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228th out of 1,165 books
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1,752 voters
Wielding a Red Sword (Incarnations of Immortality #4)
Mym was a dutiful son, but rather than agree to his father's choice for his marriage, he took up the Red Sword, symbol of office of the Incarnation of War, in order to ameliorate some of the suffering caused by Earth's constant petty wars. But Mym discovered that Satan was waiting to trap him, and he must now take desperate measures to outwit the evil genius who aimed to d...more
Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
Published
November 12th 1987
by Del Rey
(first published September 12th 1986)
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A compelling collaboration between real life and fantasy.: This, the fourth book in the Incarnations Of Immortality series, has to be the most compelling. It begins in a travelling circus in India, where we first meet the main character Mym, a mysterious character who gradually throughout the book we get to know, like and sympathise with due to a speech impediment. Mym befriends, and falls in love with, a young and beautiful musician called Orb, with whome we met as a child in the previous Incar...more
A look into one of the more violent Incarnations: War, Mars, Aries. However you wish to describe him, this is his story. How Mym, an unlikely candidate for War, first escaped from his kingdom, joined a traveling circus because he fell in love with one of the performers only to be rushed back home when his kingdom was in need of an heir. Back home, he falls in love again, and is about to marry this lovely princess when his father calls off the marriage to arrange something more profitable for the...more
This book lost some of the balance present in #3, and is merely getting 3 stars not because of the story itself but because I just didn't like it as much. AND... the main character Mym, as a woman, his views of women and their purpose is a tad offensive. HAHA! But I guess that's what you get when you have a backward thinking Hindu prince expecting a wife AND a harem. His nature is tempered by his first love, but becomes increasingly noticeable throughout the book. It seems that his main motivati...more
1 like · like · see review
The Incarnations of Immortality series shows us a world were magic and technology have developed together and deities like Death, Time, Fates, War, Mother Earth, Evil, Good, and Night are supernatural "offices" held by humans for a length of time.
Wielding a Red Sword introduces us to the aspect of War. The office of War is held by a human until their is complete peace on Earth. At that time the office changes hands to a new person, in this case Mym an Indian prince takes up the red sword and hol...more
Wielding a Red Sword introduces us to the aspect of War. The office of War is held by a human until their is complete peace on Earth. At that time the office changes hands to a new person, in this case Mym an Indian prince takes up the red sword and hol...more
Anthony’s fourth book in the “Incarnations of Immortality” series. We find Mym, running away from his princely duties. He has a stuttering problem and that does not bode well with his father the Rajah. He finds a traveling side show that will take him in and falls in love with Orb. But when he suddenly becomes the next in line, he must give up Orb and his freedom and go back to being a Prince. He doesn’t want to stay but is confined and cannot leave. He is then forced to marry another. After som...more
I liked the irony in this one; the book spends more time on love than anything else, and learning how to function in his office is almost incidental. And when it's not love, it's a continuous seduction attempt by a concubine. Fun, fun! It's also cool that Mars is a Hindu, and is thrown into this "Heaven or Hell" mentality when he's more into the Reincarnation idea.
After the series improved a bit with the third installment, I had hopes for subsequent books, but after slogging through this I am turning my back on Piers Anthony and the rest of his "Incarnations of Immortality" series. Anthony is a prolific and best-selling author, but I just don't like his style. The characterizations are thin and too often stereotypical, the dialogue is usually stilted and unnatural, and the "philosophy" behind the Incarnations isn't all that thought-provoking (in part, I s...more
Original review (2 stars):
This series has been a roller coaster ride for me. I thoroughly enjoyed books 1 & 3 but struggled to even finish 2 & 4.
I think I may have liked Wielding a Red Sword the least, which I didn't think possible after reading Bearing an Hourglass. At least I liked Norton and Orlene. I can't say the same about Mim and Rapture. The only thing that kept me going was the connection to Orb.
I am so curious about Orlene and Sning and hope to get some resolution on that front...more
This series has been a roller coaster ride for me. I thoroughly enjoyed books 1 & 3 but struggled to even finish 2 & 4.
I think I may have liked Wielding a Red Sword the least, which I didn't think possible after reading Bearing an Hourglass. At least I liked Norton and Orlene. I can't say the same about Mim and Rapture. The only thing that kept me going was the connection to Orb.
I am so curious about Orlene and Sning and hope to get some resolution on that front...more
4 likes · like · see review
Wielding a Red Sword somewhat follows the same pattern as the other books. In comparison to the rest of the series, it feels a bit underwhelming. Mym, the future Incarnation of War, spends a few chapters being forced to leave the woman he loves in order to marry one he doesn't. Soon after, he becomes the Incarnation and well, you know the rest.
What bothered me about this book was the fascination with romance. Or rather, sex. I swear, Mym must be the next Johnny Depp (or Robert Pattinson, or whoe...more
What bothered me about this book was the fascination with romance. Or rather, sex. I swear, Mym must be the next Johnny Depp (or Robert Pattinson, or whoe...more
Continuing on in the amazing style! This one started off completely differently from the other books and I was completely intrigued the entire way. The main character is not from America (or Ireland) so his perspective on the Incarnations is very unique and lends him a strange power. I loved his personal story leading up to becoming an Incarnation. At this point in the series, I'm enjoying their personal lives more than their immortal lives, which to a point are all very similar: confusion, mist...more
FINALLY finished it. The story itself wasn't bad - it was an interesting story with interesting characters who did experience nice development throughout the story. The writing style, however...it does not mesh with my prefrences. I remember really, really liking the first two books of the series. I don't know what's different about the first two and this one (I'm curious to read them again and see if I still like them) but I had a really hard time getting into this book enough to actually finis...more
I finally tracked down a copy!
This was not my favorite of the Incarnations series, but I liked it well enough. The main character is an Indian prince, so it was very hard for me to "phase in" (as the book puts it) to his mindset and his way of reacting to things. I am too occidental for his character. Also, I felt that Mars's office was less...cool, I guess, than the other Incarnations I've met so far. If you like the rest of the series, I totally recommend this because the showdown in the last...more
This was not my favorite of the Incarnations series, but I liked it well enough. The main character is an Indian prince, so it was very hard for me to "phase in" (as the book puts it) to his mindset and his way of reacting to things. I am too occidental for his character. Also, I felt that Mars's office was less...cool, I guess, than the other Incarnations I've met so far. If you like the rest of the series, I totally recommend this because the showdown in the last...more
I'm actually quite disappointed with this one. I really enjoyed books 1 & 3 (and already being halfway through book 5 - that too), but I just found this one hard work (and not for the same reason of bearing an hourglass - that could be quite hard to follow, but at least it had a good storyline). Sometimes i think that the only reason that I continue to read this series is because someone lent them to me and I am too much of an idiot to return them without having read them.
Took me a while to...more
Took me a while to...more
When Mym, the son of a rajah, grows tired of his father's manipulations in his relationships, he opts out of his life in order to become Mars, the immortal Incarnation of War. In this new position his job is to supervise the significant warlike activities occurring in the world. Although he's morally opposed to such needless violence and suffering and initially hopes to use his office as a means of alleviating and lessening the destruction and misery war causes, Mym reluctantly comes to accept t...more
As the fourth book in the Incarnation of Immortality series, this book starts to get a little too formulaic at points (a common flaw in Anthony's series), but I enjoyed With A Tangled Skein so much that seeing the same story from a different perspective was enough to keep my interest.
Several mentions of sexuality that may make parents a little hestitant depending on their children's maturity level.
Several mentions of sexuality that may make parents a little hestitant depending on their children's maturity level.
The fourth book in the series of Incarnations of Immorality where we explore the Incarnation of War, where the story takes us on a journey, showing war, from the heroisms to the heartbreaking tragedies of battle, to a final confrontation with Satan himself. The twist of course is that the hero comes from the eastern mythos which doesn't believe in good/evil etc etc.
A good fantasy book with some interesting twists and turns - especially like the thought of the Incarnation of War actually directi...more
A good fantasy book with some interesting twists and turns - especially like the thought of the Incarnation of War actually directi...more
The Incarnations of Immortality books are pretty silly stuff really (in my opinion - naturally; you might well love them!). The bits at the ends of the books where the author writes how he wrote the books are more interesting and make me more sympathetic towards the series. Why did I read them then? Well, someone lent them to me and I'm just that combination of 'too polite to say no' and 'willing to try something different' to go for it.
I enjoyed the ones with a make protagonist more than those...more
I enjoyed the ones with a make protagonist more than those...more
Wielding a Red Sword is the fifth book in the Incarnations of Immortality series. In this story, we follow Mim, the stuttering prince of India who is destined to become Mars the incarnation of War. Mim seeks to leave his royal life behind and joins a band of performers and encounters the love of his life, Orb Kaftan. Circumstances drive him to back to the royal palace where he encounters the second love of his life, Rapture. Eventually, much later in the book, Mim is finally bestowed with the re...more
It seems that in his way Anthony is attempting to move into the idea of political commentary through his novels. Having (unfortunately) read quite a lot of his works, this is something that he does seem to do, however I would have to add, not in a really good way. Anthony is first and foremost a science-fiction/fantasy writer, and while he does have his own opinions and beliefs, I never actually felt challenged by his books in a way that I was challenged by, say, The Jungle.
The topic of this b...more
The topic of this b...more
I only have a couple of the Incarnations of Immortality series, because it is a wildly uneven series as a whole (Anthony, predictably, can't write female protagonists worth a damn, and the one about Time is straight out of pulp space opera for no obvious reason) and this was #3 on my list of the three that I can stand.
It's kind of awful. But first, the good bits:
1. This book was totally the reason I bought a translation of The Book of Five Rings at age 12, and that is a profound and fascinating...more
It's kind of awful. But first, the good bits:
1. This book was totally the reason I bought a translation of The Book of Five Rings at age 12, and that is a profound and fascinating...more
1 like · like · see review
Book four is really a call to reality. Through the eyes of the incarnation of War, you really can begin to see the world through a different perspective. Not only to I like this book as a good read, I like how the auther can really get into your heart and make you feel as though you should go and help in the war effort no matter how little it is. It really shows how complicated war is, and it also shows how precious life is. This is my number one favorite book of all time. I highly recomend read...more
This is the same tale as On A Pale Horse and the others in the series but told from the Incarnation of War's point of view. Anthony makes the Incarnations real people with real stories but at the same time it's all one story told from 7 different points of view. The main story centers around one woman who is also destined to die but depending on her life balance, she could be come Satan's worst enemy or his greatest ally. The other incarnations must work to save her from Satan.
This series was delightful. Not only were the characters well rounded, but the story lines made me think in new ways. I completely enjoyed the author's views! I also was amazed that each book stood alone so well and were all designed so they could be read in any order with no loss of ideas or integrity to the story. I have always had difficulty with understanding war ... the ideas and concepts in this book aided more than any history or ethics class.
Not the best in this series, but still very good at 4/5 stars. Some books in this series were bound to be better than others but it's all good, and this book does not disappoint even if it's a bit repetitive in some parts. However, the philosophical discussions between Mars and Satan are to be considered and thought about, since they raised some excellent points (and I became more appreciative of this book after reading 'For Love of Evil')
I have to say it was difficult getting through this book. The sexist hero was annoying to me, particularly his views on his fiancee. However, I asked a male about some of the passages I found objectionable and was told that Piers Anthony accurately captured the way some men think. While that didn't make me enjoy the book more, I realized that my dissatisfaction was centered on the character and not the author's writing.
In this installation of this creative series, I found myself disappointed. Mym, the main character, is reminescent of all the other two other male incarnations. The three (human) women Mym has falling for him have almost identical personalities with every other main female character in this series. The plots in these are always interesting, but the characters are all the same and are getting quite repetative.
Oct 23, 2010
Misty Dawn
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
no one.
Recommended to Misty by:
Nir Chezrony.
Shelves:
fiction
not as good as the first three... on a pale horse being the best.
and while i know i'm not his target audience, per se, putting female virginity on such a high pedestal is getting old. i noticed it from the beginning, but this one really pushed it past endurance. the only female of significance who's had sex before finding her 'one true partner' is a demoness. of course. the evil seductress who refuses to be shy for impure concubine, the virgin maiden in a tower for princess.
maybe my infatuation...more
and while i know i'm not his target audience, per se, putting female virginity on such a high pedestal is getting old. i noticed it from the beginning, but this one really pushed it past endurance. the only female of significance who's had sex before finding her 'one true partner' is a demoness. of course. the evil seductress who refuses to be shy for impure concubine, the virgin maiden in a tower for princess.
maybe my infatuation...more
I adored this book. I love Mym, and he had some of the best character development and story sequences of the series in my opinion. I enjoyed the delicate subject matter of War as much as I liked Anthony's tackling of Death and Time. Ironically, I find the masculine offices interesting to me. War was one of my favorite of the series, hands down.
It's been ages since I read On a Pale Horse and though the details are hazy, I remember enjoying it. So when I won this as the consolation prize after a narrow whiskey-soaked defeat at the local pub quiz, I thought perhaps I was the winner after all. No such luck. My delusuions have been dispelled. I am and shall remain: a loser.
I haven't read any of the other Incarnation books, and now I doubt that I will, unless the sadistic quiz-master continues to foist them upon the also-rans. While Pale H...more
I haven't read any of the other Incarnation books, and now I doubt that I will, unless the sadistic quiz-master continues to foist them upon the also-rans. While Pale H...more
Everyone I met who has read this series has a favorite, and it is without fail the first one they read. I read the fifth (Being a Green Mother) first, and it is my favorite. The first five can be read in any order, with intriguing plots interwoven through the entire set, but the sixth and seventh are best left for the end.
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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.
Piers is a self-proclaimed environm...more
More about Piers Anthony...
Piers is a self-proclaimed environm...more
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Mar 17, 2013 04:07pm