Bearing an Hourglass
Going back in time to read an older book!
After reading the first book, On a Pale Horse, I had very high expectations for the sequel. Once again the first few chapters made me worried, but the story quickly picked up. The humor from the first has been replaced by constant suspense, which seems suited for the book, as the protagonist is Time. The story is just as good as the first, but seems very different, as if written by a different author. The humor has been misplaced by just pure oddness, and the ways things are described are as different as the characters in the book themselves. The story is told in third person, but the way things are described seem to follow the way the main character would perceive them, not as how Piers Anthony would. Norton, the character who becomes Chronos, the Incarnation of Time, has a somewhat inanimate object that can come alive in his snake ring; “Sning” much as Zane from the On a Pale Horse had his horse/car.
Unfortunately, the book only scratches the surface of the life of Chronos, but you do get to learn much about the way he lives. The story was once again very compelling and hard to put down, but I just feel like going a little farther into the life of Chronos would have been nice. I liked how the story went back to scenes from the first book, viewing them through Norton’s eyes. Hopefully future books in the series will go deeper into the life of Norton. Overall though, another great novel in the series, making Incarnations of Immortality even better.
Pros: Great story, Still very hard to put down, another interesting subject for a story, Writing is very different but still great
Cons: Humor is replaced by just pure oddities, Does not go very far into the live of Norton
Overall: 9/10
