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Fantasy. Fiction. Science Fiction. Thriller. HTML:In this brilliant continuation of the epic adventure that began in Split Infinity, Piers Anthony again proves himself a master of both fantasy and science fiction For Stile, life was a matter of shuttling madly between two worlds, with the problems growing greater on each. On the science world of Proton, he was a serf, trying to prove his right to exist by competing in the Great Games. On Phaze, where only magic worked, he was the Blue Adept, trying to master the powers of sorcery. And on both worlds, someone was trying to assassinate him. Aside from winning increasingly difficult contests with no time to prepare, all he had to do was win the love of the Lady Blue, fight a dragon, discover the ultimate weapon�??and, of course, seek the paranoid Adept or the all-powerful Citizen who was trying to kill him! And now, just when things were growing impossible, he had to fight a mortal duel with the unicorn Herd Leader, against whom his magic powers were useles… (more)
User reviews
It loses a star for the last scene, really, in which he (spoilers ahead, but seriously, none of you will care, the book's thirty years old) defeats his enemy by implying that he's in love with her. See, she's such a rabid lunatic man-hater that this causes her to lose her shit and throw the game they're playing in an attempt to beat his head into a pulp.
This of course is the only possible explanation for why she, as a female, did not fall for his unearthly charm. The only other women in the book who don't are a menopausal woman and a child. (And the child totally harbors a crush on him for the next four books.) Psychopathic man-hater! That must be it! Never mind that this comes totally out of the blue in this scene, unsupported by any of the previous interactions with this character (of which there are quite a few.) And is completely dumb besides. This totally threw me even as an eight-year-old, and as a thirty-something woman, I have no patience left for this kind of bullshit.
One thing I didn't mention in the previous book is the female robot that one sees on the cover. Yes, it is female, and yes it is naked, and yes, Stile does have sex with her. She is basically a self-willed robot, though it appears that she masks herself as a serf for some reason or another. To me I find it a little silly that somebody could have an intimate relationship with a robot, though I have noticed that sex robots that can apparently talk have already been developed. My thoughts are simply that humans are so much better, and while some may argue that the technology is still very much in the development stage, I personally would not be interested.
Phaze, as previously mentioned, is a magical planet that is the opposite of Proton. Almost everybody on Proton has a double on Phaze, however I say almost because there are those who do not, and if you are one of those who do not, then you can cross between the two worlds. On Phaze Stile discovers that he is actually an 'Adept', a powerful magician, as well as a member of the ruling class. As such, by crossing over to Phaze, it turns out that Stile, the serf, becomes one of the planets rulers. However, I don't really understand why he wouldn't stay since back on Proton he is little more than a serf, while on Phaze, he is one of the ruling elite.
This is sort of a science-fiction/fantasy/adventure story with Stile discovering who he is and making his way in the world. However there is also somebody out to kill him, and this particular person is also entering the game to become a citizen. It is a little difficult to understand any of the reasoning behind it, particularly since it has been quite a while since I actually read this book. However, I do remember that it did get quite exciting at one stage. Further, I am really not clear on whether I went on to read the second trilogy, and in a way looking at the brief synopsis of the second trilogy, I am a little bit more unsure as to whether I actually read them (though I will add them because in all likelihood I did, it is just that the plots did not turn out to be all that great).