And Eternity is another mixed bag. Anthony‘s writing style still irks me. His characters are shallow. He spends more time describing every inch of women‘s bodies than he does on deep storytelling.
And Eternity is another mixed bag. Anthony‘s writing style still irks me. His characters are shallow. He spends more time describing every inch of women‘s bodies than he does on deep storytelling.
I was happy to see that this book mostly held up. It was my favorite when I was a kid and it remains my favorite today. It has its faults but it‘s the most emotionally complex of the bunch.
If there‘s one thing I‘ve learned in my reread of this series, it‘s that I‘m no longer fond of Piers Anthony‘s writing style. As a kid, it was direct and accessible. Now, I find it shallow. This book, like all the others, has the hallmarks of an interesting story that are buried underneath plodding structure and clunky prose. Plus that twist? I don‘t know, I found it a little laughable.
As with the rest of this series, there are hits and misses. Plenty of imaginative stuff, and I appreciated that Mym was from a different cultural background than the rest of the incarnations. Still, Anthony only seemed to focus on Mym‘s “need” for concubines, and all of his female characters remain as flat as cardboard.
This is Anthony‘s first female protagonist in the series and much of the book serves to highlight just how shallowly he writes his women. The book is fine, as with the others, but he definitely seems like the type of male author who spends more time describing the women in his stories than actually characterizing them.
On the whole, I think I enjoyed this second entry more than the first. Again, the same issues linger with Anthony‘s prose and characterization, but the narrative was more engaging and dynamic.
I read this series as a kid (along with a fair amount of other Piers Anthony books). It obviously hasn‘t aged well (especially how he writes his female characters), but there is some fun to be had with the concept.
I am posting one book per day from my to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new - don‘t judge me I have a lot of books.
Join the fun if you want. This is day 3.
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