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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780380752867
ISBN number: 0380752867
Label: Eos
Manufacturer: Eos
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: February 01, 1991
Publishing house: Eos
Release Date: February 01, 1991
Sale Popularity Level: 46515
Studio: Eos
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
In Pursuit of the Ultimate Good
After an overwhelming succession of tragedies, life has finally, mercifully ended for Orlene, once-mortal daughter of Gaea.
Joined in Afterlife by Jolie -- her protector and the sometime consort of Satan himself -- together they seek out a third: Vita, a very contemporary mortal with troubles, attractions, and an unsettling moral code uniquely her own.
An extraordinary triumvirate, they embark on a great quest to reawaken the Incarnation of Good in a world where evil reigns -- facing challenges that will test the very fiber of their beings with trials as numerous, as mysterious, and as devastating as the Incarnations themselves.
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Rated by buyers 
-
I've left a review for the audio version, but couldn't resist commenting on the actual story.
This book ties up the original "Incarnations of Immortality" series (I haven't read the 2007 addition). Loose ends are tied up, new characters are presented, and a (kinda) grand finale is reached. As a stand alone story, this book is sufficient entertainment; as a conclusion to the series, it is somewhat lacking.
Here are my nitpicks for the book as a self-contained novel:
* There is too much over-explaining. In a span of 30 pages, we are reminded three time that ______ is offspring to ______ and _______. We get it! As a reader, I don't need to see Jolie reiterate this (in secret, no less!) to the various supporting characters. It's akin to a filmmaker who chooses to shoot an actor's hand on a doorknob to show how he's entered the room. We get it!
* There is wayyyy too much over-rationalization. There is a pedophiliac affair in this book, and we are treated to eleven separate "reminders" that said character is involved in such a situation. As these reminders occur, the older man is slowly looked upon as pitiable, maybe even blameless. At the end of the book, he is somewhat absolved for his "sin." Personally, the fact that the book features a pedophile didn't dissuade me from continuing and enjoying the story--but the plot device annoyed me intensely! It came off as Anthony trying to get me to forgive some fetish he feels guilty for having, while I have no interest in judging him for it. I want STORY.
* The nymphet's attitude towards sex could have been more believable if it had not been a part of this horrid plot device of absolution for Anthony.
* There comes a point where the naive "nymphet" defends the idea of evolution. The language and structure she uses is quite a stretch for her character. It came off as contextually unbeleivable. For the very first time after having read six "Incarnation" novels, I felt my intelligence mocked (and this is after "Green Mother's" flying frog).
Here are my qualms as a bookend to the Incarnations series:
* The addition to Norton/Chronos' backstory truly bothered me. Anthony probably didn't plan out the entire series in advance, but it felt *wrong* to read new situations that were not mentioned in "Bearing an Hourglass" or "Tangled Skein."
* There is no true telling of in-office responsibilities or reactions as they apply to God. None whatsoever. We are treated to the malady, the chase, and never get to see the cure. Indeed, I loved the journey undertaken by the three characters but monstrously desired to see what the office of Good was like. Readers get none of this. And wasn't this the great part about reading the early Incarnation books???
So there you have it. Not bad, but not completely good. I wanted to write a positive review, but the more I think about it, the more I feel cheated somehow.
For those of you who read the series, I think reading this book was like eating the food in purgatory. Non-nutritious, unsatisfying, and you ultimately do it out of habit.
Rated by buyers 
-
General series popcorn reading -- usually light stuff, not much strain
on the brain, as some small band wanders between supernatural A to B to
so forth for about 300 pages with each dialogue or event dragged out
for several pages.
Eh, some people obviously like it. His publisher obviously waves money
and when he's got no other idea he can still make a mint and make many
fans happy just to crank out another one. But for me only the very first ones
in each of his series (Spell For Chamelon or On A Pale Horse) are a new
idea decently done. By the time he gets to volume 7 it's just mechanical
and making the Star Trek log 99 look good.
Bottom line, the dialogs are dragged out, the melodrama is hyped, the heroine is said (over and over) to have suffered and worked so hard
she deserves miracles for having done about 4 days elapsed in talking to folks and occasionally having sex ... umm, if it didn't keep reminding
reminding me she was suffering I'd have thought only I was.
Will give it 2 stars, because I did get through it and he does have
workmanlike pacing and consistent logic. Then dumping it in the bin.
Rated by buyers -
To sum up the entire Incarnations series: good premise; poor delivery.
The basic concept is great; have normal mortal people become temporary immortals in order to fulfill the job duties of each "office" (death, time, fate, war, nature, good, evil). The offices are unknown to ordinary people; they don't even know they exist. Piers Anthony does an excellent job of establishing the mechanics of how such a bureaucracy operates, and how the different offices interact with and affect one another. Each book has its share of wit and humor, and is interesting and thought provoking in its own unique way.
These are the strengths of the Incarnations books; now for the one weakness. Every book in this series suffers from what I call the "Piers Anthony Puppeteer Effect" - an anomaly where all the main characters are basically Piers Anthony himself disguised by a background story. I must admit I have not read any other books by Piers Anthony, so maybe this is true for all his books, and maybe some people like this type of characterization. I just found it hard to believe that characters of such widely varying ages, sexes, cultures, countries, ethnic backgrounds, time periods (modern to medieval), etc, all have the same thought processes, outlooks, speech patterns, etc. In other words, the characters behave too much alike to be believable.
For example, in this book (And Eternity), we are introduced to a teenaged girl named Vita. She is a drug addict and prostitute in a desperate situation, yet she thinks and acts in a far too sophisticated manner. As the story unfolds, Vita "shares" her body with two ghosts: Orlene, a modern-day mature woman; and Jolie, a medieval peasant from France. Because all three share basically the same perspective, there is really no way to distinguish between them, other than by remembering that Vita is sort of a nymphomaniac, Orlene is on a quest after killing herself, and Jolie is the "responsible one."
Basically, you can substitute any mortal officeholder for another in any of the books and the story wouldn't change significantly, because all the characters are just puppets through which Piers Anthony speaks. And all of them use the word "balk." Couldn't ONE, just ONE character in any of the books use the word stop?... prevent?... block?... ANYTHING else besides balk? As I read through the series it got to the point where I would groan out loud every time any character used the word balk. It became very distracting, and actually led to my discovery of the "puppeteer effect." Maybe a drinking game for every time the word balk is used?
So, overall, I give the series 3 stars - the average of 5 stars for concept, 1 for the one-dimensional characters.
Rated by buyers -
Subtle racism, a completely predictable "twist" ending, and a supposed reconciliation between evolution and creationism that somehow manages to be equally ignorant of, and insulting to, both sides. While it does finally wrap up the plot line established in the other books, it does so with Anthony's typically terrible writing and a plot that is as convoluted and yet as boring as it could possibly be. Someone should write a Cliff Notes version of this book to spare the other poor suckers out there the necessity of having to read through it to obtain some closure.
Rated by buyers -
God is bloody slack.
It appears that the Incarnation of Good is not doing his job properly. When a descendant of one of the other characters in the series finds out her kid is on a trip to Hell, she decides the whole thing is flawed.
With a few others, she decides to do something about it.
Easily the worst of this series, as the Incarnation basically is non-existent. He also appears to be doing sweet FA, so a movement starts for impeachment to get rid of him.
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