On a Pale Horse

Last week I finally finished On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony. It's the first book in the Incarnation of Immortality series. However, I don't think I'm going beyond this one. I've read bits and pieces of what's in the following books, and I know that there's going to be pretty graphic things. I really don't want to read that.

Anyway, I found On a Pale Horse an interesting read. I started reading it in my junior year of high school. I found it interesting then too, but I got my hands on other books instead. The main action in the book doesn't happen until the very end and that's why I found it pretty easy to put it down.

Zane is the main character and as he is attempting to commit suicide, Death comes walking in and Zane shoots him. Zane learns that he has to take the place of Death and meets the other incarnations throughout his journey. He gets tangled into a plot dealing with Satan, but he has to destroy the woman he loves, Luna. So he tries to find a way to fight off Satan.

Zane doesn't learn about the plot until near the end of the book. Before this he has to go around and collect the souls of people who are 'at balance' between good and evil. I found the reasoning for the people at being at balance disturbing sometimes. Especially when Zane has to collect babies or children under 8. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I found the reasoning for the children being at balance sad; for the babies especially. I know that through the Atonement, Jesus Christ made the Fall null for everyone. Our sins are not our parents sins. They are our own and so we have to use the Atonement while repenting for ourselves.

I'm glad that I read this book now. I have my own testimony of the Atonement and this book didn't change my stand on that or how God and Satan work. By the end of the book, God and Satan were made to the same level as the other Incarnations. That was weird. I still find it interesting to read though.