Re: Peirs Anthony: Incarnations of Immortality Series

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Inquisitor wrote:Good grief, yeah, 25 years ago or whenever it came out.

I agree with "On a Pale Horse" was my favorite.
Back then I was reading Ringworld, Enders Game, The Rama stuff, The Foundation Trilogy, etc. This series slipped under my radar.

And ya, Pale Horse is clearly the star of the series. I don't plan on going on after the sixth one.

You SF fans read Spin yet? Best SF novel I've read this century.

http://www.amazon.com/Spin-Robert-Charl ... 076534825X

Re: Peirs Anthony: Incarnations of Immortality Series

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don1960lp wrote:Another must read for any SF fan is this one. Only SF book I've read 3 times.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legacy_of_Heorot

Have you also read the 2 Hyperion novels by Simmons?

I have read the Hyperion stuff, along with Endymion and the others- also got into the cyberpunk genre for years. Also read the Xanth series- was addicted back in junior high/high school. One of my favorites at the time was the Thomas Covenant chronicles. Also really liked the original David Eddings Belgariad stuff.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

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Re: Peirs Anthony: Incarnations of Immortality Series

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don1960lp wrote:
gascolator wrote:
But he's definitely a dirty old man.
For sure. Not quite a misogynistic as Heilein though.
I used to love Heinlein growing up, but I have serious reservations about revisiting his works. I'm afraid I will end up hating him if I do. :)

My wife loves this series, and got me to read it. When we were dating. I recall really liking book 1 and 6, but I barely remember the intervening books.

Re: Peirs Anthony: Incarnations of Immortality Series

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Mivonks wrote: I used to love Heinlein growing up, but I have serious reservations about revisiting his works. I'm afraid I will end up hating him if I do. :)
The juvies are pretty safe, and I think you'd be OK with Stranger in a Strange Land and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (my personal fave). Probably best to stay away from the self-indulgent meta/crossover stuff he did later on.


Regarding Mr. Anthony: as usual for his series, Incarnations starts out strong and then augurs into the earth. You probably should have stopped at #5…

Re: Peirs Anthony: Incarnations of Immortality Series

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I loved the Incarnations as a young teenager, but haven't revisited them since.

It looks like that set is better left to memory.

I did recently read Pohl's Gateway, which kept my attention, and then left me disappointed ... though that wasn't the book's fault. Th problem is that our local libraries don't have the rest of the books in the series, and I'm too cheap to buy it (we have far, far too many books already, and most already reside in boxes).

Definitely written in a different era, however ... think liberal seventies machismo, with a dash of Mary Sue.

Re: Peirs Anthony: Incarnations of Immortality Series

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rharper wrote:I loved the Incarnations as a young teenager, but haven't revisited them since.

It looks like that set is better left to memory.

I did recently read Pohl's Gateway, which kept my attention, and then left me disappointed ... though that wasn't the book's fault. Th problem is that our local libraries don't have the rest of the books in the series, and I'm too cheap to buy it (we have far, far too many books already, and most already reside in boxes).

Definitely written in a different era, however ... think liberal seventies machismo, with a dash of Mary Sue.
No such thing as too many books :)

Re: Peirs Anthony: Incarnations of Immortality Series

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Inquisitor wrote:
No such thing as too many books :)
I thought that once ... but now we're talking thousands. My wife and I are both avid readers, and both teach literature ... and we are technically scholars as well, though I haven't written much of anything since the dissertation. The personal collections are unwieldy, but when you add in the professional collections as well, things get ugly.

If we were to empty the storage units, and the boxes in the shop, and in the spare bedroom, we'd have to have wall-to-wall shelves in at least a couple of rooms ... which would be cool, if it weren't for the fact that most of these (non-pro) books are used, old paperbacks, not really worth keeping. We lived on poverty wages and student stipends for many years while building this collection, and it shows.

Libraries don't even want most of them, because they won't hold up.

We should just burn them, or recycle them, or something ... but something deep inside recoils at the thought of destroying books, even if they are falling apart. So they sit, in boxes, unloved and unread.

The e-book revolution came too late to save us.

Re: Peirs Anthony: Incarnations of Immortality Series

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I love SF and read a lot of Heinlein growing up. More of it holds up than some authors. Clarke & Asimov does as well. I rarely read Anthony and even more rarely enjoyed it.

Best Modern stuff:
David Brin - Startide Rising series, Earth and Existence are the best. Postman is good but forget the bad Costner movie even exists.

Lois McMaster Bujold - The Vorkosigan Saga.

Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, Vernor Vinge, Joe Haldeman, & Neil Gaiman are all things I'll pick without concern.
Live like you will never die, love like you've never been hurt, dance
like no-one is watching.
Alex White

Re: Peirs Anthony: Incarnations of Immortality Series

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don1960lp wrote:
MudPuppy98 wrote:I'm tempted to re-read it but fear it wouldn't stand up to my memory of it.
The first one, "On a Pale Horse" probably would but the others, not so much. He just didn't sustain the coolness of that first one IMO.
Good idea, I recognized the title immediately; this coming from a guy who still picks up new books, reads a few chapters, and then realizes he read it over 20 years ago... Damn cover changes and re-release publication dates...
some days, I just don't English

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