Incarnations of Immortality

"Incarnations of Immortality" is the name of an eight-book fantasy series by Piers Anthony. The first seven books each focus on one of seven supernatural "offices" (Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature, Evil and Good) in a fictional reality and history parallel to ours, with the exception that society has advanced both magic and modern technology. The series covers the adventures and struggles of a group of humans, called "Incarnations", who hold these supernatural positions for a certain time.

Novels in this series

*"On a Pale Horse" (1983)
*"Bearing an Hourglass" (1984)
*"With a Tangled Skein" (1985)
*"Wielding a Red Sword" (1986)
*"Being a Green Mother" (1987)
*"For Love of Evil" (1988)
*"And Eternity" (1990)
*"Under a Velvet Cloak" (2007)

Themes

"Incarnations" uses its premise to ponder questions regarding the nature of life. As each character goes from a mortal life to the "office" of an Incarnation, they are forced to contemplate their actions on a daily basis. Each Incarnation may use their office, within limits, as they see fit. This system humanizes what would otherwise be impersonal forces, leading to both extensive considerations of the effects of the incarnation's work and the impact it has on humans.

Another humorous side of "Incarnations" is the portrayed magic/technology duality. Most series emphasize one or the other means of understanding and manipulating the world, but in "Incarnations" each method is equal in usefulness and respect. This leads to a number of amusing parallels, such as competition between automobile and magic-carpet manufacturers. By the future time period of Norton, magic is referred to as the Fifth Fundamental Force, with its own primary particle, the Magicon (similar to a graviton). A few other series have used the technology/magic combined motif, notably Apprentice Adept by Piers Anthony and Four Lords of the Diamond by Jack Chalker.

Anthony uses the number five extensively, often with things that exist in fours in our world. The five Incarnations are associated with the five elements (Death with Earth, Fate with Water, War with Fire, Nature with Air, and Time with Void), and often other items with fives (the previously mentioned "Book of Five Rings"). There are five fundamental interactions, magic being the fifth. The Llano consists of five songs. In "On a Pale Horse", Gaea teaches Zane five patterns of thought, each represented by diagrams of five short lines.

A fourth theme of "Incarnations" is the multigenerational human story between the Incarnations. Previous characters repeatedly appear in later novels, and by the final novel, every major character is related by blood, marriage, or affair. See the family tree below.

Characters

See Characters from the Incarnations of Immortality for a detailed biography of the characters in the "Incarnations of Immortality" series.

Family tree

familytree | CED |~|y|~|~|~| NIO |~|y|~| PAC |~|y|~| BLA |CED=Cedric|NIO=Niobe
(Fate)|PAC=Pacian|BLA=Blanche
boxstyle_ NIO =background-color: #ccc;familytree | | | | |!| MYM |~|y|~| ORB |~| PAR |!| | | | |ORB=Orb
(Nature)|PAR=Parry
(Evil)|MYM=Mym
(War)
boxstyle_ ORB =background-color: #cfc;
boxstyle_ PAR =background-color: #fcf;
boxstyle_ MYM =background-color: #fcc;familytree | | | | |!| GAW |~| ORL |~|y|~| NOR |!| | | | |ORL=Orlene
(Good)|NOR=Norton
(Time)|GAW=Gawain
boxstyle_ ORL =background-color: #cff;
boxstyle_ NOR =background-color: #ccf;familytree | | | | | | | | | | | LUN |~| ZAN | | | | | | |LUN=Luna|ZAN=Zane
(Death)
boxstyle_ ZAN =background-color: #ffc;

Note: Colors for each of the Incarnations used are from the covers of their respective books.
Note: Gawain II was conceived by Norton and Orlene, but has Gawain's genetic material instead of Norton's (a favor performed by Gaea)

Relationships:

* Zane (Thanatos, the Incarnation of Death) is the lover and protector of Luna Kaftan (Niobe's granddaughter).
* Norton (Chronos, the Incarnation of Time) is the lover of Orlene (who becomes Goddess) as well as the lover of Clotho.
* Niobe (Clotho, and later Lachesis, Aspects of the Incarnation of Fate) is Orb's (Gaea) mother, and grandmother to Luna (Death's wife), and Orlene (Goddess). She is also lover to Chronos.
* Mym (Mars, the Incarnation of War) is father to Orlene (Goddess).
* Orb (Gaea, Mother Nature) is mother to Orlene (Goddess).
* Parry (Satan, the Incarnation of Evil) is married to Orb (Mother Nature), and stepfather to Orlene (Goddess).
* Orlene (Goddess, the Incarnation of Good) is Nature's daughter, War's daughter, Fate's granddaughter, Time's lover and mother to his biological son (prior to either of them taking their office), Evil's stepdaughter, and Death's wife's cousin.

It is interesting to note that, when the male Incarnations leave their offices (with the exception of Chronos (Norton)), they die and go to either Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory, while the female Incarnations return to life as an ordinary mortal. (The fate of a former Incarnation of Good is never mentioned, while the Incarnation of Night has apparently never been replaced.) However, it is noted in "And Eternity" that the gender of any officeholder is merely traditional, and not set in stone (Fate has a male aspect, and Good is replaced by a woman).

In light of the new storyline in "Under a Velvet Cloak", we must put Karene (Nox) into this picture. Read the beginning of the book. The hint is only mentioned once. Karene's sister, whom she was always jealous of, is the beginning of Niobe's line. So, not only is Karene (Incarnation of Night) the ancestor of Gawain (Orlene's ghost husband), she is also the great-aunt (many times removed) to Niobe, her children and grandchildren.

Lesser Incarnations

*Hypnos - Incarnation of Sleep
*Eros - Incarnation of Love (Serves Nature)
*Hope - Incarnation of Hope (Serves Nature)
*JHVH - Incarnation of Jewish Faith (assumed to be Jehovah)
*Phobos & Deimos - Although these are named after the moons of the planet Mars, these lesser Incarnations act as assistant to Gaea (Nature). Their functions are not explained in the books (although Phobos is presumed to be fear).

Lesser Incarnations serving War/Mars

*Pestilence - disease in general, but especially consistent with the aftermath of battles.
*Conquest - manager of individual battles
*Famine - starvation consistent with battles (although this incarnation has served Death/Thanatos on at least one occasion)
*Slaughter - a representation of the bloodshed associated with battles

Cultural references

*The Showtime series "Dead Like Me" was loosely based on the book "On a Pale Horse". [cite web
url = http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:289033
title = All Movie Guide: Dead Like Me
accessmonthday = July 8
accessyear = 2006
author = Hal Erickson
last = Erickson
first = Hal
publisher = All Movie Guide]
*Disney sold the TV rights to "On A Pale Horse" to Touchstone/ABC. They are filming a pilot program, which (if it works out) may lead to a series and potentially a movie. [ [http://www.hipiers.com/07april.html Piers Anthony's Newsletter ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.hipiers.com Official Piers Anthony Website]
* [http://www.piers-anthony.com/complist.html The Compleat Piers Anthony]
* [http://www.spundreams.net/~phoenix/IoIChron.html Incarnations of Immortality Timeline]