of the questions most people wonder about and hesitate to answ...more

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Feb 08, 2012 Ally Atherton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 52-books-in-52-weeks

Zane is on the brink of suicide and about to pull the trigger when the Grim Reaper walks in through the door and he shoots him instead.However there is a small law of the universe that says whoever kills death becomes death.A little reluctant at first he discovers that becoming death is not an easy task, especially when a beautiful young woman and Satan himself make an appearance.

This book was recommended by a work colleague who thought it would be my kind of book and so it became my ninth read...more

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Jan 10, 2012 David Sarkies rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Nobody really

Recommended to David by: Stewart

Shelves: sci-fi

This is a rather short poem, a sonnet to be precise, being a poem of sixteen lines with a specific metre. Now, while I like poetry, I would hardly call myself a poet in that my skill in writing metre is not the best, and in many cases I fall into a system of rhyme, which is corny at best. This does not mean that I have not attempted poetry in my life, and many of the poems that I have written tend to be rather short (none of the epic poetry of Homer of Milton).
These days poetry does not seem t...more This is a rather short poem, a sonnet to be precise, being a poem of sixteen lines with a specific metre. Now, while I like poetry, I would hardly call myself a poet in that my skill in writing metre is not the best, and in many cases I fall into a system of rhyme, which is corny at best. This does not mean that I have not attempted poetry in my life, and many of the poems that I have written tend to be rather short (none of the epic poetry of Homer of Milton).
These days poetry does not seem to be a huge as it was in the past, though there are still quite a number of poets out there. However the modern image of a poet would be some guy sitting in a rotting apartment subsisting on a diet of whiskey and cigarettes (and for some reason Alan Ginsberg comes to mind in this regard, though I suspect his diet consisted of more than just whiskey and cigarettes). In my mind, these days (as has been the case in the past) there simply is no money in poetry. In the days of old though, poets tended to survive on their own wealth (such as Emily Dickinson) or were patrons of the nobility (such as William Shakespeare) as as such many of their poems where simply praises of their patrons (once again William Shakespeare comes to mind).
That does not necessarily mean that poetry is dead though, we do see it crop up in movies, and in a way songs these days is simply poetry put to music, but then again, this was something that would have occurred in the past as well. Take the Greeks for instance, many of their poetical works (in particular Homer) were either sung, or at least had music playing in the background, which is interesting particularly since it is believed that Ancient Greek drama actually developed from poetry readings.
I should make mention of Percy Shelly though. The truth is, Percy Shelly's claim to fame is not that he was a poet (though many of us in literary circles do recognise his poetic skill) but that he was the husband of Mary Shelly, the author of Frankenstein. They say that she went on to become quite famous while her husband, who was quite famous at the time, disappeared into the mists of obscurity. Personally I believe that that is a little unfair on poor Percy Shelley since this particular poem, and it is a very famous poem at that, is a lot more than simply something written by Mary Shelley's husband.
Ozymandias is one of those poems that seems to continue to crop up. I first encountered it in high school during one of my English classes where we were looking at (surprise, surprise) poetry. It seems that whenever the topic of poetry comes up in high school, this is one of the poems that is always looked at, maybe because it is short (it is a sonnet), but maybe because despite its shortness, it actually does have quite a lot to say.
I won't reproduce the poem here, and anyway, it can easily be found on the internet. Anyway, it is a poem about Rameses II, one of the great kings of Egypt. It is generally accepted (though not by me) that he was the Pharoah of the oppression, that is the Pharoah that ruled Egypt during the period that the Jews were slaves and before Moses led them out of captivity to the promise land. However, this is not the time or the place for me to go into my historical theories of the Egyptian timeline. What this is the time is to comment that what Shelley is doing here is creating an image of a fallen statue in a windswept desert. In his time, Rameses could have been considered the most powerful person on Earth, however in Shelley's time, he was all but forgotten. His works and his buildings survive, but have long since been looted by grave robbers. The remains of his kingdom are still present, but its glory days a long since gone.
Shelley, however, wasn't writing about Ancient Egypt or some long dead king, but rather as a reminder to the people of his day. The year is 1818, and England had recently defeated Napoleon, and they pretty much sat on the top of the world. The British Empire straddled the globe, there had been no empire since that had even came to compare to the might and the wealth of the British Empire. While Percey did not know it at this time himself, but it was the beginning of the Pax Brittania, a hundred years of relative peace where the wealth and the power of the British Empire would continue to grow, and their influence would reach out to all corners of the globe. It would not be until the early 20th Century that Britain would meet a rival that could even consider taking a shot at the title.
However, the concern is not some much that Britain was at the top of the world, but rather that this too will pass. Three thousand years in the future Queen Victoria will, so he believes, be another Ozymandias. Even now her statues can be found throughout the former British Empire, sitting in pride of place in many of the cities around the world. Here in Adelaide he statue sits in the middle of the city, as it does in Hong Kong. Everywhere you go in the former empire you encounter reminders of Victoria, where it be the name of a state, a city, or some gentleman's club. However, like Rameses, this too will pass. The people at Shelley's time will not see it. Most of them would not be alive when Arch-duke Ferdinand would be assassinated, and the only memories of Napoleon would be those in the books, or the stories that old men would remember their Grandfather's telling them when they were children. As with Rameses, so to will this pass.(less)

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About Piers Anthony

Though he spent the first four years of his life in England, Piers never returned to live in his country of birth after moving to Spain and immigrated to America at age six. After graduating with a B.A. from Goddard College, he married one of his fellow students and and spent fifteen years in an assortment of professions before he began writing fiction full-time.

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On A Pale Horse (Incarnations of Immortality #1)

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