Customer Reviews

For Love of Evil (Book Six of Incarnations of Immortality)

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of the most thought provoking books I have ever read. Anthony leaves behind the traditional notion that the devil is pure evil and instead attempts to portray Satan as a sort of governor of hell, who is trying to make it better for its denizens. Parry, the character who takes over as the devil is a nice guy who basically starts acting evil once he becomes Satan. Even as Satan however, Parry retains some of his good side. As in all of the books in the Incarnations of Immortality series, this book has superb character development and an enthralling plot. This book was very enjoyable to read and I would recommend it to all.

In the world of what might be the future of mankind, the great showdown between Good and Evil is about to take place. And it is Satan's intention to win. In perhaps the best of his Incarnation works, Piers Anthony has taken the world's oldest Antagonist, Satan (aka Lucifer, Scrotch, the Devil) and turned him into a great Protagonist. One great aspect is that it can be read as part of the series or by itself. It contains enough of the plot of all the work that a novice Anthony reader would not get lost. However, it is not a rehash of what has already been written. Because of the acute difference in viewpoint, it is a completely new story. Anyway, read and enjoy!

I've read all of the books in the Incarnations of Immortality Series and I loved every one of them, but this one changed my views about a lot of things more than any of them! Piers Antony 'humanizes' every Incarnation with attention to detail, especially Satan. He takes a very controversial look at life, death, after-life and our beliefs about them which eerily plausible. I also think the friendship between Satan and JHVH is quite interesting. My only problem with this book was the repetitiveness. It was nice to see the connections between the other books and this one, but it didn't have to be the entire dialogue written over again! Overall, I suggest you read this, along with all the others in the series.

The young sorcerer, Parry, lived with his adopted father (who taught him the ways of magic), and his love, Jolie. This was in the 13th century. A crusade swept the country of France, devastating it, and incidentally claiming Jolie's life. Thanatos came to claim her soul, but instead, he let her reside in a drop of blood on Parry's wrist. Parry soon became a Franciscan, than Dominican monk. He was guided by Jolie's ghost, whom no one else saw. Afterwards, he became an Inquisitor. Something unexpected happened. Parry was corrupted by a demoness sent by Lucifer, for foiling all of His plans. Parry was then enslaved by Lucifer, but eventually over threw Him. Parry then became Satan, the new Lord of Hell; the Incarnation of Evil.

I'll be straight-forward with you: this book was without a doubt the best book in the series, in my opinion. I was anxious to see how Anthony would pull off a story about Satan without seeming like a Satanist. Of course, he did a perfect job! I was very impressed with this book. He perfectly captured the atmosphere surrounding hell and the legend of the devil. He piqued my curiosity in each of the previous books by having Satan make his "cameos." He fully explains not only why Satan is evil, but why his role is important in the whole scheme of things. Very touching at times, and refreshingly brash at others, this book is one of the best you'll ever read, if you read it with an open mind.

Of the seven books from Piers Anthony's Incarnation of Immortality series, For Love of Evil is better than all in the series with the exception of On a Pale Horse. Not to say that it is worse than On a Pale Horse but it is as least as good. For Love of Evil is a thought provoking and finely written piece of work for this genre. I do feel that some area of the book was left sketchy jumping years in advance leaving it up to the reader's imagination to fill the left out parts. But considering that Piers Anthony compacted 800 years into 383 pages it is understandable why some descriptive lead-ins were omitted. Piers Anthony was in top form when writing this installment. He is also an atheist, by his own admission, but has still used a very original view of how the age old deities conduct business.
Piers Anthony's synopsis of Satan, AKA Parry, in For Love of Evil, is not necessarily evil, only evil by the accepted norms of the current society when the office is taken. Parry believes there is much evil in humanity that is none of his doing, and that the persons doing these atrocities slip though the bureaucratic cracks and end up in heaven. By the same turn people are going to hell for reasons that he does not believe to be sound. Because of these beliefs he creates a heaven in hell for these people, and sets out to try and work out a new set of rules with his counterpart who apparently is not paying attention.
For Love of Evil has a storyline that could be read as a stand alone book and the reader would not loose any of the storyline not having read the other six books in the Incarnation of Immortality series. Sadly number seven, An Eternity, was a let down for a series of books that gave us an interesting idea, what if the immortals are just everyday Joe's.

Piers Anthony must have had quite the task to write this book. He had to take Satan that he had written about in the five previous books and give him a history and make sense of what it was that he was trying to achieve.

What is given to us is not only a Satan with a clear understanding of Evil, but a Satan who actually cares about others. A Satan who actually cares for humanity. A Satan who is misunderstood by others.

A lot of the mysteries of the previous five books are uncovered as a bet is made between Satan and Enoch on the fate of humanity. This also explains why everything happens to Luna and her decendants the way they do. At the end of the book, only one question is left open which is answered by the final book. But this work of fiction was fun and thought-provoking. If you've read the other five, you can't stop before reading this one. If you haven't read the other five, read them first. It makes this book more interesting.

I truely enjoyed this book. I actually read it when it first came out (circa 1989) and again now. Now I remember why I loved it so.

I would suggest reading 'On a Pale Horse' first (as an intro to the series and illustrates how Satan is a jerk to the other Incarnations), 'Wielding an Hourglass' as optional (well written and gives more depth to Satan's character), 'Being a Green Mother' (Did not truely enjoy this one until I got to the last 4 chapters. When taking in the context of a supporting book to 'For Love of Evil' it enhances that story well.), and 'Love of Evil' last (the best one). (I did not read 'And Eternity').

Pros: I enjoyed how Piers Anthony illustrated the humanity of Satan along with the reasoning and stuggles that comes with his role as Incarnation of Evil. Once you get past the first few chapters (slow story line) it just gets better from there. It really explains and ties togeather why Satan acted and did what he did in the previous books. It also ended in what could of been a extremely tragic and depressing ending on a high note. I put the book down after I've finished feeling good and that 'alls well that ends well'. I love how the main protaganist (hero of the story) was Satan.

Cons: If you haven't read the previous books (or at least the ones I suggested) you can feel cheated as the author just summarizes the plots of the grand schemes the hero (Satan!) goes through in the 2nd half of the story. Do yourself a favor and read the others. Makes this book so much better.

First of all, in reply to a comment before - if you did not read "Wielding a Red Sword" and "Being a Green Mother" it is hardly fair to comment on how good "For Love of Evil" is as this novel acts as an umbrella framework within which the previous five are slotted. Anthony's style, as usual, lefts a lot to be desired - but it is something you adapt to after awhile and, although somewhat explicit and left little to the imagination - it is a refreshing change from some other fantasy writers who can be so vague as to left the reader totally clueless to the plot. Having said that, I must say that "For Love of Evil" is my favourite in the series (yes, I've read "... And Eternity") and although the plot can be predictable (how could it not!!! This is a tie-the-previous-five-togther effort!) I found it a refreshing and different view at a very old character. The novel was a good exploration of the devil and how he came to be - why would someone incessantly try to win a war against, well, God? Anthony did a good job here I think, to portray the Devil as a likable protagonist while not changing a lot of what he did - admittedly he acted to avoid the holocaust. What emerged was a very lonely man trying to do the most unappreciated job in history. After reading this book, I never thought of Satan in the same light ever again. .

I read this when I was fourteen years old, and it still sticks in my mind- which says something, given the hundreds of books I've read over the years. I still remember the shocking moment when I said to myself, "I like the Devil." Talk about suspension of disbelief. This is a great novel, and Anthony does a wonderful job of creating sympathy for what is classically an unloveable character. I'm glad my parents kept their noses out of my books. I would hate to think what would have happened if they'd read this like parents read Harry Potter.