Customer Reviews

Split Infinity (Apprentice Adept)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was not much of a book reader. I found a copy of Split Infinity at the bus I was on and started reading it. I was wondering why the book cover had a picture of a unicorn and the first few chapters clearly depicted a science fiction (future world) scenario. By the end of the book, I had to get my hands on Blue Adept and Juxtaposition. I have not found a book even remotely similar to the Apprentice Adept series since. The combination and relevance of both sci-fi world and fantasy world had been excellently written and the style of magic that Piers Anthony penned in this book was clearly unique. I will definitely let my kids read this book once they are able. I have been a Fantasy genre reader ever since I found this book.

Two worlds, one known as Proton and based on science and logic, the other, Phase is based on magic. On Proton lives a master gamesman, Stile, who discovers by accident how to cross between the two worlds. But what should Stile do when he has someone trying to kill him on both worlds? His only means of survival are his skills as a master gamesman, which Stile discovers is how he will work magic. On Proton he has only one friend, a humanoid robot named Sheen. On Phase, Stile has a unicorn and werewolf as his only friends. His fiends on both worlds try to keep him alive as he tries to uncover the identity of his secret assassin as well as keep his lifestyle on the same on both worlds. I think this is an awesome book! It is great for anyone who has ever wanted to believe in magic. A tale of adventure, with unicorns, sorcerores, and robots. This is a great tale for all ages. On a scale of one to ten, I would give it an eleven.

Split Infinity, the first of the Adept series, is most definitely a great start to this series. Stile, a serf on Proton, discovers an alternate world, where magic is operative. On Proton, Stile is an ordinary jockey, but in Phaze, he is so much more. I loved reading this book as an assignment for school, and I couldn't stop myself from continuing on with the series.

This book is a great read. Obviously there's a lot of gratuitous sex, but most sci-fi writers tended to delve into that to some extent. Compared to what we see in the movies these days, it's relatively tame.

One thing that makes this book particularly interesting is that it raises the question of what makes a thing alive. This is a metaphysical question that has been explored many times in Hollywood and on TV (For instance, the movie Short Circuit, and the Star Trek TNG episode "The Measure of a Man"), but I particularly enjoyed the way Anthony approaches it here. Can a person truly love a machine?

Polyamorists and other proponents of free love might find this book of interest. Yes, the main character Stile has a lot of sex, but the author paints a picture of genuine love for each of his partners. Idealistic, perhaps, but not quite as far-fetched as some might be led to believe....

Anthony's depictions of The Games are what really drive this book, and each sequence is quite addictive. Some day I figure someone will put together a similar system in real life, and the whole thing will become some sort of televised, 24-hour reality show. Scary thought.

Anyway, I don't know whether this review will be particularly helpful to anyone, but I found the book interesting on many levels, and entertaining to boot. Plus, even 20 years after the first time I read it, I still count it among my favorites.

I read "Split Infinity" in 1981. It was my first science fiction novel (and my first Piers Anthony novel), and I got hooked for good on the genre. The hero of the novel is a jockey named Stile who lives on a high tech hedonistic world called Proton. The landscape of this futuristic "Monte Carlo" has been destroyed by pollution, so people live indoors and enjoy a life of sports and games of chance. Permanent residency, however, is only open to those who have won enough games to obtain Citizen status. After an assasination attempt, Stile is assisted by a lovely robotic woman in an escape through a strange energy field. He emerges onto Phase, a gorgeous wilderness that is deadly for people without magical abilities. As Stile travels through Phase with a shapechanging unicorn and werewolf, he learns he does have magical talent- and a murdered alter ego. Suspecting that his alter ego's death and his own assasination attempt are linked, Stile "jumps" between both worlds to solve this mystery and determine which world will be his future home. Piers Anthony provides many interesting characters, including a compassionate hero, a beautiful robot dedicated to advancing civil rights for robots, a dashing werewolf prince questioning his peoples violent society, and an eloquent unicorn who speaks with music rather than words. There are many messages here concerning racism,cooperation,ecology, and the power of music. Piers Anthony's later books are entertaining, but they have never attained the power of the Apprentice Adept Series.

I read this series back in the 1980s when I was a teenager, and I remember loving it. Like most of Piers Anthony's works, it's light and airy and aimed more at the younger reader than an adult looking for a serious or literary work of fiction.

Nevertheless, the trilogy is a very enjoyable read, and even better because it's just a trilogy. Unlike many of Anthony's stories that seem to extend over an infinte number of books, this trilogy has a definite ending with book three.

Between here and book three (Juxtaposition: a lovely name for a novel, isn't it?) you'll be treated to a wonderfuly imaginative fantasy story involving robots, magic, and even politics. Defintely Piers Anthony at his best.

To be concise, this book rules. To be otherwise; I thought that this book was a very good piece of science fiction with enough of a twist to easily set it apart from some others of that genre. The characters are great; Sheen would have to be my favorite, though. (Who else felt sorry for the poor 'bot? *sniff*) The Phaze/Photon concept was very interesting, and I liked seeing it explored further in the later books of this series.

Split Infinity is the first book of the Apprentice Adept series. Piers Anthony is best known for his Xanth series, but I enjoyed the first three novels of this series as much as I did anything else that Piers Anthony wrote. The novel (and series) deals with a dual world. Proton is a science fiction orientated world. The laws of science rule the world. The planet is desolate with the air being unbreatheable. People live in large city sized domes. People are divided into two classes. Citizens are extremely wealthy, are permitted to wear clothing, and are the rulers of Proton. Serfs do the work, are not permitted clothing (though are permitted their own diversions as long as it does not interfere with their work), and have a limited tenure on Proton. After their tenure expires, they must leave the planet (though they do get to collect a large amount of their earnings at the end of tenure). Phaze is a fantasy world where magic exists and the world is still fairly pristine. The powers of Phaze are human magician called Adepts (they are adept in one particular facet of the magic). Dragons, unicorns, and werewolves are real. The features of the Phaze are the same as Proton, except the land hasn't been ruined.

The protagonist of the novel is a man named Stile. Stile is a serf on Proton. He is a jockey for a Citizen, but in the private world of the serfs, he is a master at the Games. The Games are the main entertainment for serfs, and they get to test their skills at various sports/games/arts/activities. A master player can excel in most facets of the Game. Stile is a master player and is two years from the end of his tenure. He meets a female robot named Sheen (get the pun?). Robots on Proton, depending how they are programmed and assembled, can look, sound, feel, and touch exactly like a human. Sheen is such a robot. Sheen warns Stile that someone is trying to kill him. Her job is to protect him. Over the course of the novel, we see attempts on Stile's life and he accidently crosses a "curtain" to the magical world of Phaze. In Phaze, Stile meets a unicorn and a werewolf who will kill him if he uses magic. He is the image of a murdered Adept from Phaze, and he has the abilities of an Adept. Someone is still trying to kill him in Phaze. The novel is the beginnings of his quest to find out whom, and also to discover his own identity in Phaze.

This was one of my favorite fantasy novels when I first started reading in the genre back in high school. My favorite part of the novel was the aspect of the Games on Proton. I thought it was a wonderful idea and it was what hooked me on the books. It has been nearly ten years since I've last read any of this series, and while my taste and somewhat matured and the material is not as fresh as it once was, this is still a wonderful series and is a lot of fun to read. For any fan of Xanth or of Piers Anthony, this one needs to be read.

I first read this series 20 years ago, and as I re-read the first book, I was once again captivated by this story. I enjoyed it every bit as much this time as the first time I read it years ago. My paperback copy is falling apart, and I hope it will soon be available for the Kindle, as this is a series I like to revisit.

I have rated this book with 5 stars, and heartily recommend it!

This was a great blend of sci fi and fantasy, though I would say it leans more towards the fantasy genre than sci fi. Piers Anthony tells his tales in a classical storybook type of fashion, which I like, although I would say his prose has one glaring defect. I believe that when he comes across a monster in the storyline that he needs to do a more thorough job of describing it. I have a tendency to like to know all the gory details of a mythical monster. Other than that though, Anthony does a fine job with this tale, weaving both plot and character development together expertly.

It will be glaringly obvious to anyone who reads this that Anthony has a profound compassion for horses. I'm not even particularly fond of horses, but he did such a good job building Neysa the unicorn's character up that I have come to attain a newfound respect for them. It would be a crime to keep a man with that much passion about horses away from them- the wonders they must do for his sense of well being readily transcend through to his writing. Great story!