Isle of Woman

Isle of Woman

Piers Anthony

This book's colorful cover caught my eye, crammed onto the shelf at the used bookstore. Since it was about prehistory, I took it home. For some reason, I've been on a pre-history kick for a long while. Give me anything to do with the ice age and I'll give it a shot.

The concept explored by this book seemed pretty interesting. Following a few individuals reborn throughout mankind's history, through it's varied cultures and time itself. We gain insight into our past; alongside these people we make discoveries pivotal to our way of life, explore unpeopled lands, watch pivotal historical events as they unfold.

However, Isle of Woman does not deliver as well as it has promised. The first problem (though only a minor annoyance, really), is the recycling of names throughout the book. It is understood that the author is trying to make it clear that these are the same souls born again, but it can be hard to keep track of where we are and who we are reading about when we read about a completely different Blaze and Bunny and Ember and Scortch just a chapter ago.

The second problem is that the book preaches, just a little. We get a little warning each time, about how mankind has treated the environment. Now, perhaps for me, this is a case of preaching to the chior. I've done the research, my eyes are open, I am aware of the fact that we must change our course, so perhaps thats why I do not like the way in which this book holds my hand and hints at me that we killed the mammoths and the megafauna of Australia, how our moving to cities set in motion a chain of events that has altered climate, etc. I'ts ok, I can read through a little hand-holding.

However, upon reaching the final chapter, which is set in the not-too-distant future, I nearly put the book down for good. We find mankind reduced, after ecological catastrophy on the global scale, to subsisting on farmed algae and ranched roaches. Maybe that's ok too; I love a good post-apocalyptic tale, and oh, what a relief, our two lost lovers, separated at the dawn of time finally reunite. It was like watching two people run into eachother at the shopping mall. "I missed you in the parking lot!" "You weren't in the foodcourt!"

For an idea that had so much potential, this book was very dissapointing.

-Looked better on the menu