The Willing Spirit

by Piers Anthony, Alfred Tella

Hari leaves his native village on a quest for true wisdom, but unbeknownst to him, his journey becomes the subject of a wager between two immortals, the beautiful Mohini and the evil Ravana

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy, Science Fiction

287 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1996

About the author

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 environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.

Reviews

[Jade]

I read this one as a teen, and I remember being puzzled because I didn't think the authors were writing about their background. It's possible that they did research but I can't comment on that. I will note that a fantasy book written in 1996 with a non-European-inspired setting was difficult to find back in the day. Nowadays this book with these authors would not fly, and thankfully I can find a fantasy book with a non-European-inspired setting -- written by a person from the non-European country of inspiration! -- with very little effort.

[Mars]

A 13-year-old's idea of a perfect relationship. Unbelievably rapey and disturbing (and yes, roughly 90% of the hanky-panky that takes place would be classified as rape). No noticeable redeeming qualities, although the theme and a few well-placed quotes drag this out of one-star land, albeit just barely.

The rajah is the only character worthy of note, really.

[Laura Floyd]

I must not have thought much of this book, because if it wasn't on my list, I wouldn't even remember that I read it.

[Anthony Messina]

I really liked this.