Double Exposure

Apprentice Adept #1-3

by Piers Anthony

Split Infinity, Blue Adept, and Juxtaposition in one book

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Young Adult

1082 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

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

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reviewing the whole Apprentice Adept series from Piers Anthony. But first, for those who care (and those who don't), I am going to explain how I use the star system (which may cause me to change some previous entries).

1 star: Ridiculous, did not even finish it. If this book and I met in a dark alley...oh, it better watch out.

2 star: Finished it, but only because I was tricked into thinking I was a pimply 14-year old and I had a paper due tomorrow. I .had to finish it?.

3 star: Finished, and pleased to finish. May include brain candy escapism, but rarely provokes any significant thought. I would recommend this book, if but only to a select audience. Plot may fit character needs instead of the reverse.

4 star: Well written, and contains a well-developed character set and plot. It goes deeper than three star in its attempt to create a world and/or fulfill a purpose.

5 Star: I am like Scrooge McDuck giving a penny to an orphan with these. Oddly enough, based on my system, some may appear better suited to have less stars, but because of some intangible force (namely, my opinion), it still may rank a 5.

The Apprentice Adept series gets a 4 because despite some weird things (I guess that is sort of the definition of fantasy...), the series has a web of intricate plot development reminiscent of Frank Herbert's Dune. Still, you kind of have to like sci-fi fantasy to continue through the series. There are a lot of predictable outcomes, but let's fact it, as humans, that's what we really prefer. There are plenty of twists that you don't see coming as well.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun, bold combination of sci-fi and fantasy, truly merging and playing them off of each other via a "portal between two worlds." It's literally two worlds, each fully committed to their concept which the main character (and others eventually) can cross over and interact with in various ways. It is also 80's sci-fi written by a man who loves to describe the breasts of every woman you meet in grand detail. Personally, I'm enough of a pervert that the loving descriptions of women's anatomy and the occasional eroticism of the world-building generally worked for me, but I think that aspect could be a big miss for certain audiences.

Though the story uses many classic tropes and features of the sci-fi and fantasy genres, it's the execution and combination that brings through creativity and excitement. The story was engaging, with some thoughtful strategies used throughout, and strong plotting. Again, the main thing I must caution any reader of is that the story is written by a man who would loves the idea of several women being madly, irrevocably in love with him, and many female characters' most important traits come down to their love for him, their desire for him, or their appearances. There are certainly cool women within the story, and the resolutions of certain feelings were executed in creative and satisfying ways, but I cannot emphasize enough how much this is threaded through the story and may turn off certain readers.

Fortunately for me, it toed a good line of being wish-fulfillment while ALSO being interesting and fun. It's the kind of book that's a little indulgent, just intellectual enough to make you feel smart while taking you on wild adventures through both science fiction and fantasy worlds. I sometimes rolled my eyes or was like "Well THAT'S awfully convenient", and I sent the bountiful breast descriptions to my friends for a chuckle, but I cannot deny that I was engaged and curious throughout.

[Heather Hancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this trilogy when I was in Grade 5 or 6. My Mom was a huge Piers Anthony fan and I fast became one as well. This series explores the Science ruled world of Proton and the Fantasy/Magic world of Phaze. It has a complex plot line that the author does a good job of developing. I have just re-read them at the age of 51 and I still love them. The only reason I didn't give it a 5 star rating is because I just learned that there are 4 more books that I haven't read. They are now on my reading list.

Any Sci-fi/Fantasy lover should read this series. It's written by one of the best in the genre.

[Andrea Gaines · Rating 5 out of 5]

This set of stories is phenomenal!
It gets a bit tangled up in the time scenarios, so you'll want to pay attention to the details!
Definitely an author that will challenge your imagination!
Not a good author to speed read, or browse, though if you want to be engaged in the story line, make sure you keep the books in proper sequence.
I have all of them and read them several times! There always seems to be a new nuance or detail I find each time.
The characters are intricately written and entertaining.
For Sci-fi buffs..try this Author! He won't disappoint!😁

[Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite series back in 6th and 7th grade as a nerdy teenager. It had plenty of wish-fulfillment elements, but I thought the basic idea of a science world (Proton) and fantasy world (Phaze) and the characters moving between them was pretty interesting. But as with all Piers Anthony's series, what starts out as charming soon gets recycled and extended to too many volumes for no reason other than to milk reader's for their money. In this case the first 3 from Del Rey were good enough but the final four with Ace just weren't necessary.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is awesome, written by Piers Anthony, whose Xanth series maybe the most ridiculous fantasy series ever. This sci-fi series has multiple dimensions and focuses on a planet that exists to mine the fuel for interstellar travel and for poeple to bet on sports and games. Games like rock-paper-scissors. Includes a high-stakes rock-paper-scissors match with play by play strategy exposition. Wait a minute, that doesn't sound better than Xanth after all, but it is, so much better.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

these books cleverly mix a world of futuristic technologies and politics with a world of fantasy and magic. (hence the title of the 3rd book, juxtaposition). they are really fun to read, i was never too much into fantasy but these books did it for me.

[Dad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this three series book. I went on to read the other as well.

[Wendy]

Again, series got bad after the fourth or so. I liked the cleverness of the games, but not interested in keeping these in my collection.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun series from the author of the Xanth books that does a great job of mixing science and magic, SF and F, in different realms. Highly enjoyable.

[John]

Contains the first three books of the Apprentice Adept series

[Geno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compilation of the first 3 books of what I just found out is now an 8 book series! I have read the 1st 7 of them, and I highly recommend them.

[Troy Erickson]

First three books in the Apprentice Adept series: Split Infinity, Blue Adept, & Juxtaposition.

[Matt Mansfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just had to buy a new version of this book as my old "book club" copy fell apart.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, in some ways dated, but remains entertaining.