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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite there, October 26, 2001
This review is from: Bearing An Hourglass (Incarnations of Immortality, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
"Bearing an Hourglass" is the second volume of Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series, dealing with the Incarnation of Time. The series began successfully with "On a Pale Horse", but this instalment is a little more cautious in approach, and suffers somewhat from sequel syndrome. Like several other characters from the Incarnations series, Norton is just an ordinary man who unexpectedly has the mantle of Chronos (Time) thrust upon him. He must learn to fulfil the duties of his office and deal with its peculiarities- such as living backwards in time! The temporal quirks and paradoxes that Norton must explore create some added interest in the storyline. Overall, however, the plot lacks the verve and interest of the first book, wandering from the path in places and losing direction. As a whole, the series is definitely worth reading, and "Bearing an Hourglass" is worth reading as a part of the series. As a stand-alone volume, however, it doesn't quite satisfy. Read it in context: the complex interlinking plots of the seven books that make up the Incarnations series are partially explained by this book, but it remains one of the weaker links in the series. 6 stars out of 10
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Typically witty and adventurous "incarnation" volume, November 17, 2003
This review is from: Bearing An Hourglass (Incarnations of Immortality, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
I enjoyed the first "Incarnation" story "On a Pale Horse" very much, and hoped the rest of the books would hold up as well. The rest of the series follow pretty much the same format, but each tells the story of a different aspect of humanity and life: Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature and Evil. The stories vary in the way that the protagonists deal with adversity using the powers of their respective roles as these incarnations. Bearing an Hourglass starts out in the usual story about the life of the protagonist, in this case a wanderer who doesn't think he'll ever settle down. The critical moment is when they are faced with the prospect of immortality in exchange for service to all of humanity, and in this case, the lead character is faced with saving his love from a sorrowful death in exchange for becoming the incarnation of time, Chronos. The story takes many twists as Satan tries to take advantage of the new Chronos's lack of experience, as Satan tries deception after deception to prevent Chronos from foiling the doings of Evil. I enjoyed the story very much, and would recommend the whole series to anyone familiar with Anthony's other work. It's also a good introduction to Anthony, though I would also recommend the 2 "Adept" series. Both "Incarnations" and "Adept" blend magic/fantasy and technology in interesting ways to create universes that stand out from typical sci-fi or fantasy.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Most Complex Of The Incarnations Series, June 20, 2003
This review is from: Bearing An Hourglass (Incarnations of Immortality, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
This book is a talks of the Incarnation of Time, Chronos and his assumption of this office and his Battle with Satan. This book is by far more complex than any other book in this series because it deals with issues such as the Paradox, which this book is riddled with (Chronos is immune to the Paradox), the fact that once the office of Time is assumed the office holder must live in reverse for that is the nature of the office. Some of the conversation with charaters that he has not aligned with is tough. (?naem I tahw eeS)...His device of his office THE HOURGLASS is by far the most powerful the incarnations wield and his learning to use it is an essential key in this story. Satan is a key figure in all of the incarnation books for as a new person assumes the various offices, he like to take advantage of their inexperiece to exploit them to his advantage. Read this book slow and down't be afraid to re-read sections to get it all. It is an awsome book if you take it slow. The Other incarnation novels are not nearly as complex.
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