I received this book as a gift from a friend. He said it was one of his favorite series. I had heard of Piers Anthony; one of my good friends in High School read him but somehow I just never managed to. I found myself laughing out loud and reading pithy sections to my wife as I read. I haven’t read much Terry Pratchett but this book was nailing the odd British humor that he and Douglas Adams are known for. It was a light, enjoyable read, though it did touch on some interesting social ideas, including the existential meaning of life (death), the balance of good and evil and fate vs. free will.
The book starts with Zane, our main character, down on his luck, about to be evicted, unsure what to do. The world is a blend of magic and science; both are present and have equal power. He stops someone mugging a relatively famous ghost, finds himself at home with the gun, and contemplates ending his life. There is a knock at the door, and Death appears. It frightens him so much that he shoots Death, dead, in his doorway. And thus begins his adventures. He meets Chronos, Fate, and several other incarnations (such as Nature and War) who are waging a battle against Satan for control of power with an absent God.
I found the pacing to be light, the humor to be fantastic, and the twists and turns made sense once you got to the end and thought about the choices and options Zane had. Along the way he finds love, unexpectedly, but must come to grips with whether or not it was true love or a magical encounter enhanced by Fate and the other incarnations. This is the first of seven books and I will definitely keep it on my list. My friend mentioned to me that all the books tell basically the same story though from different viewpoints of the various incarnations, which is an intriguing way to do it. I might do some additional research and find other more SF works by Anthony. All in all, this was an interesting window into SF and Fantasy from the early 80s.