Customer Reviews

Hope of Earth

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The third of Piers Anthony's roller-coaster rides through the history of humankind, 'Hope of Earth' showcases a half-dozen characters as they experience a lifetime of five million years. Why should you care about these characters? Because they are archetypes, each of their conversations and actions illustrating humanity's strengths and weaknesses. Why else? The supporting cast features the Ice Man, Boudica, Perikles, Herod, Samo, Toqtamish, and Louis XIV. Imagine meeting even one of these; Anthony's six meet them all.Conflict is important to fictional characters, and here each has a major problem to deal with: for example, one of the characters has a six-fingered hand, the natural successor to the left-handedness in the prior volume. As we have come to expect in the Geodyssey, the score of settings has lush variety. Central to the novel, and a quarter of its length, is the exploration of the war between Athens and Sparta beginning in 431 BC; other interesting locations include the Maginot Line, the supposed Great Wall of China, and the Great Rift Valley.Once molded by evolution to conquer the world, mankind proceeded to do so along Anthony's lines. His message, however, is that the world-conquering gifts our species retains may be our downfall as conquest turns to destruction. The hope of Earth is for us to learn from history and mend our ways. This splendid effort to wake us up to that task is not only inspirational but also enjoyable, and readers can ask for no better combination than that.

This is one of my favorite series by Piers Anthony. I would have to say this is my favorite book this series. I like this one because of the ancient greek references. These are wonderful books with a great story and the marvelous job Piers does weaving the characters into each of these novels, yet keep them apart as their own. These books are well worth the time and money to read and buy them. Highly Recommended reading. If you like historial-fantasy this is a series for you.

This is definately my favorite of the whole series. If anybody wants to start reading this series, I suggest you begin with HOPE OF EARTH first. It is the most engaging one. The characters are more involved and vivid. I must say that I enjoyed this series as much for the fiction as for the historical referrences. I have learned so many names and dates quite accidentally because this book brings history and historical characters to life so vividly! I especially enjoyed Anthony's sensitivity and admiration for women and ethinic cultures. He doesn't focus solely on Western/Anglo cultures like other historical novels tend to do and he admits that sometimes, when women run things, they are wiser than men. He brings the more obscure and less discussed cultures to readers who probably didn't get exposed to them in school. I started the series by reading HOPE first and I'm glad I did. All three are excellent, but HOPE is the most captivating. Don't worry, you don't need to read the other two to get this one.

There is almost no overarching storyline in this book making it just a collection of random chapters. Most of the chapters star a different set of characters than the previous one. This makes for a relatively dull read.
Also, most of the history in this book is sub-par to that in the previous books in the series.

I purchased this book from a new vendor with no customer recommendations and I want to say that the book was like new and was shipped the same day that I placed the order. I received it within three days and was very pleased. Congratulations to a new vendor,

When I finally read "Isle of Women" a few months ago, I was sorry I waited so long. I loved it, and promptly bought the next three books. "Shame of Man" was a disappointment, but Anthony got it back with "Hope of Earth". Probably the best feature in this book is his use of a family--consisting of 6 really interesting siblings--that ages and grows as both the story, and the human race, progress.

I'll be starting "Muse of Art" soon.

I really enjoy Hope of Earth story and characters. The life and misfortune of this siblings through history was really well done. I really like the chapter about Athem but my favorite so far is the last two chapter of the novel. I really like the character of Tourett (as in the nervious illness). You have to read it to understand why is so outstanding. It really touch me. Give it a try!

After reading Isle of Woman and Shame of Man, I couldn't wait to read Hope of Earth. And I have to say that this one is my favorite. It's about six brothers and sisters, Sam, Flo, Ned, Jes, Bry, and Lin. I feel that in this book you are the most involved in the chacters. Piers Anthony has done an exquisite job at portraying the characters, their families, and the far away times that other wise would be so hard to imagine. The next best thing to actully walking down the street in ancient Rome or meeting King Louis XIV is to read this book. Congratulations Piers Anthony on portraying history in the finest way!

Anthony has done it again, creating a brilliant mix of history and drama that is sure to capture the attention of any serious reader. I can only imagine the research that went in to the book to make it historically accurate. I have only one criticism which is that the amount of sexual scenes in the book I find unnecessary and quite annoying, I don't know what his preoccupation is with it but he seems to bring it up in the most unlikely places. It seems to me he expressing his own fetish in his work. Despite this, it is one of the best books I have ever read. Don't let my warning deter you from reading it, if I were you I would just skip over those parts.

The GeoOdessey series is probably my favorite series, along with the Xanth series. This novel, Hope of Earth, takes the most current facts regarding human evolution and mixes them in with a great plot to make learning even more fun. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in reading.