Incarnations of Immortality#Characters

Incarnations of Immortality is an eight-book fantasy series by Piers Anthony. The books each focus on one of eight supernatural "offices" (Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature, Evil, Good, and Night) in a fictional reality and history parallel to ours, with the exception that society has advanced both magic and modern technology. The series covers the adventures and struggles of a group of humans called "Incarnations", who hold these supernatural positions for a certain time.

The title alludes to William Wordsworth's 1804 poem "Ode: Intimations of Immortality".{{cite book |last=Anthony |first=Piers |date=1984 |title=On a Pale Horse |edition=1st Mass Market |location=New York |publisher=Ballantine/Del Rey |page=306 |isbn=0345338588}}

Bibliography

Characters

=Family tree=

{{tree chart | CED |~|y|~|~|~| NIO |~|y|~| PAC |~|y|~| BLA |CED=Cedric|NIO=Niobe
(Fate)|PAC=Pacian|BLA=Blanche

|boxstyle_ NIO =background-color: #ccc;}}

{{tree chart | | | | |!| MYM |~|y|~| ORB |~| PAR |!| | | | |ORB=Orb
(Nature)|PAR=Parry
(Evil)|MYM=Mym
(War)

|boxstyle_ ORB =background-color: #cfc;

|boxstyle_ PAR =background-color: #fcf;

|boxstyle_ MYM =background-color: #fcc;}}

{{tree chart | | | | |!| GAW |~| ORL |~|y|~| NOR |!| | | | |ORL=Orlene
(Good)|NOR=Norton
(Time)|GAW=Gawain

|boxstyle_ ORL =background-color: #cff;

|boxstyle_ NOR =background-color: #ccf;}}

{{tree chart | | | | |!| | | | | | | | GWA | | | |!| | | | |GWA=Gawain II}}

{{tree chart | | | | MCJ |~|~|~|~|~|y|~|~|~|~|~| BLE | | | |MCJ=Magician (Cedric Jr.)|BLE=Blenda}}

{{tree chart | | | | | | | | | | | LUN |~| ZAN | | | | | | |LUN=Luna|ZAN=Zane
(Death)

|boxstyle_ ZAN =background-color: #ffc;}}

Note: Colors for each of the Incarnations used are from the covers of their respective books.

Note: Gawain II was conceived by Norton and Orlene, but has Gawain's genetic material instead of Norton's (a favor performed by Gaea)

Relationships:

Zane (Thanatos, the Incarnation of Death) is the lover and protector of Luna Kaftan (Niobe's granddaughter).
Norton (Chronos, the Incarnation of Time) is the lover of Orlene (who becomes Good) as well as the lover of Clotho.
Niobe (Clotho, and later Lachesis, Aspects of the Incarnation of Fate) is Orb's (Gaea) mother, and grandmother to Luna (Death's lover), and Orlene (Good). She is also lover to Chronos.
Mym (Mars, the Incarnation of War) is father to Orlene (Good) and former lover of Orb (Gaea).
Orb (Gaea, Mother Nature) is mother to Orlene (Good), daughter to Niobe (Clotho/Lachesis, Fate), and former lover of Mym (War).
Parry (Satan, the Incarnation of Evil) is married to Orb (Mother Nature), and stepfather to Orlene (Good).
Orlene (God, sometimes called "the Goddess", the Incarnation of Good) is Nature's daughter, War's daughter, Fate's granddaughter, Time's lover and mother to his biological son (prior to either of them taking their office), Evil's stepdaughter, and Death's wife's cousin.

In "Under a Velvet Cloak", Kerena (Nox, Incarnation of Night) is the lover of the original Sir Gawain, Knight of the Round Table, and mother of the original Gawain (Gaw-Two) who was tainted at birth and destined to die early. Kerena's quest to save Gaw-Two is what eventually leads her to become Nox, the Incarnation of Night and Keeper of Secrets. Gawain (Orlene's ghost husband) is the direct descendant of Sir Gawain, and carries the family taint, so the second Gaw-Two, born to Orlene and Ghost Gawain, is also tainted and destined to die early. Nox is also the great-aunt (many times removed) to Niobe and her children and grandchildren.

=Lesser Incarnations=

Hypnos: Incarnation of Sleep
JHVH: Incarnation of Jewish God (assumed to be Jehovah)

==Lesser Incarnations serving Nature/Gaea==

Eros: Incarnation of Love
Hope: Incarnation of Hope
Phobos & Deimos: Named after the Greek gods of fear and panic. These lesser Incarnations act as assistants to Gaea (Nature). Their functions are not explained in the books (although presumably they have similar natures to their Greek equivalents).

==Lesser Incarnations serving War/Mars==

Pestilence: disease in general, but especially consistent with the aftermath of battles.
Conquest: manager of individual battles
Famine: starvation consistent with battles (although this incarnation has served Death/Thanatos on at least one occasion)
Slaughter: a representation of the bloodshed associated with battles
The essentials formed a covenant

Cultural references

The Showtime series Dead Like Me was inspired by the book On a Pale Horse.{{Cite web |last=Erickson |first=Hal |title=Dead Like Me: Overview: Synopsis by Hal Erickson |url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/v289033 |publisher=AllMovie |access-date=23 May 2022}}
In 2007, Anthony wrote that Disney had sold the TV rights to On a Pale Horse to Touchstone/ABC, which were "filming a pilot program".{{Cite web |last=Anthony |first=Piers |date=April 2007 |title=Ogre's Den: Apull 2007 |url=http://www.hipiers.com/07april.html |publisher=HiPiers.com |access-date=23 May 2022}} In 2009 Javier Grillo-Marxuach wrote a pilot for the series for ABC,{{Cite web|url=http://okbjgm.weebly.com/downloads.html|title=Downloads – THE GRILLO-MARXUACH EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN BUREAU|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706105240/http://okbjgm.weebly.com/downloads.html|archive-date=6 July 2017|access-date=16 September 2017}} but it was not picked up.

References

External links

{{isfdb series|id=467|title=Incarnations of Immortality}}
[http://www.hipiers.com Official Piers Anthony Website]
[http://www.spundreams.net/~phoenix/IoIChron.html Incarnations of Immortality Timeline]

Category:Piers Anthony sequences

Category:Fantasy novel series

Category:Science fiction book series

Category:Innovation Publishing titles

Category:British fantasy novel series