Isle of woman

by Piers Anthony

Hardcover, 1993

Status

Available

Collections

Publication

New York : TOR, 1993.

Description

From the New York Times-bestselling author of the Xanth novels: An epic drama of two souls whose tragedies and triumphs span human history. Piers Anthony's Isle of Woman is a monumental epic of unprecedented drama and scope, retelling the saga of humankind in a unique and dramatic way. The culmination of more than a quarter century of research, it is a stunningly ambitious achievement from a master of imaginative fiction. At once grand in scope and intimate in human detail, Isle of Woman tells the story of a man and a woman born at the dawn of human history, separated by fate, yet united by an unquenchable passion that even time could not conquer: Blaze, the fire worker who raised his kind of savagery, and Ember, the beautiful green-eyed woman who forever haunted his dreams.  Through their eyes and those of their descendents, we witness humanity's odyssey from savagery to civilization as they are reborn again and again throughout history. We share with these two eternal lovers an unforgettable odyssey of triumph, tragedy, and discovery that takes them from the African savannah to the ancient Middle East, from the South Pacific to the caves of northern Europe, from the court of imperial China to India during the British Raj, ending in a stunning reunion in an America in ruins only a few short years from now. … (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Demiguise
A vast departure from what most people expect from Anthony, this book begins a series which explores the beginnings of humankind, various theories for evolution, and a warning about where we may be headed as a species in the future.

As someone who loves history and wonders about how we managed to
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first come down from the trees, this was an enjoyable read. It remains one of my favorite books on the shelf.
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LibraryThing member annbury
The first in Anthony's "Geodyssey" series. The novel traces a man and a woman who recur again and again through human history (not exactly reincarnation, not exactly archetypes). It's a really interesting way to look at history and at some big themes in history, and I'd give it five stars for the
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idea and the effort. But the characters are wooden at best, mechanical at worst, which would bring us down below three stars for execution. That said, this is a book I remember very well, and a book I'm looking forward to rereading -- and isn't that worth four stars?
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LibraryThing member puckrobin
I adore this series! Not Piers's regular 'punny' style, this is Anthony's exploration of various theories of the evolution of human kind and human civilization. The book begins with among pre-human 'tribes' in North Africa; with each chapter the characters age one to two years, but the events from
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one chapter to the next may happen hundreds or thousands of years apart. Each chapter is prefaced with anthropological information about the location and era explored in the chapter. Enjoyable from the perspective of the story of a family through generations, but also the story of human-kind, and a thought provoking speculation on where we've come from and where we might be headed.
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LibraryThing member Snukes
I loved the way this book was set up, using the same characters in many different settings and cultures throughout history. Very creative and really engaging. My favorite in the whole set.
LibraryThing member librisissimo
Substance: An interesting way to dispense fictionalized speculative anthropological "information", through the medium of a connected series of episodes using the same names and "back story" for characters in wildly different eras and geographic locations. The speculations were interesting and build
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on the knowledge base at the time of writing (some conclusions and inferences have been superseded by new discoveries), informative so far as it goes. I do not for a moment believe that any actual persons living in the ages depicted would behave in the raised-consciousness fashion of the protagonists. Graphic sexual descriptions, no matter how "true" to the period, make this a book unsuitable for Anthony's usual fantasy audience.
Style: Easy reading on a junior-youth level, which with the soft-core elements makes it difficult to determine his target audience. A friend confirms that the second volume suffers the same ambiguity. The "reincarnation" conceit is done well.
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Language

Original publication date

1993

Physical description

448 p.; 24 cm

ISBN

0312855648 / 9780312855642

Local notes

"A Tom Doherty Associates book."

Barcode

2014-2611

Pages

448
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