Shame of Man

Rating:
Summary: Another wonderful book in the Geodyssey series
Review: After reading Isle of Woman, getting and reading Shame of Man became my next obsession. I'm happy that I did read it. This sequal to Isle of Woman is about Hugh and his beautiful wife Anne and their family. While the plot seems simple enough, Piers Anthony puts in the most wonderful unexpected twists and turns that make this story so exciting. He also includes characters from other sagas in the Geodyssey series as they continue on with their lives. I very highly reccomend this book to people who love history and enjoy feeling as connected to the characters as I do. All in all, the characters are wonderful, and the places in the past Piers Anthony sends you makes you feel like your there. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Review: Piers does a great job here. I would have never considered some of his ideas about evolution, but they definitely make a lot of sense. And on top of that, he writes an excellent plot that keeps you turning pages. He does a great job of timing so that there is just enough of his theory of evolution at any one point to keep me fascinated!

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, but not as refreshing as the first one
Review: The concept behing the Geodessy is compeling and the first book was great. This one didn't add that much to it.

I do admire the way Anthony changed his focus. This novel focuses on the role of the family and family members in struggle. This is not as dynamic or suspenseful a focus as that of Isle of Woman and therefore the book lacks a little in the suspense department. You will probably always know what the characters will do - they stick together 'cause their a family.

That being said, the stories are fun and the concept behind the book still carries it further than you'd expect (the concept of the same characters being reborn in various places and times).

If you like Isle of Woman, you'll probably like this one. If you thought it was so-so, you may be in for a long, dull night.

Rating:
Summary: Illuminates eight million years of history
Review: The second Geodyssey volume from Piers Anthony, 'Shame of Man' follows the lives of Hugh and Ann, illuminating as they do eight million years of history. The self-contained formula of 'Isle of Woman' is maintained; however, characters from that novel usefully return as occasional backdrop. The scenery remains wonderfully varied, with the narrative opening in the Great Rift Valley and continuing as far afield as Vietnam, Newfoundland and Scotland's Orkney Islands.The strongest of the twenty scenarios occurs 3,000 years ago, around the time of King David. Anthony's choice of Philistine characters here illustrates his approach: he doesn't always avoid the history textbooks' ground, but is nonetheless loath to retread conventional paths. Thus we see Japan visited in the third century AD, and on Genghis Khan's rise to fame we see an enemy's colossal misjudgment where other authors might substitute triumphant slaughter. The requisite Mediterranean setting is not Rome but New Carthage; similarly, when the story touches down in 1862 the siege is not of Richmond but of Shanghai, where millions died in the Taiping rebellion.Anthony expresses concern that global catastrophe lurks around the corner, and this is brought home to the reader most clearly in the microcosm of Easter Island (neatly sandwiched between Genghis and Scheherazade). Indeed, even the characters gradually become aware of it. The future of the sensible ones is glimpsed in Tasmania half a century hence. The use to which they put their technology, and their need to do so, is rich food for thought.

Rating:
Summary: It changed my outlook on life. Highly recommended!
Review: This book really makes you think about how our insticts guide us and human existence in general. It caused me to realize a lot of things I had taken for granted. Excellent!