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On a Pale Horse (Incarnations of…
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On a Pale Horse (Incarnations of Immortality, Bk. 1) (edition 1986)

by Piers Anthony

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
5,045922,148 (3.83)89
Fantasy. Fiction. Science Fiction. Thriller. HTML:In this first novel of the Incarnations of Immortality, Piers Anthony combines a gripping story of romance and conflicting loyalties with a deeply moving examination of the meaning of life and death. This is a novel that will long linger in the reader's mind.
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 unthinkableâ??but he had no other solutio
… (more)
Member:majjacsobe
Title:On a Pale Horse (Incarnations of Immortality, Bk. 1)
Authors:Piers Anthony
Info:Del Rey (1986), Mass Market Paperback, 336 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
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On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony

  1. 40
    Mort by Terry Pratchett (ijustgetbored)
    ijustgetbored: Similar theme (Death takes on an apprentice): very funny, and not a bad place to enter Pratchett's Discworld series, if you've never encountered it before.
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English (90)  Italian (1)  French (1)  All languages (92)
Showing 1-5 of 90 (next | show all)
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. ( )
  jennybeast | Mar 1, 2024 |
The 1-star is there only because I can't rate it a zero. Oh my goodness this is one of the worst books & biggest letdown in ages. Some truly AWFUL sexism that makes you go - WTF? And then go throw up - constantly. And beyond that the pretty cool premise gets totally ruined by the obvious fixation of Christian theology. I could go on and on, but you get the point. Truly a terrible book and wasted potential. Leave it alone. ( )
  dond_ashall | Feb 7, 2024 |
Re read after like 20 years and still enjoyed it. Am re reading as I haven't read the full series, and will this time. Thank you Kindle :-) ( )
  Zehava42 | Jan 23, 2024 |
What can I say? This was an absolutely appallingly bad book. I'm new to fantasy, and was really excited for this series. By five pages in, I was regretting that decision. By page thirty, I was openly laughing.

There's an interesting idea at play here (more interesting in 1983, I daresay, than in our world where "guy becomes Death" has been done to, well, death). But unfortunately, I'd assumed this was adult fantasy, whereas this is written like a youth book - in fact the prose reminds me specifically of the lesser "Choose Your Own Adventure" works. Zane, the central character, has the thought processes of a 13-year-old boy, and as a result, we're punished by having to endure every single mundane thought he has. (Without a trace of irony, one line of narrative voice says "This was unreal!")

It's clear that Piers Anthony has a lot of good ideas but has no way of expressing them. At one point, he describes a watch: "It was mechanical, but had a way of magic about it". Describe how Zane could sense this magic, Mr. Anthony. Or show us some glimmer or spectral presence, rather than just tell us that. This is fifth-grade writing at best. The world Zane inhabits, similarly, is not in the least appealing. Winged horses in this world? Are known as "air-horses". It's like a bad "Futurama" parody. (Note to Mr. Anthony: we didn't call aeroplanes "air-cars", nor did we call cars "metal-horses". This is not how the world works.)

Perhaps if I'd got further into the book, this would have been revealed as an elaborate literary device to show us Zane's simplistic surfer dude brain patterns, but somehow I doubt it. I'd only recommend this to fifth-graders, but even then, I'm sure they can find something better to read. ( )
  therebelprince | Oct 24, 2023 |
Tedious ( )
  finlaaaay | Aug 1, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 90 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (4 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Anthony, Piersprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Campiti, DavidAuthormain authorall editionsconfirmed
Crisp, StevenCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Whelan, MichaelCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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"Death," the proprietor said clearly, showing the stone.
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Fantasy. Fiction. Science Fiction. Thriller. HTML:In this first novel of the Incarnations of Immortality, Piers Anthony combines a gripping story of romance and conflicting loyalties with a deeply moving examination of the meaning of life and death. This is a novel that will long linger in the reader's mind.
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 unthinkableâ??but he had no other solutio

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Book description
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!
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Average: (3.83)
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