The review by Kate: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/276144296#comment_list
captures my feelings perfectly -- loved this series as a youth, am appalled by the sexist stereotyping as an adult, prefer to remember it fondly and not re-experience it. Alas. ( )

I have always enjoyed Piers Anthony's books but I had never read this series. As a whole I quite enjoyed this series of books. I found the characters and story to be clever and interesting. It sort of reminded me of a more adult version of a Rick Riordan series of books. ( )

I wasn't sure when I started this one that I could get into it but somehow it caught me and I had to keep reading. Since this review is in 2018 and I first read the book in 1990 and then waited till 2007 for the final book in the series which I have not yet read but I do not like the blurb on the back. I really really hate when a blurb puts me off a book because I often find that, if I persevere and read it because it is part of a series, I often find I like the book and that the blurb really had little to do with the story. This particular book could have stood as the final book in the series. All the ends were tied up for the reader and really nothing else was needed. The entire series pleased me. ( )

I'm so glad this series is almost over...the first one was really good, and it has been nothing but a waste of time ever since. ( )

it took me 20 years to find a copy of this book... a virtual eternity. in the end, i found it a less than solid finish to a great fantasy series but still an enjoyable read from Anthony.

Orlene, Jolie, and a mortal girl named Vita (punch me in the metaphorical face, why doncha) must visit each Incarnation on a quest initiated by Nox -the eighth, eldest, and most mysterious Incarnation. in the end, a new Incarnation of Good (aka God) is installed and all is well with the world.

the story is a bit rushed and no time is devoted to describing the job of the Incarnation of Good as there was in all the other books. i wanted to see Anthony's perspective on how that Office would acquit itself. we did with all the rest, why not with this one? did he want THE office to remain aloof and mysterious? beyond the reach of mortal comprehension? then he shouldn't fill that office with a mortal. frankly, i think he didn't know quite how to do it and so relegated himself to a review of the previous books as though doing a new year's recap of events or a nostalgic farewell to all the characters we have come to know and love.

new definitions of good and evil are dealt with, too, albeit in a clumsy manner. others have mentioned Anthony's increasing predilection for describing underage sex in other books of his but to actually read it was somewhat disturbing. while the concept that maturity based on age is an illusion and arbitrarily defined by individual cultures might have merit, Anthony does not do well demonstrating it in this book: the relationship he sets forth as his prime example is simply not believable and feels like an excuse for him to write some soft core of his liking.

he also tackles the evolution vs. creation debate and utterly loses on this one attempting to walk an egalitarian line between them saying that they both are valid while completely neglecting epistemological understandings of the concept of "evidence" and "belief." reading the author's notes at the end of the book, however, added to my confusion because he states plainly that he is firmly in the scientific camp with evolution and sings the praises of Richard Dawkins's The Blind Watchmaker.

apart from these philosophical and moralistic concerns, the book is entertaining and engaging and does provide a way to say goodbye to the series even if it is a bit lacklustre in its method. ( )