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    Bearing an Hourglass
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    Bearing an Hourglass
    Unavailable
    Bearing an Hourglass
    Ebook459 pages7 hours

    Bearing an Hourglass

    By Piers Anthony

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Like On a Pale Horse, this second, complete-in-itself novel of the Incarnations of Immortality is a richly imagined and always fascinating story. And again, Piers Anthony adds to his gripping plot a serious, though-provoking study of good and evil. 

    When life seemed pointless to Norton, he accepted the position as the Incarnation of Time, even though it meant living backward from present to past. 

    The other seemily all-powerful Incarnates of Immortality—Death, Fate, War, and Nature—made him welcome. Even Satan greeted him with gifts. But he soon discovered that the gifts were cunning traps. While he had been distracted, he had become enmeshed in a complex scheme of the Evil One to destroy all that was good. 

    In the end, armed with only the Hourglass, Norton was forced to confront the immense power of Satan directly. And though Satan banished him to Hell, he was resolved to fight on.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateFeb 14, 2012
    ISBN9780307815620
    Unavailable
    Bearing an Hourglass
    Author

    Piers Anthony

    Piers Anthony is one of the world’s most popular fantasy writers, and a New York Times–bestselling author twenty-one times over. His Xanth novels have been read and loved by millions of readers around the world, and he daily receives letters from his devoted fans. In addition to the Xanth series, Anthony is the author of many other bestselling works. He lives in Inverness, Florida.

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    Reviews for Bearing an Hourglass

    3.5/5

    828 ratings26 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This isn't my favorite in the series, it definitely suffers from second in a series syndrome. However, it's a definite must to read because if you skip it you'll miss seeing how the incarnations and their stories are intertwined. There are multiple things in the series you'll miss out on if you don't read this one. Which is why even though it's not a favorite I still give it a 3-star rating. Just remember when these were written there weren't many strong women in the Fantasy genre.
    • 3/5
      Interesting series.
    • 4/5
      Piers Anthony is such a misogynist prick, but he sometimes wrote fun stories. I'd never gotten around to reading the eighth in this series (I didn't even know there was an eighth until maybe five years ago...) and I wanted a light diversion so I can clear my head and focus on a book I'm reviewing. This is a light diversion. His writing always seems pretty shallow, in part due to his approach and methods, and yet with this particular series, he seems to have at least some forethought of how he expected the original five, then seven (and I'll reserve judgment on eight until I eventually read it) books were going to fit together. It's still shallow, but at least there is an overall plan.
    • 4/5
      A little more science-y than On a Pale Horse, but still a very fun read. It does take a while to fully figure out what is really happening, but that is part of the fun.
    • 1/5
      I really don't like this book. I only read it since it's part of a series and there are parts in this book that are necessary to understand the rest of the series. I can't even honestly say I read this- I skip whole chapters and skim most of the rest. It really is bad. I can't stand Norton.
    • 3/5
      Bearing an Hourglass (Der Sand der Zeit) ist der zweite Teil der Incarnations of Immortality mit Chronos, dem Vater der Zeit, als Hauptperson. Während der erste Band On A Pale Horse eher skurril und humorvoll daherkam, ist der vorliegende Band deutlich schwerfälliger, was sicher auch der tragischen Umstände zu verdanken ist, die Norton zum neuen Chronos werden lassen.Selbstverständlich ist auch Satan wieder mit von der Partie und versucht den noch unerfahrenen Norton für sich zu gewinnen, dessen Fähigkeiten als Vater Zeit für sich zu nutzen und die Vergangenheit zu seinen Gunsten zu verändern. Im Verlaufe dieses Handlungsstrangs treffen wir wieder auf Zane als Gevatter Tod und dessen Gefährtin Luna, der es erneut an den Kragen gehen soll. Bis Chronos merkt, was er unwissentlich getan hat, ist es beinahe schon zu spät, und der Leser taucht in ein rasantes Endspiel ein.Die Charaktere selbst sind wieder wunderbar gezeichnet, man erfährt viele Details aus dem Leben Nortons, der Funktion Chronos’, seinem Verhältnis zu den anderen Inkarnationen, aber auch einiges über diese selbst. Besonders interessant hierbei ist, dass Bearing An Hourglass keine typische Fortsetzung zu On A Pale Horse (Reiter auf dem schwarzen Pferd) darstellt, sondern sich eher wie ein Crossover liest. Die bekannten Figuren, die natürlich in beiden Romanen auftauchen, stellen zwar eine Gemeinsamkeit dar, daneben befasst sich jedoch jedes Buch der Incarnations of Immortality (Die Inkarnation der Unsterblichkeit) mit der jeweiligen Inkarnation und lässt geschehene Ereignisse aus dem Vorgängerband auf unterhaltsame Weise zu einem spät auftauchenden Nebenstrang werden. Dadurch lassen sich die einzelnen Bände dieser Reihe auch sehr gut außerhalb der Reihenfolge lesen, obwohl es für nette kleine Aha-Erlebnisse sorgt, wenn man sie beibehält.Trotz dieser guten Ansätze kommt das Buch aber nicht so recht in die Gänge. Es ist keine leichte Unterhaltungslektüre, bei der die Seiten vor Spannung dahinfliegen, denn der deprimierende Beweggrund für Chronos, seine Position als Inkarnation einzunehmen, ist stets gegenwärtig, was ein lockeres Dahintreiben der Story recht schwierig macht. Da sich dieser Roman zusätzlich in verschiedenen Zeitlinien abspielt und das manchmal wichtige Realitätsveränderungen nach sich zieht, sollte man Bearing an Hourglass in aufmerksamem Zustand lesen, sonst verpasst man schnell einen für den logischen Ablauf wichtigen Punkt.Das Einzige, was man Bearing An Hourglass neben einer leicht depressiven Grundstimmung negativ ankreiden muss, ist die stellenweise sehr träge Entwicklung der Handlung und ein paar störende, irgendwie unsinnig erscheinende Sequenzen, in denen Norton von Satan in eine Art Parallelwelt geschickt wird. Obwohl Piers Anthony hierfür viele nette Einfälle hatte und eindeutig Klischees des Genres durch den Kakao zieht, wirken diese Stellen manchmal etwas zu albern und letztlich auch überflüssig in ihren ausführlichen Schilderungen. Sie fügen sich nur mühsam in den Rest der Handlung ein, scheinen eher Seitenfüller als relevante Ereignisse zu sein und verhindern ein rundes Gesamtbild des Romans.Fans etwas ungewöhnlicher Urban Fantasy mit Hang zur Science Fiction werden aber sicherlich weiterhin auf ihre Kosten kommen. Denn der Weltenbau ist, wie im Roman zuvor, interessant durchdacht, birgt ungewöhnliche Ideen, viel Fantasie, und hin und wieder kommt auch ein Spritzer Humor dazu. An die unterhaltende Qualität seines Vorgängers kommt Bearing An Hourglass aber nicht ganz heran.
    • 3/5
      The book falls a little flat compared to the previous book in the series. It follows a similar story to On a Pale Horse, which is very interesting reading a similar story from a different perspective. The book is not very exciting because he made Chronos's time travel abilities so complicated that he spends most of the time explaining how it works and even then you are confused. The book is also cut into many different sections that don't seem to carry the story forward but are just little side quests for Chronos to go on.
    • 3/5
      This is book 2 of the Incarnations of Immortality, and while I enjoyed reading it, I didn't find it as amazing as the first book in the series. This could be because as a character, I am more interested in learning about the 'man' behind Death--his is a role that is more intrinsically interesting to me.

      This book follows the Incarnation of Chronos: Time. Pretty powerful dude, but when it came down to it, it was a lot more confusing for me to follow...and I was wishing for something a tad easier to follow.

      I liked the story line, and in the end Satan was--once again--foiled. :)
    • 3/5
      One of the things that I like about Wikipedia is that contain plot summaries of books that I read many years ago (and I don't want to read again) and as such they jog my memory so that I really don't have to reread them (which is a good thing in some cases because a lot of these books I really am not interested in reading again, and anyway, there are a lot of books on my shelf which have a much higher priority).I was about to write off this book as pulp until I read the plot again and noticed that this, like the first one, is quite twisted. It is set years after the first book, but the events in the first book have a major role to play in this book (which is not surprising since it is a sequel), and the antagonist (Satan) is using the events in this book in an attempt to undo the events in the first. The protagonist is a nomad named Norton who is given the hourglass after his beloved dies and he becomes the incarnation of Time. The catch is that he lives backwards, so he begins when he is old and ends at either birth or conception (which not really all that clear). The problem with living backwards is that it puts a dampner on being able to have relationships (though he is able to temporary move forward). Also, he is able to move through time from the beginning to the end.Satan appears again as the antagonist, and looking over the plot, Anthony does a good job in making him the deceitful trickster which he is often portrayed. This, I think, does bring out the truth of who Satan is as opposed to the demonic creature that simply wants to destroy everything. Instead he comes as a friend and lies, lies, and lies. He will offer a gift, but the gift is in fact a trap that will enable him to achieve his goals, and in this one it is to prevent Death's girlfriend from becoming a politician. He is also a master of illusions in that he creates a belief that Time can actually travel off world, but in reality he never leaves Earth.As mentioned, looking over the plot of this book reveals that it is a lot more than just some simple good guy verses bad guy book (though it still is in many cases) and like the first book, Satan doesn't die, but rather admits defeat and slinks off to plan his next intrigue.
    • 3/5
      This has literally been on my shelf for over 20 years. Finally got to reading it and can see why it took me so long.

      This follows the theme of the incarnations and has ties to the first book, but its a book more to itself where it follow's Norton who takes on the guise of Chronos.

      The themes throughout this series are fun to read, but not as fun as his most popular Xanth series. But the brilliance behind the themes and ideas really keeps this series going so many years since it was originally published. I'm optimistic that the next in line with Fate is supposed to be better so maybe as I progress through this and the others ill find some more appreciation for this installment.
    • 3/5
      This has literally been on my shelf for over 20 years. Finally got to reading it and can see why it took me so long.

      This follows the theme of the incarnations and has ties to the first book, but its a book more to itself where it follow's Norton who takes on the guise of Chronos.

      The themes throughout this series are fun to read, but not as fun as his most popular Xanth series. But the brilliance behind the themes and ideas really keeps this series going so many years since it was originally published. I'm optimistic that the next in line with Fate is supposed to be better so maybe as I progress through this and the others ill find some more appreciation for this installment.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this book until it got into the hardcore science crap. Physics and other boring rubbish. It wasn't necessary to go into that level of nausea inducing detail. It isn't a bad book if you skim past the pages and pages and pages of science stuff.
    • 5/5
      second in the Incarnations series. this isn't my favorite because the aspects of time get confusing at times, but the story is engaging as are the characters. the soul of the story grabs you.

      I always feel bad for Chronos, who lives backwards, out of time as it were. what he experiences others already have. its a lonely office.
    • 5/5
      4.5*Book source ~ Home libraryOne day when Norton is out camping he meets a ghost, Gawain. Gawain is from a noble family with a long lineage, but he died slaying a dragon (well, he thought it was a dragon) before he could marry and father an heir. So his parents arranged a ghost marriage for him and he’s wandering the Earth looking for a suitable man to get his wife pregnant. It is this meeting that changes Norton’s life in a really big way though he doesn’t know it yet.Book 2 in one of my favorite series is actually my least favorite book because of the Time thing. When Norton becomes Chronos he starts living his life backwards. This is the part where I get lost and no matter how many different times it’s explained by various people throughout the book, I still don’t get it or precisely how the hourglass works. I didn’t get it the other times I read it and I had hoped, now that I’m older, I might understand it, but nope. Ah, well. Except for that fact, I did enjoy the story. I love Norton/Chronos. He’s a great character and so well-detailed he feels like a real person. Sning is my next favorite character. I’d love to have a ring like him! When Satan’s plan is foiled by Death in Book 1, he tries his shenanigans with the new Chronos. Chronos shouldn’t have been so gullible, but who isn't a bit unsure in a new job? And being Chronos was way more than just any ol’ job. Whew! Anyway, despite the whole Time and paradox thing I once again enjoyed Norton’s story very much.
    • 5/5
      #2 of the Incarnations of Immortality. Just as good as the first one.Some time in the future (as evidenced by technology in use that is much more advanced than in the first story), Norton—a man of about forty—is living a life of nomadic wandering when a ghost named Gawain asks him to father a child to his widow, Orlene, with whom Norton eventually falls in love. Gawain then asks Gaea, the Incarnation of Nature, to make the child in his own likeness so his bloodline would continue. Unfortunately, the child ends up dead due to a disease that runs in Gawain's family. Orlene then commits suicide. This is when Norton summons Gawain again and is given the office of time and the the problems start.
    • 3/5
      While I was completely in love with _On a Pale Horse_ I was very much in meh with _Bearing an Hourglass_. Chronos was not as strong as a character, and I cared little about his plot. I know that he was necessary to defeat Satan's ploy this time around, and likely will be again, but I didn't feel drawn to him. I didn't really care if he succeeded.The character of Sning was by far the most interesting, even though he can only squeeze his responses to Chronos. A character who can only answer in ones, twos and threes - he was the most interesting of the characters. What does that say?The writing is just as enjoyable in terms of the prose, and there were moments of brilliance in the planning of the story, but for the most part, I was unintrigued. Anthony's exploration of the other Incarnations still have a pull for me, so I will continue with the series, but I am not nearly as gung-ho about them.
    • 4/5
      To me, this was the most boring of teh set. But this is also the one Anthony has the least freedom of material to work with - there are no major themes, just a man whose broken heart led him to pick up an hourglass and start living his life backwards.There are the usual problems adjusting to having become an Incarnation and it is a good read, just the slowest of the 7 to me. (Excuse me...now it's 8)
    • 3/5
      Bearing an Hourglass is the second book in Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series. In this novel, we follow the path of Norton, a nature loving wanderer, who by a series of events takes on the role of Chronos, the incarnation of time. In this often confusing role, Norton lives backwards as others move forward to enable him to know future events and perform his duties. The hourglass is his primary implement, allowing him to phase in to "normal" time to interact with others as well as progress forward and backward through time and space.This novel was a bit weaker than On a Pale Horse, as the majority of the novel is spent in alternate realities crafted by Satan to distract Chronos from his duties. Though confusing and fraught with paradox, this is a decent addition to the Incarnation series.
    • 4/5
       This series is definitely very YA. They are easy reads but enjoyable. A very unique concept.
    • 3/5
      So far, this is my least favorite of the series. The Hourglass seemed really complicated to control and I got lost somewhere in the explanation of controlling the hourglass. Love the series, but my least fav.
    • 3/5
      In this second novel of the Incarnations of Immortality series, Anthony gives us another interesting and fun (although sometimes confusing) story. His first book dealt with the office of Death, but instead of continuing that storyline, he writes about Time. Each book deals with a separate "Incarnation" and how a mortal gets appointed in that particular office. Time aka Chronos serves his office in a unique way. As everyone goes forward in time, he goes backward. This way he's able to control and manipulate time by knowing what everyone's future holds. Like the other books, we see how our "hero" Norton struggles with his official duties while being manipulated by the devil himself in the grand struggle between good and evil.
    • 4/5
      The second book of the series continues the story from the point of view of Time. This one is still good, but starts to run into some of the obvious problems, how can the powers contest each other, when they are all all-powerful, within their own sphere, particularly Time? This works because they are replaced from time to time (sorry) by mortals who aren't quite familiar with their powers yet, which Evil is trying to use to mess up the whole process. Still fascinating.
    • 5/5
      Like the first story, I really enjoyed this one. The most fun is watching the main characters blunder through learning their respective jobs, which of course are anything but normal.
    • 2/5
      Weaker plot line than On a Pale Horse and the writing style is still difficult.
    • 2/5
      second in the "incarnations of immortality" series. concerning Time, i always found this particular installation to be the most confusing and least engrossing of the series. must be read to complete the collection, but not a book i enjoyed much on its own merits.
    • 2/5
      Too technical, the time paradox stuff drove me crazy, too much help from other people.