Incarnations of Immortality

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Incarnations of Immortality is an eight-book fantasy series by Piers Anthony. The books each focus on one of eight supernatural "offices" (Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature, Evil, Good, and Night) 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.

Contents

The title alludes to William Wordsworth's 1804 poem "Ode: Intimations of Immortality". [1]

Bibliography

Characters

Family tree

Cedric Niobe
(Fate)
Pacian Blanche
Mym
(War)
Orb
(Nature)
Parry
(Evil)
Gawain Orlene
(Good)
Norton
(Time)
Gawain II
Magician (Cedric Jr.) Blenda
Luna Zane
(Death)

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:

In "Under a Velvet Cloak", Kerena (Nox, Incarnation of Night) is the lover of the original Sir Gawain, Knight of the Round Table, and mother of the original Gawain (Gaw-Two) who was tainted at birth and destined to die early. Kerena's quest to save Gaw-Two is what eventually leads her to become Nox, the Incarnation of Night and Keeper of Secrets. Gawain (Orlene's ghost husband) is the direct descendant of Sir Gawain, and carries the family taint, so the second Gaw-Two, born to Orlene and Ghost Gawain, is also tainted and destined to die early. Nox is also the great-aunt (many times removed) to Niobe and her children and grandchildren.

Lesser Incarnations

Lesser Incarnations serving Nature/Gaea

  • Eros: Incarnation of Love
  • Hope: Incarnation of Hope
  • Phobos & Deimos: Named after the Greek gods of fear and panic. These lesser Incarnations act as assistants to Gaea (Nature). Their functions are not explained in the books (although presumably they have similar natures to their Greek equivalents).

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
  • The essentials formed a covenant

Cultural references

References

  1. Anthony, Piers (1984). On a Pale Horse (1st Mass Market ed.). New York: Ballantine/Del Rey. p. 306. ISBN   0345338588.
  2. Erickson, Hal. "Dead Like Me: Overview: Synopsis by Hal Erickson". AllMovie . Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  3. Anthony, Piers (April 2007). "Ogre's Den: Apull 2007". HiPiers.com. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  4. "Downloads – THE GRILLO-MARXUACH EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN BUREAU". Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.