Plot summary
In the seventh novel of the series, three women—the ghost of Jolie, the ghost of Orlene (daughter of Orb), and a fifteen-year-old drug-addicted prostitute named Vita—try to discover a way to restore the life of Orlene's baby, Gawain II, who had died as a result of a severe birth defect inflicted unknowingly by Gaea at the request of the child's ghost father Gawain. Nox, the mysterious Incarnation of Night, promises to help, but she needs a specific item of great value from each of the other Incarnations in order to resurrect the baby. The three women set out to meet with each of the other seven Incarnations of Day.
In the process of obtaining the items, they conclude that the definitions of Good and Evil used to classify souls as destined for Heaven and Hell are flawed. Orlene's soul had been denied access to Heaven because she committed suicide in a futile attempt to help her baby. Vita meets and comes under the protection of an older male judge; they fall in love and have sex, but this too is considered Evil, because Vita is below the legal age of consent. The three women eventually succeed in gaining the item from each one of the Incarnations, with the exception of God, the Incarnation of Good, who has become obsessed with his own greatness and is completely unresponsive to the outside world.
Reporting their discovery to the other Incarnations, they all conclude that God has been derelict in his duty and must be replaced so that the eventual triumph of Evil can be prevented. Luna Kaftan, now an influential Senator, begins a campaign to impeach God and declare the office of the Incarnation of Good vacant. Thus, the final conflict between Good and Evil becomes a political one, fought with words and votes in the halls of a legislature, and not by armies on a battlefield.
Despite Satan's efforts, Luna's campaign succeeds, and a mortal must now be chosen to become the new Incarnation of Good. However, the replacement must be selected by a unanimous vote of all the other Incarnations, including Satan himself—and why would the Incarnation of Evil approve a candidate who would effectively promote the cause of Good? Each Incarnation, in turn, nominates a mortal for the position. (Gaea's nominee happens to be the same judge that became Vita's lover.)
After all the other Incarnations make their suggestions, to their complete amazement, Satan nominates Orlene, whose soul had become exactly half evil as a result of choices none of the other Incarnations were willing to condemn. The other Incarnations immediately agree that Satan has made the best possible choice, and they unanimously declare Orlene to be the new Incarnation of Good.
Therefore, the girls find that Nox had set up the items from the other Incarnations to help Orlene take the place of God and in doing so, become God herself. In return, Orlene allows Nox to keep Gawain II as she will no longer be able to care for him and the child is content with the Incarnation of Night.
The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's stream of consciousness or identity continues to exist after the death of their physical body. The surviving essential aspect varies between belief systems; it may be some partial element, or the entire soul or spirit, which carries with it one's personal identity.
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of the devil can be summed up as 1) a principle of evil independent from God, 2) an aspect of God, 3) a created being turning evil, and 4) a symbol of human evil.
The Problem of Pain is a 1940 book on the problem of evil by C. S. Lewis, in which Lewis argues that human pain, animal pain, and hell are not sufficient reasons to reject belief in a good and powerful God.
Incarnations of Immortality is the name of an eight-book fantasy series by Piers Anthony. The books each focus on one of eight supernatural "offices" 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.
Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or occultism. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may be nonhuman, separable souls, or discarnate spirits which have never inhabited a body. A sharp distinction is often drawn between these two classes, notably by the Melanesians, several African groups, and others. The Islamic jinn, for example, are not reducible to modified human souls. At the same time these classes are frequently conceived as producing identical results, e.g. diseases.
Ghost Rider is the name of multiple superheroes or antiheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider.
Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan and Hellstorm, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Agency, in the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is "the privilege of choice which was introduced by God the Eternal Father to all of his spirit children in the premortal state". Mortal life is viewed as a test of faith, where our choices are central to the plan of salvation in Latter-day Saint teaching. "It was essential for their eternal progression that they be subjected to the influences of both good and evil". LDS Church members believe that Lucifer rebelled against the God's plan, which resulted in a war in heaven, and Lucifer being cast out of heaven and becoming Satan.
On a Pale Horse is a fantasy novel by Piers Anthony, first published in 1983. It is the first of eight books in the Incarnations of Immortality series. The book focuses on Zane, a photographer about to commit suicide who instead kills Death and must assume his office. The book spawned a five-issue comic series, released by Innovation Publishing from 1991 to 1993, but Innovation went out of business before releasing the sixth and final issue. It was also the inspiration for the television series, Dead Like Me, which worked on the premise that there are multiple Grim Reapers working the planet.
Takhisis is a fictional character from the Dragonlance universe. She is depicted as the main goddess of evil in the setting and head of the Dark Pantheon.
In Christian theology, the doctrine of incarnation teaches that the pre-existent divine person of Jesus Christ, God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, and the eternally begotten Logos, took upon human nature and "was made flesh" by being conceived in the womb of a woman, the Virgin Mary, also known as the Theotokos. The doctrine of the incarnation then entails that Jesus was at the same time both fully God and fully human.
Bearing an Hourglass is a fantasy novel by Piers Anthony. It is the second of eight books in the Incarnations of Immortality series.
With a Tangled Skein is a fantasy novel by Piers Anthony. It is the third of eight books in the Incarnations of Immortality series. In it, Niobe agrees to become one of the three aspects of the incarnation of Fate, in an attempt to thwart the plans of Satan.
Wielding a Red Sword is a fantasy novel by Piers Anthony. It is the fourth of eight books in the Incarnations of Immortality series.
Being a Green Mother is a fantasy novel by Piers Anthony. It is the fifth of eight books in the Incarnations of Immortality series. In it, Orb becomes the incarnation of Nature, in an attempt to thwart the plans of Satan.
For Love of Evil is a fantasy novel by Piers Anthony. It is the sixth of eight books in the Incarnations of Immortality series.
In Christianity, the Devil is the personification of evil. He is traditionally held to have rebelled against God in an attempt to become equal to God himself. He is depicted as a fallen angel, who was expelled from Heaven at the beginning of time, before God created the material world, and is in constant opposition to God. The devil is conjectured to be several other figures in the Bible including the serpent in the Garden of Eden, Lucifer, Satan, the tempter of the Gospels, Leviathan, and the dragon in the Book of Revelation.
Ghost Rider is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the second Marvel character to use the name Ghost Rider, following Carter Slade and preceding Daniel Ketch, Alejandra Jones, and Robbie Reyes. The character's story begins when motorcycle stuntman Johnny Blaze becomes bound to the Spirit of Vengeance Zarathos after making a deal with Mephisto to spare his surrogate father. With his supernatural powers, Johnny seeks vengeance as the "Ghost Rider".
Damned is a 2011 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. A sequel to the novel, Doomed, was released in 2013.
Passion is the third novel in the Fallen series written by Lauren Kate. It is a young adult, fantasy, paranormal romance published in 2011 under Delacorte Press. It continues the story of Lucinda Price who, at the end of Torment, decides to find out more about her past lives by stepping through an Announcer, ignoring Daniel's plea to stop. Daniel, a fallen angel, decides to follow her, promising to find and rescue her. Before Luce and Daniel met at Sword & Cross, before they fought the Immortals, they had already lived many lives. And so Luce, desperate to unlock the curse that condemns their love, must revisit her past incarnations in order to understand her fate. Each century, each life, holds a different clue. But Daniel is chasing her throughout the centuries before she has a chance to rewrite history.
