Incarnations of Immortality is the name of an eight-book fantasy series by Piers Anthony. The first seven books each focus on one of seven 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. The title alludes to William Wordsworth's 1804 poem .
Themes
Incarnations uses its premise to ponder questions regarding the nature of life. As each character goes from a mortal life to the "office" of an Incarnation, they are forced to contemplate their actions on a daily basis. Each Incarnation may use their office, within limits, as they see fit. This system humanizes what would otherwise be impersonal forces, leading to both extensive considerations of the effects of the incarnation's work and the impact it has on not only humanity but also the other offices of immortality as well. Another humorous side of Incarnations is the portrayed magic/technology duality. Most series emphasize one or the other means of understanding and manipulating the world, but in Incarnations, each method is equal in usefulness and respect. This leads to a number of amusing parallels, such as competition between automobile and magic-carpet manufacturers. By the future time period of Norton, magic is referred to as the Fifth Fundamental Force, with its own primary particle, the Magicon. A few other series have used the technology/magic combined motif, notably Apprentice Adept, another series by Piers Anthony, and Four Lords of the Diamond by Jack Chalker, although that book had an actual technological basis for the explanation of its magic, in contrast to Piers Anthony's work. Anthony uses the number five extensively. The five Incarnations are associated with the five elements, and often other items with fives. There are five fundamental interactions, magic being the fifth. The Llano consists of five songs. In On a Pale Horse, Gaea teaches Zane five patterns of thought, each represented by diagrams of five short lines. A fourth theme of Incarnations is the multigenerational human story between the Incarnations. Previous characters repeatedly appear in later novels, and by the final novel, every major character is related by blood, marriage, or affair. See the family tree below.
Characters
Family tree
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 Relationships:
Norton is the lover of Orlene as well as the lover of Clotho.
Niobe is Orb's mother, and grandmother to Luna, and Orlene. She is also lover to Chronos.
Mym is father to Orlene and former lover of Orb.
Orb is mother to Orlene, daughter to Niobe, and former lover of Mym.
Parry is married to Orb, and stepfather to Orlene.
Orlene is Nature's daughter, War's daughter, Fate's granddaughter, Time's lover and mother to his biological son, Evil's stepdaughter, and Death's wife's cousin.
In "Under a Velvet Cloak,” Kerena is the lover of the original Sir Gawain, Knight of the Round Table, and mother of the original Gawain 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 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 to Niobe and her children and grandchildren.
Phobos & Deimos: Named after the Greek gods of fear and panic. These lesser Incarnations act as assistants to Gaea. Their functions are not explained in the books.
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
Slaughter: a representation of the bloodshed associated with battles
The essentials formed a covenant
Cultural references
The Showtime series Dead Like Me was inspired by the book On a Pale Horse.
In 2007, Anthony wrote that Disney had sold the TV rights to On A Pale Horse to Touchstone/ABC, who were "filming a pilot program". In 2009 Javier Grillo-Marxuach wrote a pilot for the series for ABC, but it was not picked up.
