Under a Velvet Cloak by Piers Anthony

Rating: 1.0

What it's about:
The eighth book in Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series. It is the year 500 AD. Kerena, a beautiful young girl living near King Arthur's Camelot, is apprenticed to Morely the Seer. Morely teaches her fantastic magic, but when he mysteriously disappears, Kerena finds herself out on the street and must resort to prostitution to survive. Kerena prospers as a skilled courtesan until she is taken into service by Morgan le Fey, the sorceress sister of King Arthur. Kerena's knowledge of magic grows as she is required to carry out nefarious deeds for the evil Lady Fey. One of her missions is to seduce Sir Gawain, Knight of the Round Table, to prevent him from locating the Holy Grail. But Gawain and Kerena fall in love and she conceives his child, a child she discovers is cursed to die an early death. Using her Seer abilities, Kerena tries to locate the fabled Incarnations of Immortality, seeking their aid in removing the taint from her baby. Rebuffed by all seven major Incarnations, Kerena vows revenge. But revenge against such mighty immortals would require an even greater power... -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
This book is terrible! It's book eight in the Incarnations of Immortality series and hopefully the last. It's definitely the last for me! I loved the first book in the series, On a Pale Horse, but then the books went downhill from there. In Under a Velvet Cloak, the author is entirely too preoccupied with sex. Sure, sex can be good in a story but not when it's in every other paragraph (unless the story is written as erotica of course). It's distracting and detracts from the story line, what little there is of one. And it's not even good sex. It's laughable how corny his descriptions are! And then there is the matter of one of the "good" guys who likes having sex with little boys between the ages of six and eight. How can Piers Anthony write in this character as a hero? He should have been the villain in my opinion. Do yourself a favor and read the first book in the series and stop there.

And Eternity by Piers Anthony

Rating: 3.0

What it's about:

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.

My thoughts:

And Eternity is book seven of the Incarnations of Immortality series. It was okay but nothing spectacular. With the premise of the book being the take over of the office of god I guess I was expecting something a little more dazzling. Overall the book (and much of the series) was pretty boring. That's not to say that it didn't have some coolness about it though. There were some interesting characters and situations but I have to say I'm looking forward to the end of this series.

For Love of Evil by Piers Anthony

Rating: 3.0

What it's about:

The Man Who Would Be Satan

Parry was a gifted musician and an apprentice in the arts of White Magic. But his life of sweet promise went disastrously awry following the sudden, violent death of his beloved Jolie.

Led down the twisted path of wickedness and depravity by Lilah the harlot demoness, Parry thrived -- first as a sorceror, then as a monk, and finally as a feared inquisitor.

But it wasn't until his mortal flame was extinguished that Parry found his true calling -- as the Incarnation of Evil. And, at the gates of Hell, he prepared to wage war on the master himself -- Lucifer, the dark lord -- with dominion over the infernal realms the ultimate prize! -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:

For Love of Evil is the sixth installment of Incarnation of Immortality series. It's definitely not one of the better ones. It deals with the Incarnation of Evil starting from when he was a mortal man named Parry. When Parry becomes the new master of Hell, he finds his true calling as Satan. The novel is a little repetitious as it goes over some of the same events that happened in the earlier novels. We do get a different perspective at least, that of Satan. And the Satan in For Love of Evil is a pretty likable guy. This book has romance (lots of it), adventure, action and loads of craziness. Overall though I'd have to say it was pretty boring. Hopefully the next book in the series will be a little more interesting.

Wielding a Red Sword by Piers Anthony

Rating: 3.5

What it's about:
Mym was a dutiful son, but rather than agree to his father's choice for his marriage, he took up the Red Sword, symbol of office of the Incarnation of War, in order to ameliorate some of the suffering caused by Earth's constant petty wars. But Mym discovered that Satan was waiting to trap him, and he must now take desperate measures to outwit the evil genius who aimed to destroy the world.... -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
Wielding a Red Sword is the fourth installment in the Incarnations of Immortality series. It centers around Mars, the incarnation of War. The setup is similar to the other books in the series in that the plot leads up to the final engagement between Mars and Satan....a showdown of sorts. The thing about these books is that they feel thrown together. It reads like Anthony made the story up as he went along, and that's fine except that the story has the feel of a rough draft. It was interesting in parts though and a quick read. The first book in the series, On a Pale Horse, is by far the best.

With a Tangled Skein by Piers Anthony

Rating: 3.0

What it's about:
When the man Niobe loved was shot, she learned that she had been the target, in a devious plot of the Devil's. Hoping for revenge, she discovered, too late, how intricate his scheming was, and that he had managed to trap her son and her granddaughter, Luna. Niobe's only chance to save them was to accept a challenge by the Prince of Deceit—a challenge to be decided in Hell and in a maze of Satan's devising! -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
This is book number three in the Piers Anthony Incarnations of Immortality series. While I wasn't as into this one as much as the previous two, it was a decent diversion. With a Tangled Skein covers the aspect of Fate. Fate is embodied by three incarnations: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. Fate has to outsmart Satan in his plot for world domination and keep the door open for her granddaughter Luna to become the savior of man. This book is high on humor but the story line just seemed kind of lacking. It felt thrown together. I am curious to see if the rest of the series continues to go downhill or if it gets better.

Bearing an Hourglass by Piers Anthony

Rating: 4.0

What it's about:
When life seemed pointless to Norton, he accepted the position as the Incarnation of Time, even though it meant living backward from present to past. The other seemingly all-powerful incantations of Immortality—Death, Fate, War, and Nature—made him welcome. Even Satan greeted him with gifts. But he soon discovered that the gifts were cunning traps and he had become enmeshed in a complex scheme of the Evil One to destroy all that was good....
-taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
Bearing an Hourglass is the second book in the Piers Anthony Incarnations of Immortality series. Norton, the main character, takes on the office of Time. Once he bears the hourglass and assumes office, his life moves backward from everyone else. The concept is a little hard to grasp at first but before too long I was able to follow and understand how it all worked. Norton's task as Time in this book is to make sure Luna (from the first book) is elected into the Senate because she will sometime in the future need to foil Satan's plot to take over world power. The Father of Lies tries to distract Norton with trips to other planetary systems, dragons, fair maidens, BEM's (bug eyed monsters), an evil sorceress and even an eviler sorceress. Will Norton succeed in hindering Satan's evil plans? Will he ever get over the loss of his true love Orlene? And what is reality anyway? Bearing an Hourglass is more of a fun book and the subject matter not as deep as in the first book, On a Pale Horse. This is a light mix of science fiction and fantasy with a very enjoyable result.

On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
When Zane shot Death, he learned, too late, that he would have to assume his place, speeding over the world riding his pale horse, and ending the lives of others. Sooner than he would have thought possible, Zane found himself being drawn to Satan's plot. Already the Prince of Evil was forging a trap in which Zane must act to destroy Luna, the woman he loved...unless he could discover the only way out....
The first novel of the INCARNATIONS OF IMMORATLITY series. - from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
On a Pale Horse is like no other book I've read. It is mostly open dialogue. Most books have have a balance of sorts between open dialogue, internal dialogue like thoughts and feelings, and descriptives of people and places. On a Pale Horse is mostly the former. It gets where it wants to go through conversations and discussions.

This novel is all about death and what it means to die. After Zane kills the Grim Reaper, he must replace him as the incarnation of Death. Now Zane's job is to go around the world on his pale horse Mortis, taking the souls of dying people who are balanced between good and evil. He then has to read the soul to figure out if it's good enough for Heaven or if it is too corrupt and must suffer eternity in Hell. If you are an atheist and don't believe in an afterlife (like the author Piers Anthony) then upon death you just cease to exist. Along the way, Zane meets with all kinds of dying people in all kinds of circumstances. Through discussions between Zane and his "clients", some pretty profound subject matter is considered. Take for instance Zane's discussion with the atheist. Zane asked the atheist if he is afraid of dying knowing that he will cease to exist. Here is the atheist's response: "I have no terror of the nonexistence before I was conceived; why should I fear the nonexistence after I die?" Other issues Zane has to weigh are incest, human euthanasia, suicide and more. Zane learns that to die is not something to be feared. It can be a beautiful end of pain and suffering. Throughout the novel, Death meets the other Incarnations: Time, Fate, War and Nature. He also meets Satan and takes an interesting tour of Hell. On a Pale Horse is not always deep conversation, it has it's funny moments too. The (sometimes) beautiful Luna brings romance to the story as well.

For a book concerning itself with the afterlife, On a Pale Horse does not concern itself with religion of any kind. It deals solely with morality and mortality. If you are interested in ethics and ethos then I highly recommend On a Pale Horse. It's the first Piers Anthony book I've read but I guarantee it won't be the last!