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Incarnations of Immortality #4
Wielding a Red Sword
This was a world where both science and magic worked and where magic carpets competed in the market with shiny new cars. Here the Incarnations of Death, Time, Fate, War, and Nature were real beings, caught up in a continuing effort to defeat the wiles of Satan.
Mym was a prince of a province in a still-divided India, where the Rajahs ruled absolutely. Mym was a dutiful son, but the third time the Rajah interfered in his love life was too much. Rather than give in to the Rajah’s plans to have him wed, he agreed to assume the office of the Incarnation of War and wield the Red Sword that was the powerful symbol of the position.
For a time, he was reasonably happy, believing that his efforts in the constant petty wars on Earth could ameliorate some of the injustice and suffering. But gradually he became aware that behind all his involvement were clever traps of Satan, designed to lead him astray.
When he sought to move against one of Satan’s plans, what seemed to be mischance placed him in Hell. Mym accepted the challenge and saw in it a chance to defeat the Father of Lies. Working in secret, he organized a great rebellion among the Damned. And Satan seemed to capitulate.
But free again, Mym soon learned that the episode had been only another snare of Satan. His apparent triumph in Hell had been a chance for Satan to stir up troubles, riots, and devastating wars on Earth, without the Incarnation of War to control them.
Now it seemed that things had gone too far for control and that Satan must surely win. There was only one desperate chance…
Mym was a prince of a province in a still-divided India, where the Rajahs ruled absolutely. Mym was a dutiful son, but the third time the Rajah interfered in his love life was too much. Rather than give in to the Rajah’s plans to have him wed, he agreed to assume the office of the Incarnation of War and wield the Red Sword that was the powerful symbol of the position.
For a time, he was reasonably happy, believing that his efforts in the constant petty wars on Earth could ameliorate some of the injustice and suffering. But gradually he became aware that behind all his involvement were clever traps of Satan, designed to lead him astray.
When he sought to move against one of Satan’s plans, what seemed to be mischance placed him in Hell. Mym accepted the challenge and saw in it a chance to defeat the Father of Lies. Working in secret, he organized a great rebellion among the Damned. And Satan seemed to capitulate.
But free again, Mym soon learned that the episode had been only another snare of Satan. His apparent triumph in Hell had been a chance for Satan to stir up troubles, riots, and devastating wars on Earth, without the Incarnation of War to control them.
Now it seemed that things had gone too far for control and that Satan must surely win. There was only one desperate chance…
297 pages, Hardcover
First published September 12, 1986
213 people are currently reading
3551 people want to read
About the author
Piers Anthony
442 books4,217 followersThough 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.
Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 309 reviews
May 3, 2019
Another in the series of the incarnations of immortality, this one follows Aries on some adventures.
Like Frank Herbert's Dune series, this one lets the reader go easily, as each successive book in the series gets a little worse, until the reader doesn't mind leaving the series.
This one was entertaining, but the originality and imagination of On a Pale Horse is gone and we are just slogging along to the end.
Still fun though.
Like Frank Herbert's Dune series, this one lets the reader go easily, as each successive book in the series gets a little worse, until the reader doesn't mind leaving the series.
This one was entertaining, but the originality and imagination of On a Pale Horse is gone and we are just slogging along to the end.
Still fun though.
October 31, 2010
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 in number 5. I really hope I like that one better and I hope even more that I can feel closure after that. I really have no desire at this point to read books 6 and 7.
I am so tired and thoroughly disgusted with Piers Anthony's preoccupation with sex and luscious bosoms!
Amended review (1 star):
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn't really like this book and I don't want to read anymore of the series. I read the synopses and some reviews for books 5, 6, and 7 and got the gist that it would be more of what I haven't liked in the first 4. Book 5 is about Orb, and honestly, I don't know if I care how she becomes the Green Mother and if she dates Satan. And Orlene comes back in 7 as God? It's more than I can take.
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 in number 5. I really hope I like that one better and I hope even more that I can feel closure after that. I really have no desire at this point to read books 6 and 7.
I am so tired and thoroughly disgusted with Piers Anthony's preoccupation with sex and luscious bosoms!
Amended review (1 star):
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn't really like this book and I don't want to read anymore of the series. I read the synopses and some reviews for books 5, 6, and 7 and got the gist that it would be more of what I haven't liked in the first 4. Book 5 is about Orb, and honestly, I don't know if I care how she becomes the Green Mother and if she dates Satan. And Orlene comes back in 7 as God? It's more than I can take.
June 25, 2012
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 work that I still deeply value.
2. ...ummm. Apparently there is no 2.
As usual, the book opens with a lengthy analysis of how attractive the protagonist is to women of all kids. Verdict: irresistible. Nevertheless, he is only attracted to the pure and virginal woman, who promptly spreads her legs for him because he's so awesome. However, she turns out to be nothing more than a minor plot device and promptly disappears offscreen so she can be the longed-for Lost Love for a chapter or two, until...
Mym gets shipped off to the Honeymoon Castle at the behest of his father (who murders women callously to prove a point, namely, that women are worthless interchangeable tokens and the fact that Mym feels bad about this is Weak and Unmanly.) Now, the Honeymoon Castle is actually an interesting device - it's set up so that a) people residing there can hear each other's thoughts and b) they are forced to interact to eat, sleep, or bathe, presumably so proximity will make them fall in love. This of course leads to numerous descriptions of Mym's arranged bride's physical assets, and the various scary things that chase her into his arms whenever they try to rebel firmly establish that while she is intelligent, she is entirely spineless. This is held up as an ideal - in fact, it's why she's a better match than the Blessed Virgin in the opening sequence, because independence is a negative trait in a woman.
Look, it only goes downhill from there, and frankly I'm tired of responding to this appalling crap. On a Pale Horse at least had the redeeming aspect of some relatively serious thoughts about the nature of end-of-life care - this has some lukewarm apologia for War that it's clear the author himself doesn't even really believe. So there's no moral core, and the book is entirely about Mars finding a suitably tractable (and royal, don't forget for a second that he's a prince) mate AND concubine, because obviously his royal prerogative requires both. I'm not even going to get into the confusingly terrible characterization of modern-day India as Generic Fantasy Kingdom #248, Where Everyone Has Long Descriptors Instead of Names.
Skip it. Just... skip it.
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 work that I still deeply value.
2. ...ummm. Apparently there is no 2.
As usual, the book opens with a lengthy analysis of how attractive the protagonist is to women of all kids. Verdict: irresistible. Nevertheless, he is only attracted to the pure and virginal woman, who promptly spreads her legs for him because he's so awesome. However, she turns out to be nothing more than a minor plot device and promptly disappears offscreen so she can be the longed-for Lost Love for a chapter or two, until...
Mym gets shipped off to the Honeymoon Castle at the behest of his father (who murders women callously to prove a point, namely, that women are worthless interchangeable tokens and the fact that Mym feels bad about this is Weak and Unmanly.) Now, the Honeymoon Castle is actually an interesting device - it's set up so that a) people residing there can hear each other's thoughts and b) they are forced to interact to eat, sleep, or bathe, presumably so proximity will make them fall in love. This of course leads to numerous descriptions of Mym's arranged bride's physical assets, and the various scary things that chase her into his arms whenever they try to rebel firmly establish that while she is intelligent, she is entirely spineless. This is held up as an ideal - in fact, it's why she's a better match than the Blessed Virgin in the opening sequence, because independence is a negative trait in a woman.
Look, it only goes downhill from there, and frankly I'm tired of responding to this appalling crap. On a Pale Horse at least had the redeeming aspect of some relatively serious thoughts about the nature of end-of-life care - this has some lukewarm apologia for War that it's clear the author himself doesn't even really believe. So there's no moral core, and the book is entirely about Mars finding a suitably tractable (and royal, don't forget for a second that he's a prince) mate AND concubine, because obviously his royal prerogative requires both. I'm not even going to get into the confusingly terrible characterization of modern-day India as Generic Fantasy Kingdom #248, Where Everyone Has Long Descriptors Instead of Names.
Skip it. Just... skip it.
March 6, 2014
Took me so long to read because I couldn't bring myself to want to put myself through the misery. Characters are slightly more developed here than in other books, but this one reeks with racism (unfair, one-dimensional stereotypes of Indians), sexism (woman's suffrage is taught to the poor, backwards Indian woman by a demon of hell, the only women worth Mym's time are pure virgins, Mym outright talks about the whole 'men are allowed to sleep with many women, but women should know only one man' and is cheered on for it) and is a continuation of the elitist, white male fantasy present in the rest of this series. By this part of the series, the story itself isn't even unique- Random Guy becomes Incarnation, Satan interferes, lots of explanation as to how this particular Incarnation works, Satan interferes, usually using the evils of sex and playing off of the evil temptation of women or the weaknesses of women, Incarnation wins, is rewarded with further sex. It was an interesting read as a child, but is too two-dimensional for me now as an adult with a well-rounded education. This is something that should be actively squeezed out of the sci-fi/fantasy canon.
January 23, 2016
I need more books in my life whose titles begin with a gerund. Those were the days.
May 25, 2020
Book # 4 of The Incarnations series is about the Incarnation of War, Mars. Another wonderful addition to this series.
It follows Mym, who is forced to leave a woman he loves in order to marry another woman; all in the name of what's best for his country. Then after he falls in love with this second woman, it ends up that the only way he can stay with her and not be forced to marry another is to become Mars. All thanks, of course, to Satan. He then starts to tempt Mym by sweetening the pot, so to speak, while causing trouble between War and the other incarnations.
One of the things that makes this book different and interesting is that the main character comes from a country that does not follow Judea-Christian beliefs. For Mym, reincarnation is the belief system. So seeing the character adapt to this new system adds to the interesting story line.
Fans of the series will not be disappointed with this installment.
It follows Mym, who is forced to leave a woman he loves in order to marry another woman; all in the name of what's best for his country. Then after he falls in love with this second woman, it ends up that the only way he can stay with her and not be forced to marry another is to become Mars. All thanks, of course, to Satan. He then starts to tempt Mym by sweetening the pot, so to speak, while causing trouble between War and the other incarnations.
One of the things that makes this book different and interesting is that the main character comes from a country that does not follow Judea-Christian beliefs. For Mym, reincarnation is the belief system. So seeing the character adapt to this new system adds to the interesting story line.
Fans of the series will not be disappointed with this installment.
March 30, 2019
i seemed to like this better as a kid
May 24, 2024
"War, properly managed, was certainly better than the alternatives of oppression or dispossession."
Mym may have been raised as a prince in India, but his chronic stutter is an embarrassment to his Royal Family. He runs away to join a circus and falls for the singer Orb, the daughter of Fate and sister of Luna, with whom he begets a child…
Their idyllic romance is interrupted, however, when his father the Rajah makes an arranged marriage to the vulnerable princess Rapture. Mym tries to stay loyal, but Rapture's alluring temptations, aided by their fathers' magic, eventually leads him astray…
But when that betrothal is set aside by the Rajah for an even more advantageous political union, Mym says enough is enough. He accepts the mantle of Mars in order to take Rapture to Purgatory where they can be together without the meddling of courts and kings, but the meddling of the Incarnations turns out to be so much worse…
This fourth entry in the Incarnations of Immortality series once again introduces a new Incarnation who must (once again) match wits with Satan in order to protect the version of history in which Luna blocks the Evil One from taking control of the governments of Earth.
Mym accepting the mantle of War is ironic because he is a pacifist at heart. However, as the royal prince he has been trained in the art of fighting as a berserker. It is because of his controlled rage that the Red Sword is attracted to him.
There is also irony that a Hindu is caught up in the cosmic battles between God and Satan. Mym believes none of it. He spends much time commentating on the absurdities of the Western worldview:
"Perhaps demons were crafted in Satan's image, much the way man, according to the occidental mythos, was crafted in God's image. Of course that was illusory; how could such imperfection come from perfection? Man had a delusion of grandeur. Mym was glad that he did not share such confused thinking. Reincarnation made so much more sense that any sensible person should be able to understand it."
While he opposes killing on moral grounds, he must get involved when the outcomes of wars start being manipulated by new magics like zombie drugs, time bombs, and gene splices… Rapture is lured away by Western feminism… and the end of time is announced at the Doomsday Clock…
As Satan tries to test his strength, he is drawn into adventures with warrior Amazon women, a sleeping beauty enchanted under a glass case, and a civil war that rages between the five rivers of Hell.
4 stars. I alternated between the kindle edition and the audiobook read by George Guidall.
Next up: Being a Green Mother
Mym may have been raised as a prince in India, but his chronic stutter is an embarrassment to his Royal Family. He runs away to join a circus and falls for the singer Orb, the daughter of Fate and sister of Luna, with whom he begets a child…
Their idyllic romance is interrupted, however, when his father the Rajah makes an arranged marriage to the vulnerable princess Rapture. Mym tries to stay loyal, but Rapture's alluring temptations, aided by their fathers' magic, eventually leads him astray…
But when that betrothal is set aside by the Rajah for an even more advantageous political union, Mym says enough is enough. He accepts the mantle of Mars in order to take Rapture to Purgatory where they can be together without the meddling of courts and kings, but the meddling of the Incarnations turns out to be so much worse…
This fourth entry in the Incarnations of Immortality series once again introduces a new Incarnation who must (once again) match wits with Satan in order to protect the version of history in which Luna blocks the Evil One from taking control of the governments of Earth.
Mym accepting the mantle of War is ironic because he is a pacifist at heart. However, as the royal prince he has been trained in the art of fighting as a berserker. It is because of his controlled rage that the Red Sword is attracted to him.
There is also irony that a Hindu is caught up in the cosmic battles between God and Satan. Mym believes none of it. He spends much time commentating on the absurdities of the Western worldview:
"Perhaps demons were crafted in Satan's image, much the way man, according to the occidental mythos, was crafted in God's image. Of course that was illusory; how could such imperfection come from perfection? Man had a delusion of grandeur. Mym was glad that he did not share such confused thinking. Reincarnation made so much more sense that any sensible person should be able to understand it."
While he opposes killing on moral grounds, he must get involved when the outcomes of wars start being manipulated by new magics like zombie drugs, time bombs, and gene splices… Rapture is lured away by Western feminism… and the end of time is announced at the Doomsday Clock…
As Satan tries to test his strength, he is drawn into adventures with warrior Amazon women, a sleeping beauty enchanted under a glass case, and a civil war that rages between the five rivers of Hell.
4 stars. I alternated between the kindle edition and the audiobook read by George Guidall.
Next up: Being a Green Mother
January 31, 2023
I just cannot get excited about this title, probably for two reasons. 1) I suspect Anthony gave it a noble effort but still had trouble rationalizing the necessity of war and 2) I don't really agree with his rationalization. However, the human who was the incarnation of Mars was a great character! It also was fun seeing the perspective from a Hindu point of view. Besides, the way Mars got into Hell itself and made a crisis for Satan was lots of fun! So Ultimately, I'd say this was a 3.5, rounding down instead of up as in "For Love of Evil". Addendum 12/2019: As in the other titles if this series during this rereading, I’m finding I don’t agree altogether with my review. I’m leaving the star rating alone this time. I do agree, marginally, with Anthony’s rationalization of war: there are times when war does seem to be the only answer. I see no way to have avoided WWII for example. As time passes on, I suspect the author’s note in this one will make less sense to readers. The Author's note computer discussion covers things I suspect today’s teens and twenty somethings have never heard of. Similarly Anthony’s efforts in the personal life part about Ligeia would be handled so differently today. We have considerably more resources available, with more recognition that parents do not have ownership rights to abuse their children on either the physical or emotional level. This is my second least favorite of the series, Bearing an Hourglass being my least favorite. Still am glad to reread. This series is superb.
October 14, 2012
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 suspect, because Anthony didn't put a whole lot of research into his world-building).
Here are some questions that irked me as I read:
- How could there possibly be "oriental" religions and myths in a world controlled by the literal incarnations of "occidental" ideas like God and Satan?
- If "Mym" (who doesn't have a real Indian name like Bharat or Prasanta) became the Incarnation of War, why did he, as a Hindu, go by "Mars" and not "Indra"?
- Why does he make the "occidental" mistake of equating Shiva the destroyer with Satan the deceiver?
As a teenager who didn't know better himself, this book would probably have seemed completely awesome, but as an adult, I expect better and I no longer have the time to waste waiting for "Incarnations" to deliver.
Here are some questions that irked me as I read:
- How could there possibly be "oriental" religions and myths in a world controlled by the literal incarnations of "occidental" ideas like God and Satan?
- If "Mym" (who doesn't have a real Indian name like Bharat or Prasanta) became the Incarnation of War, why did he, as a Hindu, go by "Mars" and not "Indra"?
- Why does he make the "occidental" mistake of equating Shiva the destroyer with Satan the deceiver?
As a teenager who didn't know better himself, this book would probably have seemed completely awesome, but as an adult, I expect better and I no longer have the time to waste waiting for "Incarnations" to deliver.
April 20, 2014
This is more of a 4.5 stars as I felt like I was able to get into it faster than with books 2 & 3.
As with the previous 3 novels, Wielding a Red Sword weaves the main Incarnation's life with those of others we have met before. This is about War, who was known as Mym as a mortal. He was in love with Orb, Lachesis' daughter, and sends is current love Rapture to stay with Luna (Lachesis' granddaughter and Death's lover) during the day.
And, as usual, Satan puts his hand where it doesn't belong, trying to force things to bend to his will. War has to face the consequences of Satan's meddling and work against him - even though, as a Hindu Prince, Mym hadn't put much stock in religion anyway…although the Western Incarnations relate to Eastern gods and goddesses quite well.
OOHHHH!!! War goes to war against Satan. A war of the demons as well as a war of the minds. I like War's phasing ability. And Satan fears the truth being known. Excellent :D
“Satan is an insidious corruptor who never rests and he is most dangerous in seeming defeat, as all of us know. It is his specialty to proffer a large reward for a very small compromise, for his resources are infinite. But he who accepts the first compromise has made a precedent, and it then becomes easier to accept the next, and the next, until at last Satan has after all won.” – page 267 (Luna)
As with the previous 3 novels, Wielding a Red Sword weaves the main Incarnation's life with those of others we have met before. This is about War, who was known as Mym as a mortal. He was in love with Orb, Lachesis' daughter, and sends is current love Rapture to stay with Luna (Lachesis' granddaughter and Death's lover) during the day.
And, as usual, Satan puts his hand where it doesn't belong, trying to force things to bend to his will. War has to face the consequences of Satan's meddling and work against him - even though, as a Hindu Prince, Mym hadn't put much stock in religion anyway…although the Western Incarnations relate to Eastern gods and goddesses quite well.
OOHHHH!!! War goes to war against Satan. A war of the demons as well as a war of the minds. I like War's phasing ability. And Satan fears the truth being known. Excellent :D
“Satan is an insidious corruptor who never rests and he is most dangerous in seeming defeat, as all of us know. It is his specialty to proffer a large reward for a very small compromise, for his resources are infinite. But he who accepts the first compromise has made a precedent, and it then becomes easier to accept the next, and the next, until at last Satan has after all won.” – page 267 (Luna)
February 5, 2013
This 4th Incarnation of Immortality is proof that less is more. An excellent story. 10 of 10 stars
May 14, 2022
It's...fine. It's all fine.
It's fine that it's so gender essentialist. Men are manly and warlike and strong and brave. Women are womanly and have pert bottoms and jiggly bodies and are also dependent and slutty or virginal.
It's fine that the main character has to keep reminding us that he's "oriental" as opposed to "occidental" in his outlook and therefore finds the God/Satan paradigm confusing but also grasps its intricacies immediately (he will say "I thought I remembered some obscure bit of your lore" as he justifies something that's happening or pursues a course of action). It's fine to reduce Indian culture to castes and concubines (and how the prince NEEDS a concubine so as not to overburden his wife and NEEDS a wife/princess who would understand that need).
I'm realizing that I really enjoy the premise and structure of these books more than the writing themselves. I'm interested to know the jobs of the incarnations and how they navigate their moral quandaries. But most of each book is devoted to the True Love and sexy time of each character--either how they want it and try to get it or lose it and mourn it. Maybe such is the stuff of life and I'm just too stuck in one place to notice. I think Death had the most actual shop talk.
For example, Mars foments a rebellion in Hell by phasing into the spirits of the would-be rebel leaders. He communicates with them without communicating with us (he jumps in, he jumps out saying they're convinced), and therefore the part I was interested in--the convincing of people to rise up--is skipped over. I guess why WOULDN'T people in Hell want to rise up? But how do you convince them you can win and it's worth the risk of punishment?
And managing battles and all that for "the good of humanity." First of all, a little fash for me. Second, HE DOESN'T ACTUALLY DO THAT. He manages to end some battles by moving people around and stopping time and shit, but he doesn't actually have a plan other than "let's not have so many people die." It's a good short-term plan, don't get me wrong, but it's not the chess game of "war helps humanity" that either he or Satan wants to make it. And then while he's in Hell, Satan jacks up war all over the place, so clearly Mars isn't "managing war" so much as sucking at his job. As with the other books, there comes a revelation about how to suck less moving forward, but THAT'S WHERE IT ENDS. No actual showing of how that will improve things or bring this plan to fruition. Death was the best of that--he made his priorities for how he'd handle things and then did it that way. Much less development here.
I still want to see how the last 3 play out, watch the arc come together, but each individual book is just another lecture in outdated gender politics (women CAN be strong, even though they probably don't want or need to be really).
It's fine that it's so gender essentialist. Men are manly and warlike and strong and brave. Women are womanly and have pert bottoms and jiggly bodies and are also dependent and slutty or virginal.
It's fine that the main character has to keep reminding us that he's "oriental" as opposed to "occidental" in his outlook and therefore finds the God/Satan paradigm confusing but also grasps its intricacies immediately (he will say "I thought I remembered some obscure bit of your lore" as he justifies something that's happening or pursues a course of action). It's fine to reduce Indian culture to castes and concubines (and how the prince NEEDS a concubine so as not to overburden his wife and NEEDS a wife/princess who would understand that need).
I'm realizing that I really enjoy the premise and structure of these books more than the writing themselves. I'm interested to know the jobs of the incarnations and how they navigate their moral quandaries. But most of each book is devoted to the True Love and sexy time of each character--either how they want it and try to get it or lose it and mourn it. Maybe such is the stuff of life and I'm just too stuck in one place to notice. I think Death had the most actual shop talk.
For example, Mars foments a rebellion in Hell by phasing into the spirits of the would-be rebel leaders. He communicates with them without communicating with us (he jumps in, he jumps out saying they're convinced), and therefore the part I was interested in--the convincing of people to rise up--is skipped over. I guess why WOULDN'T people in Hell want to rise up? But how do you convince them you can win and it's worth the risk of punishment?
And managing battles and all that for "the good of humanity." First of all, a little fash for me. Second, HE DOESN'T ACTUALLY DO THAT. He manages to end some battles by moving people around and stopping time and shit, but he doesn't actually have a plan other than "let's not have so many people die." It's a good short-term plan, don't get me wrong, but it's not the chess game of "war helps humanity" that either he or Satan wants to make it. And then while he's in Hell, Satan jacks up war all over the place, so clearly Mars isn't "managing war" so much as sucking at his job. As with the other books, there comes a revelation about how to suck less moving forward, but THAT'S WHERE IT ENDS. No actual showing of how that will improve things or bring this plan to fruition. Death was the best of that--he made his priorities for how he'd handle things and then did it that way. Much less development here.
I still want to see how the last 3 play out, watch the arc come together, but each individual book is just another lecture in outdated gender politics (women CAN be strong, even though they probably don't want or need to be really).
September 19, 2023
To be frank.
I hate the protagonist. He's a misogynistic, hateful, putz. He starts out with what looks like what could be some redeeming qualities but all of these are squashed the further he's given the opportunity to speak.
Mym is a prince, who of course deserves only the most beautiful virgins for his bed to deflower, and perish the thought that they have hopes or dreams or wants that don't including making him happy in bed.
He just wants a woman to be dependent on him. It starts out with Orb, who is destined to become Satan's lover, so Satan kills Mym's brother out of jealousy thus forcing Mym to leave Orb and become a prince. He's soon set up with a lovely lady named Rapture of Malachite. Eventually though, after Mym has fallen for his new princess, his father decides that it's a better deal to go with this other princess and tries to break it off. Mym in a fit of rage becomes the incarnation of War.
SO off they go to Mym's new pleasure palace in purgatory where it's soon discovered that Rapture can't eat anything there and also she doesn't like his new job. But wait! Satan conveniently makes a garden close by with food that Rapture can eat and pretty she-devils who just want to be Mym's concubine! Unless Mym isn't there, and then they fill Rapture's head with notions of *gasp* independence and *gaspier gasp* female suffragettism!!! Yes that's right! Feminism is a tool of the devil.
So Rapture gets wise to her bad deal and says, "fuck this, I'm out." and gets a job and independence and becomes a valuable human being, wanted for her ideas and opinions instead of just a bed warmer. She meets a lovely human man and decides to settle down and goes and lets Mym know and then leaves.
At that point I figured the book was probably the best it would get, and I put it down. Pretty sure Mym falls for the concubine and goes to hell or some such bull shit but fuck that guy anyway.
Somewhere in all that he met other incarnates and dealt with some wars but they all played like... side stories. Pop it in for a few pages, and then poof, back to Mym's thoughts on women.
Not sure if I have it in me to finish this series, to be honest.
I hate the protagonist. He's a misogynistic, hateful, putz. He starts out with what looks like what could be some redeeming qualities but all of these are squashed the further he's given the opportunity to speak.
Mym is a prince, who of course deserves only the most beautiful virgins for his bed to deflower, and perish the thought that they have hopes or dreams or wants that don't including making him happy in bed.
He just wants a woman to be dependent on him. It starts out with Orb, who is destined to become Satan's lover, so Satan kills Mym's brother out of jealousy thus forcing Mym to leave Orb and become a prince. He's soon set up with a lovely lady named Rapture of Malachite. Eventually though, after Mym has fallen for his new princess, his father decides that it's a better deal to go with this other princess and tries to break it off. Mym in a fit of rage becomes the incarnation of War.
SO off they go to Mym's new pleasure palace in purgatory where it's soon discovered that Rapture can't eat anything there and also she doesn't like his new job. But wait! Satan conveniently makes a garden close by with food that Rapture can eat and pretty she-devils who just want to be Mym's concubine! Unless Mym isn't there, and then they fill Rapture's head with notions of *gasp* independence and *gaspier gasp* female suffragettism!!! Yes that's right! Feminism is a tool of the devil.
So Rapture gets wise to her bad deal and says, "fuck this, I'm out." and gets a job and independence and becomes a valuable human being, wanted for her ideas and opinions instead of just a bed warmer. She meets a lovely human man and decides to settle down and goes and lets Mym know and then leaves.
At that point I figured the book was probably the best it would get, and I put it down. Pretty sure Mym falls for the concubine and goes to hell or some such bull shit but fuck that guy anyway.
Somewhere in all that he met other incarnates and dealt with some wars but they all played like... side stories. Pop it in for a few pages, and then poof, back to Mym's thoughts on women.
Not sure if I have it in me to finish this series, to be honest.
June 5, 2024
This one took a little longer for me to finish reading. The misogyny was manageable, but this book is also racist.
It made me think a lot about the responsibility authors have to accurately represent other cultures. I think I understand what Anthony was going for here. He wanted to explore the idea of an Incarnation who didn't believe he would go to Heaven or Hell, though he could have done that with an atheist. And he wanted to explore polyamory/polygamy, romance is a central feature of his novels and he wanted to explore a culture with concubines.
I imagine he was ill-informed. He took what he saw in Saturday morning cartoons to be reality and figured he knew all there was to know about Indian and Hindu culture. I find it hard to believe that he wrote the stereotypes he did out of malice, but I don't think we can ignore the harm it may cause.
I also don't think I'm qualified to speak on that harm though, and I can't help but still really love his writing regardless. I love the way this novel explores the idea that it is impossible to truly know someone and not love them.
I can't by any means call this a perfect book, but I also can't erase my own bias. Maybe it's wrong of me to rate based on the merits of the book and review based on the flaws, but I think this book is worth reading. I just think you have to read it with recognition of its time and place in history.
Edit: Also, people seem to think that Mym represents Piers Anthony's own views on women, I'm pretty sure he's just writing from the perspective of a character who is somehow even more misogynistic than he is. Though I do think the fact that he wrote Mym to be even more of a misogynist is also racist so it's kind of a zero sum game.
It made me think a lot about the responsibility authors have to accurately represent other cultures. I think I understand what Anthony was going for here. He wanted to explore the idea of an Incarnation who didn't believe he would go to Heaven or Hell, though he could have done that with an atheist. And he wanted to explore polyamory/polygamy, romance is a central feature of his novels and he wanted to explore a culture with concubines.
I imagine he was ill-informed. He took what he saw in Saturday morning cartoons to be reality and figured he knew all there was to know about Indian and Hindu culture. I find it hard to believe that he wrote the stereotypes he did out of malice, but I don't think we can ignore the harm it may cause.
I also don't think I'm qualified to speak on that harm though, and I can't help but still really love his writing regardless. I love the way this novel explores the idea that it is impossible to truly know someone and not love them.
I can't by any means call this a perfect book, but I also can't erase my own bias. Maybe it's wrong of me to rate based on the merits of the book and review based on the flaws, but I think this book is worth reading. I just think you have to read it with recognition of its time and place in history.
Edit: Also, people seem to think that Mym represents Piers Anthony's own views on women, I'm pretty sure he's just writing from the perspective of a character who is somehow even more misogynistic than he is. Though I do think the fact that he wrote Mym to be even more of a misogynist is also racist so it's kind of a zero sum game.
March 12, 2023
Problematic and formulatic
Rereading this series that I enjoyed a few decades ago, and... Yeah. Maybe sticking with how much I remembered enjoying it would have been better. I do recall really enjoying Satan's book - most likely the start of my fascination with morally ambiguous characters - and the rest of the series does lead there...
It's Piers Anthony, so women are described in a certain way: physically either stunning or older and frumpy. In this book, their purpose is to be wife or concubine, preferably incapable of functioning without a man.
Mym is from India, and despite the rest of the world being a wonderfully high tech mix of magic and science, India didn't get with the times:
"In due course they reached the fabulous West. Their plane landed at Washington, and they were met by a highlevel functionary with a limousine. They were set up in a fine hotel, where every room had scientifically heated water, electrical lights, and color television sets. Rapture just shook her head in wonder. She knew what these things were, of course, for her kingdom was not entirely backward, but had never seen them so freely bestowed on the populace. They met the President of Uncle-Sugar-land and made their presentation. After he and his Cabinet Ministers had gazed at Rapture, they agreed that this was the diplomatic thing to do; they really needed that base, and it was only neighborly to make the loan. Of course they preferred that the loan be spent on goods produced by the loaning nation …"
Or Piers shouldn't write about other cultures like he shouldn't write about women. Might be that.
For all the books, the character is introduced, has a love interest gone awry, becomes the Incarnation, gets into a tiff with Satan, and defeats him in a fairly anticlimactic way after an extended challenge. This is no different, building the overall God vs. Satan storyline along.
I liked it better than Chronos, my least favorite of the series. (Also, the series has 7 books. I refuse to acknowledge the most recent addition.)
Rereading this series that I enjoyed a few decades ago, and... Yeah. Maybe sticking with how much I remembered enjoying it would have been better. I do recall really enjoying Satan's book - most likely the start of my fascination with morally ambiguous characters - and the rest of the series does lead there...
It's Piers Anthony, so women are described in a certain way: physically either stunning or older and frumpy. In this book, their purpose is to be wife or concubine, preferably incapable of functioning without a man.
Mym is from India, and despite the rest of the world being a wonderfully high tech mix of magic and science, India didn't get with the times:
"In due course they reached the fabulous West. Their plane landed at Washington, and they were met by a highlevel functionary with a limousine. They were set up in a fine hotel, where every room had scientifically heated water, electrical lights, and color television sets. Rapture just shook her head in wonder. She knew what these things were, of course, for her kingdom was not entirely backward, but had never seen them so freely bestowed on the populace. They met the President of Uncle-Sugar-land and made their presentation. After he and his Cabinet Ministers had gazed at Rapture, they agreed that this was the diplomatic thing to do; they really needed that base, and it was only neighborly to make the loan. Of course they preferred that the loan be spent on goods produced by the loaning nation …"
Or Piers shouldn't write about other cultures like he shouldn't write about women. Might be that.
For all the books, the character is introduced, has a love interest gone awry, becomes the Incarnation, gets into a tiff with Satan, and defeats him in a fairly anticlimactic way after an extended challenge. This is no different, building the overall God vs. Satan storyline along.
I liked it better than Chronos, my least favorite of the series. (Also, the series has 7 books. I refuse to acknowledge the most recent addition.)
January 13, 2026
I appreciated the diversity of this book, and enjoyed the intro. I found most of the book quite boring once the protagonist took on the office of Mars.
Way too much slut shaming and traditional gender role rhetoric.
Way too much slut shaming and traditional gender role rhetoric.
Read
December 24, 2022Mym is both an idiot and an asshole. Bad combo.
February 23, 2014
The first of the series shows Death as imperfect youth who grows into responsibility, eases pain and suffering. Likewise, War serves purposes in society. Groups, rather than teenage individuals, rebel and gain independence. Masculine aggressive hormones are channeled to larger goals. Remembered pluses bury under blather in re-read.
Mym stutters under dictator father Rajah, runs away. Orb sings, her suggestion stops his speech impediment. He falls in a forever-after kind of love, twice. Honeymoon Castle forces intimacy by shared thoughts with Princess Rapture. Father decides on a different political alliance, different princess. In berserker rage, Mym takes office of War. He faces zombies, Death Squads p 146, magic, technology, but always tries to minimize suffering and pain, against sidekicks Famine, Pestilence, Plague.
Satan sends demoness Lila (first of her kind) to divert Rapture away. How is moving in with John different from Purgatory "complete dependence" p 86? Princess Ligeia is so obviously a trap. How War gets around the regions of Hell and knows how and who to target for rebellion is never explained, though could be reasonably related to Sword abilities. This is sort of a maze, definitely another to reach Nature.
Mym stutters under dictator father Rajah, runs away. Orb sings, her suggestion stops his speech impediment. He falls in a forever-after kind of love, twice. Honeymoon Castle forces intimacy by shared thoughts with Princess Rapture. Father decides on a different political alliance, different princess. In berserker rage, Mym takes office of War. He faces zombies, Death Squads p 146, magic, technology, but always tries to minimize suffering and pain, against sidekicks Famine, Pestilence, Plague.
Satan sends demoness Lila (first of her kind) to divert Rapture away. How is moving in with John different from Purgatory "complete dependence" p 86? Princess Ligeia is so obviously a trap. How War gets around the regions of Hell and knows how and who to target for rebellion is never explained, though could be reasonably related to Sword abilities. This is sort of a maze, definitely another to reach Nature.
Read
March 13, 2011A 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 Incarnations book "With A Tangled Skein". It is soon uncovered that Mym is actually a prince and is soon taken away from his new found love by his dying father to take up the throne. Mym eventually, after some rebellion, falls in love with the princess Rapture who his father chose to be his arranged bride. Soon enough (although quite predictably) Mym is chosen to become Mars the Incarnation of War, with which he accepts as his oppinions of war are fairly strong. The author then takes us on a sombre and rather grisly realistic journey, showing war, both in Myms homeland and the rest of the world, from the heroisms to the heartbreaking tragedies of battle. The book is excellently written, and is a fantastic collaboration between real life and fantasy/fiction, bringing home the realities of life and humanity. Readers of the first three Incarnations books will enjoy this one as much as the others, and it keeps the story flowing so well that you can't wait to get your hands on the next one.
November 4, 2016
I've read this book a few times over the years, and I'll state the same thing at the beginning of reviewing all the I of I books: this is a re-read, and the first time reviewing the books. I'm reviewing all of the books after I finished re-reading the entire series, which I don't normally do & didn't do deliberately this time, either...
OK this is another one in the series I liked. Mym is a sexist jerk, but he's a product of his upbringing and Piers Anthony wrote him that way, so it's not Mym's fault he's a sexist jerk. Lots of icky sex, one sided flat female characters that are beautiful but breathtakingly stupid, but Mym's still a bit of a cool guy.
Orb is my favorite character in the series (as dumb as she's written for huge chunks of her storyline throughout the series), so I like this book mostly for the Orb sections. There's lots of racism/stereotypical garbage in the book to wade through, so as much as I do like this one, it still only gets a three star rating. It's starting to get harder and harder to wade through the series.
OK this is another one in the series I liked. Mym is a sexist jerk, but he's a product of his upbringing and Piers Anthony wrote him that way, so it's not Mym's fault he's a sexist jerk. Lots of icky sex, one sided flat female characters that are beautiful but breathtakingly stupid, but Mym's still a bit of a cool guy.
Orb is my favorite character in the series (as dumb as she's written for huge chunks of her storyline throughout the series), so I like this book mostly for the Orb sections. There's lots of racism/stereotypical garbage in the book to wade through, so as much as I do like this one, it still only gets a three star rating. It's starting to get harder and harder to wade through the series.
December 13, 2012
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 motivation for doing things and the reason he falls into traps, comes down to the fact that he lost his first love and is sexually frustrated and craves companionship. Not all that bad, except he gets annoyed when one of his lovers develops a mind of her own. How dare she!
But don't let Mym's attitude deter you. Piers Anthony is a very entertaining writer and very imaginative when it comes to his descriptions of Purgatory and Hell.
But don't let Mym's attitude deter you. Piers Anthony is a very entertaining writer and very imaginative when it comes to his descriptions of Purgatory and Hell.
December 11, 2010
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 Horse's treatment of the incarnation of death seemed an inventive fictive syncretism, combining disparate elements into a new and interesting modern mythology, this account of the lives and loves of the incarnation of war left me unpacified. It all just seemed so pointless and futile. Like war.
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 Horse's treatment of the incarnation of death seemed an inventive fictive syncretism, combining disparate elements into a new and interesting modern mythology, this account of the lives and loves of the incarnation of war left me unpacified. It all just seemed so pointless and futile. Like war.
October 16, 2020
I originally rated this 4 stars back when I first read it, but with many more years of reading behind me now, I realize this is actually the book in this series that I like the least. This one is about Mars, God of War. It's hard to reconcile a mortal who stutters becoming the God of War because he must sing his commands in order to make himself understood. Sorry, that's just rather odd and doesn't seem to fit the Incarnation. It is interesting, though, to see how his views on the necessity of war come to change as he becomes familiar with the office, and his interactions with Satan are also intriguing. Anthony is very prescient about the troubles of government, and a lot of what he wrote in this book, as well in others of the series, is still very relevant to today's situation. That said, it was still rather difficult to read!
June 11, 2019
Re-read 2018
Mim is a berserker who had to learn to overcome his stutter that his father shamed him for. Because he didn't want to live in his country or deal with his family any longer due to how they have treated him he leaves in the middle of the night and ends up doing menial work in a traveling circus. During that time he receives more help with his speech from a singer in the caravan, who he ends up falling in love with. Unfortunately, his fate takes him on a different path, and he eventually becomes the aspect of War. While not a favorite in the series, I enjoy Mim and his story and how it weaves into the tangle this series has among its main characters.
Mim is a berserker who had to learn to overcome his stutter that his father shamed him for. Because he didn't want to live in his country or deal with his family any longer due to how they have treated him he leaves in the middle of the night and ends up doing menial work in a traveling circus. During that time he receives more help with his speech from a singer in the caravan, who he ends up falling in love with. Unfortunately, his fate takes him on a different path, and he eventually becomes the aspect of War. While not a favorite in the series, I enjoy Mim and his story and how it weaves into the tangle this series has among its main characters.
October 24, 2010
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 with the series is simply failing, but the characters seemed rather empty.
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 with the series is simply failing, but the characters seemed rather empty.
April 3, 2016
I recently heard a fascinating "This American Life" segment that tangentially involved Piers Anthony. It piqued my curiosity so I randomly selected this novel from my library. The book was published in 1986 and by today's standards would be considered YA. I viewed the plot as Anthony placing some Reagan-era foreign policy hot spots against a standard fantasy tale with swords, apparitions and nymphs. If I read this when I was 15 I would have thought it was awesome; so you can say gaining context is both a blessing and a curse.
July 5, 2011
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.
April 19, 2008
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.
December 19, 2023
_______________________________________________
“Her heart raced with joy to sleep with War” ― Homer, The Odyssey
As for myself, the Incarnation of War in this 4th book in the series put me to sleep too. I am tired of the series, I suppose. It’s the same old plot over and over again.
“Her heart raced with joy to sleep with War” ― Homer, The Odyssey
As for myself, the Incarnation of War in this 4th book in the series put me to sleep too. I am tired of the series, I suppose. It’s the same old plot over and over again.
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