LJ Idol Week 2: (Home Game)If it is any Consolation

[vik_thor]

Personified DEATH.

I like the DC / Vertigo version, the 'goth' girl who greets us when we enter the world (though most of us do not remember that meeting), and once more when you are leaving this life. Some beings meet her a few more times while they are alive. She does not tell anyone what is next, and your last meeting with her is the sound of wings, fluttering. She has stated that she was one of the first entities of The Endless, and she has said she will be around when this universe ends. She will put the chairs up on the tables, turn out the lights, and finally see what is next...
 

Discworld:

I NEED to read Sir Terry Pratchett's take on Death. He has a few books centered on Death, I think, and appears in others.I KNOW Sir Terry was a great author, I have read several of the Discworld books, but not the Death ones.
 

Incarnations of Immortality, by Piers Anthony

I think it is about time for me to reread of this series.


Riding a Pale Horse is the first one, about Death (1983)


Bearing an Hourglass is Time
(1984)

With a Tangled Skein is Fate
 (1985)

Wielding a Red Sword is War
 (1986)

Being a Green Mother: Nature / Gaia (1987)

 

There is a bit of a ... tone shift, I think is a good way to describe it, with the last 3.

For Love of Evil is Satan.
(1988)
And Eternity: Good / God. (1990)

 

And finally:
Under a Velvet Cloak : Nox (2009)
 

I've read the first 7, several times actually, did not find out about the final one until a few years ago. I have read several reviews on the final one, and they all mention it is an even more of a tone shift. and very sexual themes...

The world he created in Incarnations is interesting, but I don't know if I would want to live in it...

In this world, Death has to visit those people whose soul is so balanced between Good and Evil, that it will not rise to Heaven nor descend into Hell. They cannot actually die until he visits them and removes their soul from their body.

At one point, he refuses to take a soul tha is in balance, and basically goes on strike.
NOBODY can die until he takes that soul and sends it on it's way. (I don't remember details, but I think it ends up being a baby...)
I think Anthony describes someone burnt to a 'crisp' in a plane accident, with a large shard of glass through their lungs, Since they can't die, they are feeling all the agony you would expect.

If it is any consolation, he does eventually restart his job, people die and are finally out of their agaony.

Comments

[halfshellvenus]

I haven't actually read any of these, so I appreciate the suggestions!

[vik_thor]

DC Comics/ Vertigo's "The Sandman" is much better than Mr. Anthony's Incarnations in MANY ways.

The Endless (as written by Neil Gaiman) are set in the DC Comics Omniverse. (I'm not going to go into why I say Omniverse rather than the 'standard' Multiverse -which I actually had typed originally- right now. The basic TL;DR summary can give you a tase of the ... complexity .. is probably the best word.
1) There has been close to 100 years of mostly continuous publications in comic book form of several of the most well known titles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sandman_(comic_book)
2) There have been several whole companies bought and their IP eventually merged into the 'main' DC universe:
a) Fawcett Comics (the Shazam! family and several other titles / characters..)
b) Charlton Comics : Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, The Question and MANY more...

"The Sandman" was firmly set in the DC Comics Universe as it existed in 1989. Superman, Batman, Martian Manhunter are 3 of the characters that I remember appearing as cameos / back ground in the first few issues.
The Endless are:
Destiny, the oldest. I think this is the only one that Gaiman did not fully create by himself. He heavily adapted prevous characters of similar look / fuction.
Death, next oldest, the 'goth' girl aspect /portrayal is original to Gaiman I beleive.
Dream, his main aspect was captured in early 1900s by a magician. His escape from the trap and the results / consequences are what the main 75 issue series "The Sandman" is about.
Destruction, the Prodigal, he has 'abandoned his job' according to Dream. He wanders the mortal realm.
The next two are described as twins.
Despair: at the start of the series, the only one of The Endless who has had an aspect killed / destroyed. the current is a short, heavyset woman. She looks like a sumo wrestler, I have always thought. I don't think we ever learned how the previous Despair dies / was killed. I do think we saw the previous aspect once or twice.
Desire, very androgynous being. they are a trouble-maker.

The youngest, Delirium, was once Delight. she did not die like Despair. The reason for the change was never stated (to my recollection). Again, I think we got to see image of Delight, in a flashback story. Not certain. In the last story arc of "The Sandman" _The Wake_ the aspect of Dream we had been following (Black hair and clothing) dies / is killed (I do not remember the details. I guess that means it is time for a reread of Sandman.) the next aspect had white hair and clothing. He was Daniel, a child who was conceived and born in The Dreaming. All contemporary appearances (not flashback) have been of Daniel.
the fact that all the stories are told as comics / graphic novels, and that there have been many other series and 'expanded universe' add ons that are still in the DC Omniverse...

Incarnations the only illustations are the cover images of the books, painted by Michale Whelan. It is a VERY Christian oriented world.
I actually came across a review by BandGeek8408 on youtube about the Incarnations series. Watched all 5 of his videos about Books 1-7 between 23:11 CDT 29 June 2025 and 00:15 CDT 30 June 2025.
Like me, he had never read the 8th Book, and he does not seem to be active anymore on YT?

The dates of his original reviews range from 02 Sept 2013 for On a Pale Horse.
https://youtu.be/X7DUQgfX9uU?si=HkuWY57junAAkZK5
this is the link for that review.
to 17 Aug 2017 for his video on books 5-7 of the series. and like I said, not sure if he is still active, or possibly (Pandemic Victim???)
Basically, his reviews seem to mirror what I remember about the series.
Piers Anthony has some issues with his writing.