Monday, July 17, 2006
Anthony, Piers: On a Pale Horse
On and Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
ISBN: 0345305183

From the publisher:
The Man Who Murdered Death.

Shooting Death was a mistake, as Zane soon
discovered. For the man who killed the Incarnation of Death was immediately forced to assume the vacant position! Thereafter, he must speed over the world, riding his pale horse, and ending the lives of others.

Zane was forced to accept his unwelcome task, despite the rules that seemed woefully unfair. But then he found himself
being drawn into an evil plot of Satan. Already the Prince of Evil was forging a trap in which Zane must act to destroy Luna, the woman he loved.

He could see only one possible way to defeat the Father of Lies. It was unthinkable --- but he had no other solution!


On a Pale Horse is the first book that I have ever picked up by Piers Anthony, and frankly, a little hard to find! Even though Mr. Anthony is such a prolific author, the themes, characters and world of his Incarnations of Immortality do not lose texture and depth.

The book starts out with the the protagonist, Zane, rummaging around a gem shop, eventually trading his "love" for a wealthstone, meant to help him make his rent. Through a series of unfortunate circumstances, Zane finds himself face to face with Death, and decided to shoot Death instead of himself. This is where the book picks up, as Zane meets Fate, and assumes the office of Death, going around collecting the souls that hang in the balance of good and evil.

I loved the characters in this book. They were fantastic - fully alive and complicated. Their interactions were genuine and true to life. The world of OaPH is basically our world (from my opinion), but with magic included, as well as physical manifestations of Time, War, Fate, Death, Nature, as well as God and Satan. It all makes for very interesting interactions.

I looked into Mr. Anthony a slight bit, and can't believe how many books he has creditted to his name. I'll be the first to admit that he is no spring chicken, but he has got to have been churning them out about as quickly as, well, Terry Pratchett. His Xanth series is the only other series to even approach the Discworld series (Xanth has 31 books and counting, Pratchett must be up there somewhere, as well)! I like how simply his books are written. No big complicated sentences and paragraphs. No overly symbolic gestures. It's nice and simple, and easy to pick up. I don't feel overly daunted when I read it, but it's not complete fluff either.

This book would be appropriate for people from the age of about 13. There is mention of sex, and some sexual inuuendo, and the most graphic thing was that a lithe young woman walked into a room naked. Then she left. Not a lot of violence, but (obviously) a strong theme of death and dying. This book is NOT for people who have strong views on God and Satan and their relationship. If you are not willing to suspend belief to include religion, this book is not for you.

I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of this series. I fully enjoyed the first book and I am looking forward to finishing the tale, for surely it is not done here.


4 Comments:

Blogger Charlie said...

I have to say that I was a little dubious on reading the blurb but your review has intrigued me. Hmm, I wonder what his avaliability is in the UK? =)

Blogger Kait said...

I got the name off of some Top 100 Fantasy / Science Fiction book list. I was dubious too, but it was actually really good!

Have, own, and read the book several times.

You hit a great review!
^_^
Congrats on my behalf!

- Jonny, NW USA

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