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noszeltov's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting take on death. Being written in 1982, the story shows its age in spots, but not so much to its detriment. Zane shows solid growth through the course of the tale, which is something I always enjoy in a good story. First book in a series, so I expect I'll explore the next book soon!
fwog19's review against another edition
3.0
This book was one I first read back in high school at the recommendation from a weirdo in my biology class that is now my husband. (Go figure.) It's a good thing that things didn't hinge completely on this book because had I read it NOW and based things on just the book, we probably wouldn't have gotten married. ;)
Honestly, it was still a good book. I still love the series. Looking at it through adult eyes instead of bored teenager eyes brings a whole new light to it, though. For example, I didn't realize back then how much of an idiot Zane was for most of the book. "The Father of Lies didn't tell me the truth?! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!" Really, dude? Really?
I think knowing how the rest of the series goes helped keep my enjoyment of the book up. By itself it's just meh. Zane is still not the brightest, but you can tell that he's learning throughout the book and that saves me from wanting to smack him too badly. Now, on to the rest of the series to see how much they've changed from when I was a teenager. ;)
Honestly, it was still a good book. I still love the series. Looking at it through adult eyes instead of bored teenager eyes brings a whole new light to it, though. For example, I didn't realize back then how much of an idiot Zane was for most of the book. "The Father of Lies didn't tell me the truth?! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!" Really, dude? Really?
I think knowing how the rest of the series goes helped keep my enjoyment of the book up. By itself it's just meh. Zane is still not the brightest, but you can tell that he's learning throughout the book and that saves me from wanting to smack him too badly. Now, on to the rest of the series to see how much they've changed from when I was a teenager. ;)
carlylottsofbookz's review against another edition
4.0
The premise of this book is amazing: Death is a job/role/office staffed by a person (the book only mentioned men, but I don't see why it couldn't be a woman). So if you kill Death, before he kills you--bam! You got yourself a new job...as Death.
You can imagine this requires quite a bit on the job training, but you will have some help--Mortis, your trustee Deathsteed (who has modernized with the times and can transform into the fastest car ever--which is totally necessary when rushing the globe collecting souls on a bit of a time crunch), as well as his fellow Incarnations of Nature, Chronos, Mars (War), and Fate.
All is well, Zane Is learning his craft when something unusual happens...he falls in love with a woman who the Devil has slated to die (since it has been seen that she will cost him tons of souls down the road). What is Death to do? He can't possibly take her soul, but if he doesn't take hers, he can't take any--he goes on strike until the issue can be resolved by a panel. (Turns out this whole, life/death/heaven/hell thing is very much a bureaucracy.)
Good stuff this book!
You can imagine this requires quite a bit on the job training, but you will have some help--Mortis, your trustee Deathsteed (who has modernized with the times and can transform into the fastest car ever--which is totally necessary when rushing the globe collecting souls on a bit of a time crunch), as well as his fellow Incarnations of Nature, Chronos, Mars (War), and Fate.
All is well, Zane Is learning his craft when something unusual happens...he falls in love with a woman who the Devil has slated to die (since it has been seen that she will cost him tons of souls down the road). What is Death to do? He can't possibly take her soul, but if he doesn't take hers, he can't take any--he goes on strike until the issue can be resolved by a panel. (Turns out this whole, life/death/heaven/hell thing is very much a bureaucracy.)
Good stuff this book!
handahbear's review against another edition
Part of me thinks it's a little silly to post a review of a book written 35 years ago, but I have thoughts about this one, so let's get into it.
I didn't rate this book. I couldn't rate it, in large part because none of the ratings felt like they would be accurate. I didn't want to one star it, because there were parts of the world that I liked a lot, but I didn't know how many stars I could give it in good conscience, because it felt disingenuous to ignore all of the things that bothered me about the book. I read it on a recommendation from a friend, who had enjoyed the series when they were a teen, but who didn't remember specifics about the books. I don't regret reading this one, and I'm considering reading the rest because the universe it's set in is interesting and fun to read, but I'm torn for a number of reasons.
I always like to start off with the good: I love the idea of Death being an office that's passed along to different human people, each with their own foibles and personal philosophies about death and dying. I loved Mortis, he has a great personality for a car/horse/airplane/mode of transportation. I especially loved the computer in Purgatory, who reminded me a bit of Marvin, the Paranoid Android. I didn't mind the final confrontation, I thought the logic was really circular but ultimately clever enough to work out, and I liked that Zane's biggest strength as Death was his ability to feel compassion* towards to souls he collected.
*I mean....mostly, anyway. Like a solid 90%, so I'll give it to him.
My friend did give me the huge caveat that this book is, at the end of the day, SFF that was written in the 80s, so I was more or less prepared to deal with at least a little misogyny and some poorly written female characters. And...it was pretty bad, I can't lie. We start off on the wrong foot with Angelica (she'll fall in love with any man who happens to save her life, literally any man), things are going OK with Molly up to a point (if we could, perhaps, not offer ghost sex out of nowhere, that might be cool...also, she's sixteen, so yikes), Luna is mostly just...really bad (if we were talking about her in the present, we'd say she has a lot of internalized misogyny to work through, coupled with big manic pixie dream girl energy), and let's go ahead and just ignore the entire prolonged scene with the female football players, because I really can't think about that again.
The book is trying to be philosophical, and sometimes it is. There is an implicit criticism of the idea of original sin affecting the souls of children, but then there's also "sin" that weighs down souls that is actually just crimes that are committed against the person whose soul is now "stained" (rape, incest, contracting a sexually transmitted disease from a partner who did not disclose this to you beforehand, etc*), and even though part of the entire point of the plot is that Zane doesn't agree with a lot of the things that condemn people, and doesn't think that the system is as fair and infallible as it's made out to be, it's kind of a lot to stomach sometimes. The criticism of the system didn't outweigh the horrors of the system, and when the system is entirely fictional, that eats at me a little bit.
*I'd also like to point out that a lot of these are sexual in nature, and if you read the book in chunks/longer sittings, you'll probably pick up on that too. Make of that one what you will.
There's a lot of things that got sexual that didn't need to be (specifically the torture scene with Luna and the multiple times Molly either earnestly offers or pretends to offer ghost sex) and there's some misogyny that becomes very overt (the woman who was going to commit suicide, who Zane convinces to continue to live, and the seemingly throw away line that all beautiful women from history went to hell spring to mind as the two biggest examples, I think because they bookend the story). There's a weird/unsettling moment towards the end in one of the philosophical scenes that pops up every so often when Zane goes to take a soul that deals with pedophilia that isn't handled terribly well, and that stuck with me even after I finished the scene as a moment in the back of my mind that bothered me.
This review makes it seem like I really hated the book and just wanted to pick it apart, but I promise that's not the case. I actually really enjoyed reading (parts) of this one, and I think I'll probably pick up the second one in the series and give that a whirl. What I wanted to achieve by writing this out was to give others a head's up going in on what they might encounter, because I think knowing going into it that there are going to be some big problems can help readers create a realistic expectation for what the book is going to be in their heads, even if they ultimately decide not to read it because of it.
I didn't rate this book. I couldn't rate it, in large part because none of the ratings felt like they would be accurate. I didn't want to one star it, because there were parts of the world that I liked a lot, but I didn't know how many stars I could give it in good conscience, because it felt disingenuous to ignore all of the things that bothered me about the book. I read it on a recommendation from a friend, who had enjoyed the series when they were a teen, but who didn't remember specifics about the books. I don't regret reading this one, and I'm considering reading the rest because the universe it's set in is interesting and fun to read, but I'm torn for a number of reasons.
I always like to start off with the good: I love the idea of Death being an office that's passed along to different human people, each with their own foibles and personal philosophies about death and dying. I loved Mortis, he has a great personality for a car/horse/airplane/mode of transportation. I especially loved the computer in Purgatory, who reminded me a bit of Marvin, the Paranoid Android. I didn't mind the final confrontation, I thought the logic was really circular but ultimately clever enough to work out, and I liked that Zane's biggest strength as Death was his ability to feel compassion* towards to souls he collected.
*I mean....mostly, anyway. Like a solid 90%, so I'll give it to him.
My friend did give me the huge caveat that this book is, at the end of the day, SFF that was written in the 80s, so I was more or less prepared to deal with at least a little misogyny and some poorly written female characters. And...it was pretty bad, I can't lie. We start off on the wrong foot with Angelica (she'll fall in love with any man who happens to save her life, literally any man), things are going OK with Molly up to a point (if we could, perhaps, not offer ghost sex out of nowhere, that might be cool...also, she's sixteen, so yikes), Luna is mostly just...really bad (if we were talking about her in the present, we'd say she has a lot of internalized misogyny to work through, coupled with big manic pixie dream girl energy), and let's go ahead and just ignore the entire prolonged scene with the female football players, because I really can't think about that again.
The book is trying to be philosophical, and sometimes it is. There is an implicit criticism of the idea of original sin affecting the souls of children, but then there's also "sin" that weighs down souls that is actually just crimes that are committed against the person whose soul is now "stained" (rape, incest, contracting a sexually transmitted disease from a partner who did not disclose this to you beforehand, etc*), and even though part of the entire point of the plot is that Zane doesn't agree with a lot of the things that condemn people, and doesn't think that the system is as fair and infallible as it's made out to be, it's kind of a lot to stomach sometimes. The criticism of the system didn't outweigh the horrors of the system, and when the system is entirely fictional, that eats at me a little bit.
*I'd also like to point out that a lot of these are sexual in nature, and if you read the book in chunks/longer sittings, you'll probably pick up on that too. Make of that one what you will.
There's a lot of things that got sexual that didn't need to be (specifically the torture scene with Luna and the multiple times Molly either earnestly offers or pretends to offer ghost sex) and there's some misogyny that becomes very overt (the woman who was going to commit suicide, who Zane convinces to continue to live, and the seemingly throw away line that all beautiful women from history went to hell spring to mind as the two biggest examples, I think because they bookend the story). There's a weird/unsettling moment towards the end in one of the philosophical scenes that pops up every so often when Zane goes to take a soul that deals with pedophilia that isn't handled terribly well, and that stuck with me even after I finished the scene as a moment in the back of my mind that bothered me.
This review makes it seem like I really hated the book and just wanted to pick it apart, but I promise that's not the case. I actually really enjoyed reading (parts) of this one, and I think I'll probably pick up the second one in the series and give that a whirl. What I wanted to achieve by writing this out was to give others a head's up going in on what they might encounter, because I think knowing going into it that there are going to be some big problems can help readers create a realistic expectation for what the book is going to be in their heads, even if they ultimately decide not to read it because of it.
sammyg_whiz's review against another edition
3.0
I will start off by saying I had read this book in my teens and LOVED it. Compared to other things I was reading at the time, this book was thought provoking in terms of life/death/morality. I decided to read it again now 20+ years later in a fit of pandemic nostalgia, a comfort read. Well, not so much.
**Warning: Spoilers Below**
So we meet our main character Zane who we understand is flawed, but okay that usually makes the characters more interesting. He is down on his luck and seeks out magical assistance to improve his lot. He ends up giving up his chance at a love match (guided by a love stone) for the chance at wealth via another magical stone. It turns out he was deceived about the quality of the wealth stone and in a fit of despair planned to end his own life. Instead he ends up shooting Death and has to take over his office. His handling of the office and what he learns is the main part of the plot moving things along.
Then we get to the part where he meets Luna. She is the daughter of a powerful magician who decided that in an effort to save his own hide from hell, he's basically going to hand her off to Death/Zane like some sort of concubine. Um...okay? Magician and Death have dinner, Luna walks in naked, as you do, and Death is unimpressed because he's still hung up on the love interest he missed out on. She finally puts on clothes, he's slightly more impressed but in a very Mr. Darcy, "she is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me" sort of way. Death turns down the bargain with the daughter, the Magician's soul is collected and he goes on his way.
The interesting parts of the book deal more with the way Death collects the souls often showing them a great deal of kindness and mercy and the one's he decides not to collect, giving them a second chance to make better choices. This is apparently not the way it had been done by the previous office holders and so a bit scandalous. Death also has a bad ass horse that can turn into a car or a boat and sometimes they chat about the job.
So back to Luna. She becomes an important part of the story though in a way that honestly doesn't make a lot of sense. On one hand the other Incarnations are saying she's instrumental in the fight against evil in 20 years. On the other hand, she's marked for a more speedy demise because the Devil doesn't play fair. The entire time Death suddenly become more and more attracted to her, but not for any real deep reason, but because she seems more desirable when she uses stones or wears her hair a certain way.
The whole development of this relationship was weird and honestly off-putting. They have dates and conversations about why their souls are likely destined for the bad place. One of the reasons for Luna is that she basically gave herself to a succubus in order to gain access to dark magic in an attempt to save her father. Okay fine. But our lovely Death has a problem with this because omg this woman I kind of find attractive had sex *gasp* with a demon! It's the typical Madonna/whore complex. It's only when she reveals a little later that it was mental, not physical that he's somewhat okay with it. She really doesn't have much of a personality. She keeps bringing up that her dad must have wanted to get them together for a reason but never actively seeks out the reason why. She seems content to sit back and let Zane do all the worrying and bumbling around for them both. She even tells him on more than one occasion when he expresses his growing affections, that she's not in love with him.
Then we get to the big showdown with the Devil who has been showing up in somewhat cartoonish ways throughout the book tempting souls and trying to thwart Zane's efforts. The Devil has kidnapped Luna and is trying to get her soul to change from being in balance or going to heaven, to instead go to hell and join his merry band of misfits. She is suddenly all about Zane and she won't betray him. Zane on the other hand is like they pulled out the nipple zappers! I don't want them torturing you, just tell them what they want! *sigh* What have you been fighting for all this time? Really? So he goes on his horse to challenge the Devil and ends up winning on a technicality. The Devil retreats and Zane and Luna live happily ever after at least until the next book.
I honestly feel like this was one of those books that were great and innovative for it's time, but didn't really age well. I give it 3 stars because of the fact that I remember loving it as a younger reader and the parts where he actually discusses morality are kind of interesting, but I could have really left this book in the past.
**Warning: Spoilers Below**
So we meet our main character Zane who we understand is flawed, but okay that usually makes the characters more interesting. He is down on his luck and seeks out magical assistance to improve his lot. He ends up giving up his chance at a love match (guided by a love stone) for the chance at wealth via another magical stone. It turns out he was deceived about the quality of the wealth stone and in a fit of despair planned to end his own life. Instead he ends up shooting Death and has to take over his office. His handling of the office and what he learns is the main part of the plot moving things along.
Then we get to the part where he meets Luna. She is the daughter of a powerful magician who decided that in an effort to save his own hide from hell, he's basically going to hand her off to Death/Zane like some sort of concubine. Um...okay? Magician and Death have dinner, Luna walks in naked, as you do, and Death is unimpressed because he's still hung up on the love interest he missed out on. She finally puts on clothes, he's slightly more impressed but in a very Mr. Darcy, "she is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me" sort of way. Death turns down the bargain with the daughter, the Magician's soul is collected and he goes on his way.
The interesting parts of the book deal more with the way Death collects the souls often showing them a great deal of kindness and mercy and the one's he decides not to collect, giving them a second chance to make better choices. This is apparently not the way it had been done by the previous office holders and so a bit scandalous. Death also has a bad ass horse that can turn into a car or a boat and sometimes they chat about the job.
So back to Luna. She becomes an important part of the story though in a way that honestly doesn't make a lot of sense. On one hand the other Incarnations are saying she's instrumental in the fight against evil in 20 years. On the other hand, she's marked for a more speedy demise because the Devil doesn't play fair. The entire time Death suddenly become more and more attracted to her, but not for any real deep reason, but because she seems more desirable when she uses stones or wears her hair a certain way.
The whole development of this relationship was weird and honestly off-putting. They have dates and conversations about why their souls are likely destined for the bad place. One of the reasons for Luna is that she basically gave herself to a succubus in order to gain access to dark magic in an attempt to save her father. Okay fine. But our lovely Death has a problem with this because omg this woman I kind of find attractive had sex *gasp* with a demon! It's the typical Madonna/whore complex. It's only when she reveals a little later that it was mental, not physical that he's somewhat okay with it. She really doesn't have much of a personality. She keeps bringing up that her dad must have wanted to get them together for a reason but never actively seeks out the reason why. She seems content to sit back and let Zane do all the worrying and bumbling around for them both. She even tells him on more than one occasion when he expresses his growing affections, that she's not in love with him.
Then we get to the big showdown with the Devil who has been showing up in somewhat cartoonish ways throughout the book tempting souls and trying to thwart Zane's efforts. The Devil has kidnapped Luna and is trying to get her soul to change from being in balance or going to heaven, to instead go to hell and join his merry band of misfits. She is suddenly all about Zane and she won't betray him. Zane on the other hand is like they pulled out the nipple zappers! I don't want them torturing you, just tell them what they want! *sigh* What have you been fighting for all this time? Really? So he goes on his horse to challenge the Devil and ends up winning on a technicality. The Devil retreats and Zane and Luna live happily ever after at least until the next book.
I honestly feel like this was one of those books that were great and innovative for it's time, but didn't really age well. I give it 3 stars because of the fact that I remember loving it as a younger reader and the parts where he actually discusses morality are kind of interesting, but I could have really left this book in the past.
emjay24's review against another edition
1.0
i liked his geoodessy series so much i decided to try another of his books. this wasn't as good, just ok. it's book one of the incarnations of immortality series. it's the future, where people use magic and science interchangably, sort of like living in wizard world in harry potter. the main guy accidentally kills death when he comes for him and he becomes death himself. then he has to learn how to take souls (sort of like dead like me, if you've seen that show) and also fight the devil. Like the show, he ends up living more now that he's dead. i'd skip this one.
filauer84's review against another edition
5.0
What a fun story. I really like Anthony's writing as well. Great story, great action and fun dialogue.
tcarter31's review against another edition
1.0
Countless unnecessary and misplaced comments about women’s bodies. A main character written as forward thinking can’t hide the authors clear prejudices against women. The author tries to prove they aren’t sexist with lazy dialogue and inner monologues that do pretty much the opposite.
There’s no better way to ruin a fantasy by overindulging in the corporate worldbuilding. I don’t care about the legalities of Satan posting billboards, or the legal system of Purgatory. It completely pulls you out of the terribly boring plot of….Death trying to essentially sue Satan in court? What a thrilling way to beat the Devil.
There’s no better way to ruin a fantasy by overindulging in the corporate worldbuilding. I don’t care about the legalities of Satan posting billboards, or the legal system of Purgatory. It completely pulls you out of the terribly boring plot of….Death trying to essentially sue Satan in court? What a thrilling way to beat the Devil.
caryszayda's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
WHY DID I READ THIS??
manuelsanch96's review against another edition
2.0
An interesting story but told with a limited imagination. Also pretty dang sexist.