Incarnations of Immortality Series

It's easier to write about a book series that I like than about just about anything else. The Incarnations of Immortality series is written by Piers Anthony, and was originally a five book series that dealt the the personifications of five fundamental forces in the universe: Death, Time, Fate, War and Nature. The antagonist of the first five books is Satan, another personification of a fundamental force, and the protagonists work for the cause of right, personified by God. What's interesting is that each book in the series tells a very similar story. The main character of the series is a girl named Luna, but interestingly enough, she is never the main character of any of the books. She is an important character in every book, but is never the main character, and the books never make the mistake of changing the perspective to her point of view.

The series was a hit back in the 80's (before I was doing any serious reading) and Anthony was persuaded by fans and publisher to finish off the series with two more books, that dealt with the personifications of Satan and God. Actually, book six, For Love of Evil, is my favorite book of the series, and one of my favorite books of all time. This book turns the whole series on its ear, and takes the simple formula of protagonist vs. Satan and complicates it up a lot, although this was hinted at in book five, Being a Green Mother. And Eternity, book seven finally wraps the story up and ties it together by exploring humanity's predisposition to vacillate between extremes, and righteously defend their position against anyone who disagrees with them. The whole book is dedicated to the thought that everyone could be wrong about everything they think they know, and only by finding out the truth for themselves will they be able to fix their problems. Just so you know I'm being purposefully vague here because I don't want to give any of the story away.

Here's where I would be done, but 17 years after And Eternity was written, Anthony capitulated to the desires of the fans again, and wrote an eighth book, Under a Velvet Cloak, which explores the much more complicated mythos of the Incarnation of Night, Nox. First, it's important to understand that Thanatos, Chronos, Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos, Mars, Gaea, Satan and God represent the major Incarnations of Day, and that the Incarnations of Night were never really explored, and barely mentioned other than as a mystery in the other books.

Where the Incarnations of Day seem to have a defined purpose, the purpose of the Incarnations of Night are nebulous at best. In all the books, each Incarnation is supreme in their own bailiwick. This theme seems to be climactic to each of the first five books, and also has an effect in the last 3, but to a lesser effect. The thing is, Nox doesn't start the story really know what her bailiwick actually is. Every other Incarnation has dealt with their interpretation of their office, but each has had some guidance. Nox doesn't and is left not to interpret her office, but to discover and define it, and she has no help doing it.

Also, Nox's story is much more centered around herself than any of the other stories, and it is a deviation from the rest of the series. She is a much different kind of Incarnation, and instead of working for the greater good as she understands it, she is more working for herself, and that seems to coincide with what is good. She has many character flaws that the other Incarnations don't possess, but this seems to be how the Incarnation of Night is supposed to be, so it's all good.

All in all, an excellent 8 book series. Most of these books can be found at your local used bookstore in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section. Under a Velvet Cloak however is published by Mundania Press, and can be purchased online at www.mundaniapress.com. Well worth the read.