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Apprentice Adept #2
Blue Adept
In this brilliant continuation of the epic adventure that began in Split Infinity, Piers Anthony again proves himself a master of both fantasy and science fiction
For Stile, life was a matter of shuttling madly between two worlds, with the problems growing greater on each. On the science world of Proton, he was a serf, trying to prove his right to exist by competing in the Great Games. On Phaze, where only magic worked, he was the Blue Adept, trying to master the powers of sorcery. And on both worlds, someone was trying to assassinate him.
Aside from winning increasingly difficult contests with no time to prepare, all he had to do was win the love of the Lady Blue, fight a dragon, discover the ultimate weapon—and, of course, seek the paranoid Adept or the all-powerful Citizen who was trying to kill him!
And now, just when things were growing impossible, he had to fight a mortal duel with the unicorn Herd Leader, against whom his magic powers were useless!
For Stile, life was a matter of shuttling madly between two worlds, with the problems growing greater on each. On the science world of Proton, he was a serf, trying to prove his right to exist by competing in the Great Games. On Phaze, where only magic worked, he was the Blue Adept, trying to master the powers of sorcery. And on both worlds, someone was trying to assassinate him.
Aside from winning increasingly difficult contests with no time to prepare, all he had to do was win the love of the Lady Blue, fight a dragon, discover the ultimate weapon—and, of course, seek the paranoid Adept or the all-powerful Citizen who was trying to kill him!
And now, just when things were growing impossible, he had to fight a mortal duel with the unicorn Herd Leader, against whom his magic powers were useless!
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
195 people are currently reading
1761 people want to read
About the author
Piers Anthony
441 books4,214 followersThough he spent the first four years of his life in England, Piers never returned to live in his country of birth after moving to Spain and immigrated to America at age six. After graduating with a B.A. from Goddard College, he married one of his fellow students and and spent fifteen years in an assortment of professions before he began writing fiction full-time.
Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.
Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
May 28, 2012
It's not actually worse than Split Infinity, really - it actually moves faster, the stakes are higher, and the many brief Tourney scenes remain entertaining (if slightly irritating once you realize just how implausible Stile's ridiculous breadth and depth of skills is. Seriously, he had a full-time job and he's 35, yet he can run marathons, is a top-ranked martial artist, a serious musician, the best rider on the planet, a competitive gymnast, skilled swordsman, and he can use a sewing machine? Come on.)
It loses a star for the last scene, really, in which he (spoilers ahead, but seriously, none of you will care, the book's thirty years old) defeats his enemy by implying that he's in love with her. See, she's such a rabid lunatic man-hater that this causes her to lose her shit and throw the game they're playing in an attempt to beat his head into a pulp.
This of course is the only possible explanation for why she, as a female, did not fall for his unearthly charm. The only other women in the book who don't are a menopausal woman and a child. (And the child totally harbors a crush on him for the next four books.) Psychopathic man-hater! That must be it! Never mind that this comes totally out of the blue in this scene, unsupported by any of the previous interactions with this character (of which there are quite a few.) And is completely dumb besides. This totally threw me even as an eight-year-old, and as a thirty-something woman, I have no patience left for this kind of bullshit.
It loses a star for the last scene, really, in which he (spoilers ahead, but seriously, none of you will care, the book's thirty years old) defeats his enemy by implying that he's in love with her. See, she's such a rabid lunatic man-hater that this causes her to lose her shit and throw the game they're playing in an attempt to beat his head into a pulp.
This of course is the only possible explanation for why she, as a female, did not fall for his unearthly charm. The only other women in the book who don't are a menopausal woman and a child. (And the child totally harbors a crush on him for the next four books.) Psychopathic man-hater! That must be it! Never mind that this comes totally out of the blue in this scene, unsupported by any of the previous interactions with this character (of which there are quite a few.) And is completely dumb besides. This totally threw me even as an eight-year-old, and as a thirty-something woman, I have no patience left for this kind of bullshit.
January 15, 2019
Following Stile further as he continues the struggles from
Split Infinity
. Trying to complete a series of competitions to win his freedom in one world while trying to understand his new position and powers in the other. All while trying to avoid getting killed and working out who's trying to kill him. Phew!
While it doesn't really stand alone as a book, it's a good continuation of the series and keeps the intrigue and revelations coming.
While it doesn't really stand alone as a book, it's a good continuation of the series and keeps the intrigue and revelations coming.
November 20, 2012
So.
I’m continuing on my trek through pulp fantasy I read as a kid – although I’m really not sure if I actually read these 3 books or not, I know I read books 4-7 of the series (I still owned them when I bought (or re-bought) these three). They definitely have that 70s/80s fantasy cover thing down though right? I don’t think the hero ever wears a chain mail skirt – yet there he is on the cover! The lady in red with the demon jumping out of an amulet is actually pretty accurate though.
The story itself suffered from some of the same technical flaws as the previous volume – things that are either just obvious to me now because of the quantity of books I’ve read since then, or because I’m older and pickier. Or both. Some things just seem really juvenile and/or simple. The lead character’s romances become slightly more believable – although him going after his alternate’s widow in such short time still strikes me as not very heroic. The idiotic forced use of “the,thy,thou” etc. type stuff also gets quite annoying, and I don’t think contributed anything to the series. Maybe it was required in all fantasy back then? :)
Still, for all its warts, I enjoyed the book. The skeleton of the plot is interesting, even if the meat may hang loosely in parts or not at all. The magic/tech world overlap is a good device, and that by itself keeps me going to some degree. Also I kept waiting for an event I knew about from reading the newer books, but it never happened, so I guess that comes later.
I think this was the weakest book in the series, although I’ve already forgotten why I had that particular opinion.
Oh. Maybe it was the ending…wow. Even worse than the first book. It ends at a hard cliff, I mean, shit happens, then shit doesn’t. And you don’t exactly know what the resolution is. Sure, you can guess – and make a pretty good guess at that – but it just feels really really sloppy the way it dropped off.
TWO AND A HALF STARS
I’m continuing on my trek through pulp fantasy I read as a kid – although I’m really not sure if I actually read these 3 books or not, I know I read books 4-7 of the series (I still owned them when I bought (or re-bought) these three). They definitely have that 70s/80s fantasy cover thing down though right? I don’t think the hero ever wears a chain mail skirt – yet there he is on the cover! The lady in red with the demon jumping out of an amulet is actually pretty accurate though.
The story itself suffered from some of the same technical flaws as the previous volume – things that are either just obvious to me now because of the quantity of books I’ve read since then, or because I’m older and pickier. Or both. Some things just seem really juvenile and/or simple. The lead character’s romances become slightly more believable – although him going after his alternate’s widow in such short time still strikes me as not very heroic. The idiotic forced use of “the,thy,thou” etc. type stuff also gets quite annoying, and I don’t think contributed anything to the series. Maybe it was required in all fantasy back then? :)
Still, for all its warts, I enjoyed the book. The skeleton of the plot is interesting, even if the meat may hang loosely in parts or not at all. The magic/tech world overlap is a good device, and that by itself keeps me going to some degree. Also I kept waiting for an event I knew about from reading the newer books, but it never happened, so I guess that comes later.
I think this was the weakest book in the series, although I’ve already forgotten why I had that particular opinion.
Oh. Maybe it was the ending…wow. Even worse than the first book. It ends at a hard cliff, I mean, shit happens, then shit doesn’t. And you don’t exactly know what the resolution is. Sure, you can guess – and make a pretty good guess at that – but it just feels really really sloppy the way it dropped off.
TWO AND A HALF STARS
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December 5, 2018Oh, man. I'm still going to listen to book 3 just to complete the re-experience, but this one was even worse in terms of Anthony's depictions of women - especially via the main character's opinions of women and their natures/qualities/abilities/etc. I guess as a kid all of that went over my head somehow? Yikes.
September 25, 2017
Again, I read this to my kids, editing out as much of the sexist crap as possible on the fly while reading aloud. My kids enjoyed it and definitely wanted me to read the next book, which we have begun.
November 2, 2016
Middle book of a trilogy is supposed to be the weakest.
To some extent that is true as the protagonist leans more and more on magic than his own wits.
Serendipity, never very far away in any of the trilogy, presents itself as the solution for Phaze problems.
What saves the book is the Game and especially the GRID, providing interesting negotiations and balances to overcome.
The role of the self-aware robots is odd; Anthony has difficulty being consistent with what is an essentially impossible condition to distinguish, on the written page, from a human.
Nevertheless, I think book 2 holds its own, has enough character development to be engaging and the twists and turns of a "good" man in a "bad" system are explored with some grace.
To some extent that is true as the protagonist leans more and more on magic than his own wits.
Serendipity, never very far away in any of the trilogy, presents itself as the solution for Phaze problems.
What saves the book is the Game and especially the GRID, providing interesting negotiations and balances to overcome.
The role of the self-aware robots is odd; Anthony has difficulty being consistent with what is an essentially impossible condition to distinguish, on the written page, from a human.
Nevertheless, I think book 2 holds its own, has enough character development to be engaging and the twists and turns of a "good" man in a "bad" system are explored with some grace.
November 11, 2019
I definitely enjoyed this book. I found the expanded knowledge of Phaze enjoyable and the regular jumps back and forth between Phaze and Photon kept the pace interesting and didn't let it linger in one frame too long. The constant contests between Blue and the Unicorn leader, Blue and the dragon, blue and the other tourney contestants, and blue and red also kept the action moving. I look forward to seeing where we go next.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2013
So there will be spoilers, but I don't really care. If anything I say makes you feel that you wouldn't want to read this, then good for you. The book really isn't good enough for me to concern myself with such things. Still reading? You were warned fair and square.
So. Stile rapes his way through yet another book. In the first, he declares that he has raped Sheen by forcing her to reveal information that she wanted kept secret. Not exactly what I would call rape, but that's how he defined it, so I'm counting it. Next, (and still in book one) he rapes Neysa. This is unquestioned, but also unmentioned. Seriously, he spends an entire chapter forcing her to his will, but never seems to realize this is wrong. He makes several retroactive statements about having "broken her will" or "taming" her, but as he said in his own defense, he had needs. Not even making that up, he excuse was, he needed something, and she was available.
Moving on to Book Two. Lady Blue informs Stile that she loves him, because of the magical roofie spell he cast on her. While she is talking about the magical roofie spell, that also involved Neysa, he is reminded about how he'd "raped" Sheen in book one. But not Neysa. Even though Neysa is part of the conversation they are actually having. Even though his "rape" of Sheen was more forcing her to tell him a secret. Even though he had violently raped Neysa and they are talking about Neysa and he does not even once think of Neysa!
Ahem. My point here, is that he himself identifies his magical roofie spell with sexual coercion, but when Lady Blue tells him she's ion love with him anyway, his only response is "Yippy." So, victim #3, COME on DOWN! You're the next contestant on The Price is Rape!
Let me step away from the Rape Box for a few minutes. I'm pretty sure the Werewolves were included in these book just so Anthony would have an excuse to call females "bitches." Yeah, I get the joke. you can't not get the joke. Every time there's a woman near a werewolf, she will be called a bitch. And oh, hee-hee that's just how we talk.
Oh, and the Red Adept? The one who you can see on the front cover, summoning a demon? Turns out she's NOT a dude! Now, this may not be entirely Mr. Anthony's fault, but someone has to take the blame for this. Stile doesn't find out she's female until almost exactly 3/4 of the way through the book. If you're trying to save that up for a surprise twist, you don't put it on the cover where the readers can see it!
And then we get to the final (for this book) match in The Tourney, Stile vs Red Adept (thus far unnamed in Proton Frame.) And how does Stile win this all-important semi-final match? Why, with forced sexual contact, of course! It's a free-form interpretive dance competition, wherein the competitors must act out a story that the computer devises. So yes, they are told to act out a love scene, but it is up to them how they would like to do that. And Stile chooses the way that he knows will be the most offensive. But that's okay, because Anthony goes out of his way to portray her as a man-hater. Specifically, in the text calling her a man-hater. And (out of nowhere, mind you) telling us that she hated all men because of the fact that they ARE men.
And what evidence do we have for this hatred of all things male? Only the fact that she is the only female of any species who hasn't tried to bed the protagonist. Seriously, every single female creature who Stile comes across, wants have The Sex with him, except this one. Therefor she is evil, and must be tamed. Just like Neysa was.
Honestly, I'm only still reading at this point because I bought all three of the first trilogy at a used book sale, and I have this thing about finishing a series when I start it. And most of the story is okay, with the magic, and the Games, and the Mythical Creatures and whatnot. But Book 3 is going to have to really surprise me before I'll even consider picking up the next one.
So. Stile rapes his way through yet another book. In the first, he declares that he has raped Sheen by forcing her to reveal information that she wanted kept secret. Not exactly what I would call rape, but that's how he defined it, so I'm counting it. Next, (and still in book one) he rapes Neysa. This is unquestioned, but also unmentioned. Seriously, he spends an entire chapter forcing her to his will, but never seems to realize this is wrong. He makes several retroactive statements about having "broken her will" or "taming" her, but as he said in his own defense, he had needs. Not even making that up, he excuse was, he needed something, and she was available.
Moving on to Book Two. Lady Blue informs Stile that she loves him, because of the magical roofie spell he cast on her. While she is talking about the magical roofie spell, that also involved Neysa, he is reminded about how he'd "raped" Sheen in book one. But not Neysa. Even though Neysa is part of the conversation they are actually having. Even though his "rape" of Sheen was more forcing her to tell him a secret. Even though he had violently raped Neysa and they are talking about Neysa and he does not even once think of Neysa!
Ahem. My point here, is that he himself identifies his magical roofie spell with sexual coercion, but when Lady Blue tells him she's ion love with him anyway, his only response is "Yippy." So, victim #3, COME on DOWN! You're the next contestant on The Price is Rape!
Let me step away from the Rape Box for a few minutes. I'm pretty sure the Werewolves were included in these book just so Anthony would have an excuse to call females "bitches." Yeah, I get the joke. you can't not get the joke. Every time there's a woman near a werewolf, she will be called a bitch. And oh, hee-hee that's just how we talk.
Oh, and the Red Adept? The one who you can see on the front cover, summoning a demon? Turns out she's NOT a dude! Now, this may not be entirely Mr. Anthony's fault, but someone has to take the blame for this. Stile doesn't find out she's female until almost exactly 3/4 of the way through the book. If you're trying to save that up for a surprise twist, you don't put it on the cover where the readers can see it!
And then we get to the final (for this book) match in The Tourney, Stile vs Red Adept (thus far unnamed in Proton Frame.) And how does Stile win this all-important semi-final match? Why, with forced sexual contact, of course! It's a free-form interpretive dance competition, wherein the competitors must act out a story that the computer devises. So yes, they are told to act out a love scene, but it is up to them how they would like to do that. And Stile chooses the way that he knows will be the most offensive. But that's okay, because Anthony goes out of his way to portray her as a man-hater. Specifically, in the text calling her a man-hater. And (out of nowhere, mind you) telling us that she hated all men because of the fact that they ARE men.
And what evidence do we have for this hatred of all things male? Only the fact that she is the only female of any species who hasn't tried to bed the protagonist. Seriously, every single female creature who Stile comes across, wants have The Sex with him, except this one. Therefor she is evil, and must be tamed. Just like Neysa was.
Honestly, I'm only still reading at this point because I bought all three of the first trilogy at a used book sale, and I have this thing about finishing a series when I start it. And most of the story is okay, with the magic, and the Games, and the Mythical Creatures and whatnot. But Book 3 is going to have to really surprise me before I'll even consider picking up the next one.
December 31, 2024
Honestly big improvement from book 1… more plot development and better action, a more engaging read. But still not great. Same themes as the first book, we continue to lack world building and explanations around the magic systems.
May 28, 2024
I had to follow up and binge this sequel to Split Infinity.
October 4, 2014
The saga of the sex robot continues
1 March 2012
Hmm, as I glanced at some of the reviews I seemed to notice the suggestion that it really is not a stand alone book, but rather a direct continuation of book one (in the same way that the Two Towers is a direct continuation of Fellowship of the Ring) though that is hardly an issue considering the number of series out there that need to be read in order. Fortunately not all serial books are like that (such as The Dresden Files) but many are (in particular the Wheel of Time). I sort of assumed (and I know what they say about assumptions) that the game had finished in the previous book, and Stile was beginning to work out how to operate as a citizen, but that does not seem to be the case.
One thing I didn't mention in the previous book is the female robot that one sees on the cover.
Yes, it is female, and yes it is naked, and yes, Stile does have sex with her. She is basically a self-willed robot, though it appears that she masks herself as a serf for some reason or another. To me I find it a little silly that somebody could have an intimate relationship with a robot, though I have noticed that sex robots that can apparently talk have already been developed. My thoughts are simply that humans are so much better, and while some may argue that the technology is still very much in the development stage, I personally would not be interested.
Phaze, as previously mentioned, is a magical planet that is the opposite of Proton. Almost everybody on Proton has a double on Phaze, however I say almost because there are those who do not, and if you are one of those who do not, then you can cross between the two worlds. On Phaze Stile discovers that he is actually an 'Adept', a powerful magician, as well as a member of the ruling class. As such, by crossing over to Phaze, it turns out that Stile, the serf, becomes one of the planets rulers. However, I don't really understand why he wouldn't stay since back on Proton he is little more than a serf, while on Phaze, he is one of the ruling elite.
This is sort of a science-fiction/fantasy/adventure story with Stile discovering who he is and making his way in the world. However there is also somebody out to kill him, and this particular person is also entering the game to become a citizen. It is a little difficult to understand any of the reasoning behind it, particularly since it has been quite a while since I actually read this book. However, I do remember that it did get quite exciting at one stage. Further, I am really not clear on whether I went on to read the second trilogy, and in a way looking at the brief synopsis of the second trilogy, I am a little bit more unsure as to whether I actually read them (though I will add them because in all likelihood I did, it is just that the plots did not turn out to be all that great).
1 March 2012
Hmm, as I glanced at some of the reviews I seemed to notice the suggestion that it really is not a stand alone book, but rather a direct continuation of book one (in the same way that the Two Towers is a direct continuation of Fellowship of the Ring) though that is hardly an issue considering the number of series out there that need to be read in order. Fortunately not all serial books are like that (such as The Dresden Files) but many are (in particular the Wheel of Time). I sort of assumed (and I know what they say about assumptions) that the game had finished in the previous book, and Stile was beginning to work out how to operate as a citizen, but that does not seem to be the case.
One thing I didn't mention in the previous book is the female robot that one sees on the cover.
Yes, it is female, and yes it is naked, and yes, Stile does have sex with her. She is basically a self-willed robot, though it appears that she masks herself as a serf for some reason or another. To me I find it a little silly that somebody could have an intimate relationship with a robot, though I have noticed that sex robots that can apparently talk have already been developed. My thoughts are simply that humans are so much better, and while some may argue that the technology is still very much in the development stage, I personally would not be interested.
Phaze, as previously mentioned, is a magical planet that is the opposite of Proton. Almost everybody on Proton has a double on Phaze, however I say almost because there are those who do not, and if you are one of those who do not, then you can cross between the two worlds. On Phaze Stile discovers that he is actually an 'Adept', a powerful magician, as well as a member of the ruling class. As such, by crossing over to Phaze, it turns out that Stile, the serf, becomes one of the planets rulers. However, I don't really understand why he wouldn't stay since back on Proton he is little more than a serf, while on Phaze, he is one of the ruling elite.
This is sort of a science-fiction/fantasy/adventure story with Stile discovering who he is and making his way in the world. However there is also somebody out to kill him, and this particular person is also entering the game to become a citizen. It is a little difficult to understand any of the reasoning behind it, particularly since it has been quite a while since I actually read this book. However, I do remember that it did get quite exciting at one stage. Further, I am really not clear on whether I went on to read the second trilogy, and in a way looking at the brief synopsis of the second trilogy, I am a little bit more unsure as to whether I actually read them (though I will add them because in all likelihood I did, it is just that the plots did not turn out to be all that great).
November 15, 2019
It had been years since I read the Adept series. I enjoyed the book immensely when I did not care about my own rights as a woman because I wasn't a woman, I was just a child. But now that I myself have experienced how little a womans personality and other virtues matter to the men of the world it is quite galling to have it written out so plainly.
Stile is a man that accepts the love of any and all women as his right. He is a grand one to talk about honor and integrity while he has women in several places. They are allowed to love him while he gives them nothing but heartache and in some cases short lived death.
Even his Lady Wife is no more than her appearance really. She is not a well fleshed out character unless we are literally talking about her flesh. She is supposed to be a kind wonderful woman yet most often it is not a virtue that is written about so much as her physical appearance.
So basically Stile is man who loves himself too much. He feels he is entitled to love but not that he necessarily needs to give it in return. He is in no way an honorable person otherwise he would have done as Sheen asked and scrapped her, yet instead he restored her so she could love him while he cared nothing for her. And despite what these books are saying, no sex is not love, only in a man's opinion is sex love.
Stile is a man that accepts the love of any and all women as his right. He is a grand one to talk about honor and integrity while he has women in several places. They are allowed to love him while he gives them nothing but heartache and in some cases short lived death.
Even his Lady Wife is no more than her appearance really. She is not a well fleshed out character unless we are literally talking about her flesh. She is supposed to be a kind wonderful woman yet most often it is not a virtue that is written about so much as her physical appearance.
So basically Stile is man who loves himself too much. He feels he is entitled to love but not that he necessarily needs to give it in return. He is in no way an honorable person otherwise he would have done as Sheen asked and scrapped her, yet instead he restored her so she could love him while he cared nothing for her. And despite what these books are saying, no sex is not love, only in a man's opinion is sex love.
May 7, 2024
As good as I remember it was. I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed them before. Piers Anthony is a master of world building!
July 15, 2024
The second book in the Apprentice Adept series is slightly better than the first.
The diminutive protagonist, Stile, continues his adventures across two parallel worlds, Proton and Phaze. On the fantasy world Phaze he is the newly installed Blue Adept, the most powerful of the magical adepts. He has won the friendship of unicorns and werewolves, and gained the respect of his fellow adepts. But will he ever win the love of the Lady Blue, widow to his murdered counterpart?
Meanwhile on his native world, the technological Proton, Stile continues the game tourney, vying to become a full citizen even as an unseen assassin stalks him.
Piers Anthony's objectification of women mellows in this story (it was BAD in "Split Infinity," the first in the series). There is far less schoolboy wish-fulfillment by the beautiful women in Stile's life. The Lady Blue is a deeper character than Stile's companions, Sheen and Neysia. She is, however, an early example of a manic pixie dreamgirl.
Stile himself becomes quite the Mary Sue. There is seemingly no skill beyond him. Standing under five feet tall, he's still able to overwhelm most physical opponents, something ten year old me would have loved. Now, it feels tired. He also receives some late plot armor (though it's cleverly crafted and will lead to interesting, if predictable, conflicts in the next book).
For all its problems, the story remains fun and engaging. Piers Anthony writes page-turning action and expands the stakes of Stile's quest well. As he combats the threats to his own life, he learns of a prophesy that may undo both worlds.
I had to frequently remind myself that the book was published in 1981. Much of it is dated in style and attitude. But it remains a quick and imaginative example of early contemporary sci-fi and fantasy.
The diminutive protagonist, Stile, continues his adventures across two parallel worlds, Proton and Phaze. On the fantasy world Phaze he is the newly installed Blue Adept, the most powerful of the magical adepts. He has won the friendship of unicorns and werewolves, and gained the respect of his fellow adepts. But will he ever win the love of the Lady Blue, widow to his murdered counterpart?
Meanwhile on his native world, the technological Proton, Stile continues the game tourney, vying to become a full citizen even as an unseen assassin stalks him.
Piers Anthony's objectification of women mellows in this story (it was BAD in "Split Infinity," the first in the series). There is far less schoolboy wish-fulfillment by the beautiful women in Stile's life. The Lady Blue is a deeper character than Stile's companions, Sheen and Neysia. She is, however, an early example of a manic pixie dreamgirl.
Stile himself becomes quite the Mary Sue. There is seemingly no skill beyond him. Standing under five feet tall, he's still able to overwhelm most physical opponents, something ten year old me would have loved. Now, it feels tired. He also receives some late plot armor (though it's cleverly crafted and will lead to interesting, if predictable, conflicts in the next book).
For all its problems, the story remains fun and engaging. Piers Anthony writes page-turning action and expands the stakes of Stile's quest well. As he combats the threats to his own life, he learns of a prophesy that may undo both worlds.
I had to frequently remind myself that the book was published in 1981. Much of it is dated in style and attitude. But it remains a quick and imaginative example of early contemporary sci-fi and fantasy.
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August 16, 2020A most excellent story by the imaginative mind of Piers Anthony. The juxtaposition of a world of Technology & Science(Photon) with a world of Magic & Mythology(Phaze).
Stile begins his story with life as essentially a slave entertainer for the wealthy & the masses in the Photon. He discovers he has a powerful enemy & also a powerful friend. In runnig for his life h e discovers a curtain that grants him access to a wonderful(but dangerous at timers) world of unicorns & magic. Being an expert horse rider, he sought one to help him explore this new world. Instead he finds a unicorn, befriends & tames her in one mighty flight across the lanfscape.
To keep his friendship he must vow not to use the powerful magician ability he discovers he has.
The rrst of the book and the next two continue the story of discovering whgo wants him dead, while seeking to harmonize the two worlds, destroying the insane power hoarding/abuses of the 1% on both sides of the connecting curtain.
Piers, as always, opens our minds to be delighted with deeper tickling of our imaginations, in a story that pulls you along of its own accord.
Stile begins his story with life as essentially a slave entertainer for the wealthy & the masses in the Photon. He discovers he has a powerful enemy & also a powerful friend. In runnig for his life h e discovers a curtain that grants him access to a wonderful(but dangerous at timers) world of unicorns & magic. Being an expert horse rider, he sought one to help him explore this new world. Instead he finds a unicorn, befriends & tames her in one mighty flight across the lanfscape.
To keep his friendship he must vow not to use the powerful magician ability he discovers he has.
The rrst of the book and the next two continue the story of discovering whgo wants him dead, while seeking to harmonize the two worlds, destroying the insane power hoarding/abuses of the 1% on both sides of the connecting curtain.
Piers, as always, opens our minds to be delighted with deeper tickling of our imaginations, in a story that pulls you along of its own accord.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2021
More of a 3.5 stars rather than 4 stars but again bonus 0.5 star for the nostalgia factor. Compared to the first book in the series, there are fewer expositions to plod through, perhaps because the author felt that readers of this second book would be familiar with the two worlds of Proton and Phaze by now. While the first book focused on the protagonist getting to know Phaze, this book focuses more on him making his way through the Tourney in Proton and growing into his Adept powers in Phaze. What is a slight drag on the plot though is that every time he gets into trouble in the Tourney, he will be able to make it through by some stroke of luck. Having said this, I do wonder, do we expect less of the protagonist? Another aspect pulling the book down is the protagonist's almost-perpetual wonder/protestations at all the fortunate events happening to him. I do understand that the author intends to portray the character as one of integrity and uprightness but it does get a bit stale after sometime. This book finishes somewhat anticlimactically but I guess that's what the third book is for... =x
July 29, 2016
When I was 13, I read a lot of Piers Anthony, and when I say “a lot,” I mean a lot. The guy was pretty much all I read, from the Xanth series to the Incarnations of Immortality series, and even the Battle Circle and Bio of a Space Tyrant series, but my favorite of his books from that time would have to be the Apprentice Adept series. I read them again in my late 20s and thought they held up pretty well, so when I got on a bit of a nostalgia kick recently, I thought I’d give these another go, just to see if they were still pretty good. And the verdict is … well, mixed.
When I was 13, I realized that most of Piers’ books had a lot of sex in them (that may have been a reason I liked them as much as I did); what I didn’t realize was how much sexism they contained. As I was re-reading this series, I started finding some questionable quotes from them, of which these are some choice selections:
“She evinced the confidence normally associated with a larger person, though of course height was less important to a woman.”
“Stile could not pick among women; he had to have one shorter than he. Not because he demanded it but because society did; if he appeared among serfs with a girl who outmassed him, others would laugh, and that would destroy the relationship.”
“‘You have a Tourney to win,’ she reminded him, aptly changing the subject in the manner of her sex.”
“She smiled brilliantly and bobbed her cleavage about, enjoying her youthful form as only an old hag could.”
“…no one feared age like a middle-aged woman!”
“Yet she was a consummate actress, as so many women seemed to be.”
And perhaps the most egregious, from when he and one of his many paramours are running from the threat of death, hiding inside a hollow wall, and he attempts to get frisky with her but she speaks encouragement, but ultimately denies him:
“To speak readiness while withdrawing — that was often woman’s way.”
I mean, this stuff bypasses plain old sexism and start to take a walk in the land of misogyny. It’s really insulting.
It would be one thing to have these passages written from the perspective of the characters, to indicate their own motivations and feelings. There was another quote I thought to include — “What is a bitch, compared to oath-friendship?” — but in the context of the speaker and the culture (a werewolf, with a pack mentality similar to standard wolves), it fit the moment. But the other quotes were buried in the narrative, indicating that they represented more a philosophy of the author himself. It makes me realize that, much like with Dave Sim and Cerebus, it’s impossible to separate the author’s work from his own questionable philosophies. In the end, Anthony’s portrayal of women wasn’t just offensive, but it was also condescending and arrogant, as if this was just the way it was supposed to be.
The generalizations are insulting, as is the way Anthony writes the women characters to be servile to the men, more so because Anthony writes the women characters to be strong and speak their minds. That would suggest that the characters are independent, but it’s hard to call them such, since ultimately they’re all pawns to the male character. The only independent female characters out of the trilogy appears in the second book, and you can see her over there on the cover of Blue Adept. She’s strong-willed, fierce, and independent … but she’s also a man-hater who gets written out of the story by the end of the book. It’s almost like the only way a woman couldn’t be somehow used to Stile’s needs is if she couldn’t stand men at all, and it was even more insulting and demeaning. The theme mirrors the same theme from Sos the Rope, and I imagine that I’ll find that same sort of thing in the last two volumes of that series.
The weird thing about the series is that I knew from the first couple of chapters of Split Infinity that the story was going to keep going down that road, where Anthony developed his male characters and used the women as objects for them to use in one way or another (if they weren’t sleeping with Stile, they wanted to, and found other ways to be servile to him), but I still felt pretty compelled to read through the stories. Part of it was morbid curiosity, just to see how bad it would get, and to see if my memory of the stories had somehow betrayed me, but I can’t deny that the stories were interesting and compelling by themselves, either. Shoot, I re-read them all in the span of about a week, so regardless of his feelings about women, Anthony clearly knows how to tell a good story.
Something else that bugged me about the trilogy was the overbearing sense of arrogance, conceit, and condescension of the narrative. Stile, the main character, is basically an example of male perfection (enough so that I started to wonder if Stile is just a Mary Sue character), and while there’s some justification for this — he’s supposed to be a top player in the Game, which requires skill in several areas of sport and art — the way he speaks to other characters is irritating. Lots of “of course”s, “obviously”s, “always”s and “clearly”s are used in the way he communicates, none of them ironically, and after a while it becomes pretty grating. He’s self-confident (of course) and self-assured (obviously), and the few times that he’s not the best at what he does, he’s at least second-best (clearly), so it’s somewhat understandable, but he lacks empathy toward anyone else who doesn’t meet his own standards (always).
So, I re-read the series, and plan to finish off the Battle Circle series (I already picked up the rest of the books in the series), but I think after these, I’ll be done with Piers Anthony for good. I have some fond memories of the Incarnations of Immortality series, too, but I also remember all the women characters being patsies of men, even when they were the protaginists. And the less spoken of the Xanth series, I think, the better. Even when I was 13, I felt like those were a lot more juvenile than the stuff my friends were reading.
When I was 13, I realized that most of Piers’ books had a lot of sex in them (that may have been a reason I liked them as much as I did); what I didn’t realize was how much sexism they contained. As I was re-reading this series, I started finding some questionable quotes from them, of which these are some choice selections:
“She evinced the confidence normally associated with a larger person, though of course height was less important to a woman.”
“Stile could not pick among women; he had to have one shorter than he. Not because he demanded it but because society did; if he appeared among serfs with a girl who outmassed him, others would laugh, and that would destroy the relationship.”
“‘You have a Tourney to win,’ she reminded him, aptly changing the subject in the manner of her sex.”
“She smiled brilliantly and bobbed her cleavage about, enjoying her youthful form as only an old hag could.”
“…no one feared age like a middle-aged woman!”
“Yet she was a consummate actress, as so many women seemed to be.”
And perhaps the most egregious, from when he and one of his many paramours are running from the threat of death, hiding inside a hollow wall, and he attempts to get frisky with her but she speaks encouragement, but ultimately denies him:
“To speak readiness while withdrawing — that was often woman’s way.”
I mean, this stuff bypasses plain old sexism and start to take a walk in the land of misogyny. It’s really insulting.
It would be one thing to have these passages written from the perspective of the characters, to indicate their own motivations and feelings. There was another quote I thought to include — “What is a bitch, compared to oath-friendship?” — but in the context of the speaker and the culture (a werewolf, with a pack mentality similar to standard wolves), it fit the moment. But the other quotes were buried in the narrative, indicating that they represented more a philosophy of the author himself. It makes me realize that, much like with Dave Sim and Cerebus, it’s impossible to separate the author’s work from his own questionable philosophies. In the end, Anthony’s portrayal of women wasn’t just offensive, but it was also condescending and arrogant, as if this was just the way it was supposed to be.
The generalizations are insulting, as is the way Anthony writes the women characters to be servile to the men, more so because Anthony writes the women characters to be strong and speak their minds. That would suggest that the characters are independent, but it’s hard to call them such, since ultimately they’re all pawns to the male character. The only independent female characters out of the trilogy appears in the second book, and you can see her over there on the cover of Blue Adept. She’s strong-willed, fierce, and independent … but she’s also a man-hater who gets written out of the story by the end of the book. It’s almost like the only way a woman couldn’t be somehow used to Stile’s needs is if she couldn’t stand men at all, and it was even more insulting and demeaning. The theme mirrors the same theme from Sos the Rope, and I imagine that I’ll find that same sort of thing in the last two volumes of that series.
The weird thing about the series is that I knew from the first couple of chapters of Split Infinity that the story was going to keep going down that road, where Anthony developed his male characters and used the women as objects for them to use in one way or another (if they weren’t sleeping with Stile, they wanted to, and found other ways to be servile to him), but I still felt pretty compelled to read through the stories. Part of it was morbid curiosity, just to see how bad it would get, and to see if my memory of the stories had somehow betrayed me, but I can’t deny that the stories were interesting and compelling by themselves, either. Shoot, I re-read them all in the span of about a week, so regardless of his feelings about women, Anthony clearly knows how to tell a good story.
Something else that bugged me about the trilogy was the overbearing sense of arrogance, conceit, and condescension of the narrative. Stile, the main character, is basically an example of male perfection (enough so that I started to wonder if Stile is just a Mary Sue character), and while there’s some justification for this — he’s supposed to be a top player in the Game, which requires skill in several areas of sport and art — the way he speaks to other characters is irritating. Lots of “of course”s, “obviously”s, “always”s and “clearly”s are used in the way he communicates, none of them ironically, and after a while it becomes pretty grating. He’s self-confident (of course) and self-assured (obviously), and the few times that he’s not the best at what he does, he’s at least second-best (clearly), so it’s somewhat understandable, but he lacks empathy toward anyone else who doesn’t meet his own standards (always).
So, I re-read the series, and plan to finish off the Battle Circle series (I already picked up the rest of the books in the series), but I think after these, I’ll be done with Piers Anthony for good. I have some fond memories of the Incarnations of Immortality series, too, but I also remember all the women characters being patsies of men, even when they were the protaginists. And the less spoken of the Xanth series, I think, the better. Even when I was 13, I felt like those were a lot more juvenile than the stuff my friends were reading.
June 18, 2017
3.5 stars really.
One of the things I've enjoyed about Piers Anthony is his ability to tell a complete story in each book of a series. Its been awhile since I've read them but, if memory serves, that is true of his Incarnations of Immortality series. However, that doesn't appear to be the case here. In the first book of this series a lot of the story is focused on the "Game" the people of the planet Proton sponsor. So, when the book ended without the Game actually being played it felt incomplete.
So now this book, book 2 in the series, does finally have the the Game being played, but not completed. Instead, simultaneous with the Game Stile identifies who killed the predecessor Blue Adept and the book ends with the conclusion of that confrontation (which is particularly annoying since it happens very near the end of the game). Along the way Stile discovers that his antagonist was manipulated into killing the prior Blue Adept so that mystery isn't solved either.
Still, for a book that fails to tell a complete story it is well written with interesting characters and setting.
One of the things I've enjoyed about Piers Anthony is his ability to tell a complete story in each book of a series. Its been awhile since I've read them but, if memory serves, that is true of his Incarnations of Immortality series. However, that doesn't appear to be the case here. In the first book of this series a lot of the story is focused on the "Game" the people of the planet Proton sponsor. So, when the book ended without the Game actually being played it felt incomplete.
So now this book, book 2 in the series, does finally have the the Game being played, but not completed. Instead, simultaneous with the Game Stile identifies who killed the predecessor Blue Adept and the book ends with the conclusion of that confrontation (which is particularly annoying since it happens very near the end of the game). Along the way Stile discovers that his antagonist was manipulated into killing the prior Blue Adept so that mystery isn't solved either.
Still, for a book that fails to tell a complete story it is well written with interesting characters and setting.
May 25, 2018
This is the second in the Apprentice Adept series continuing Stile's adventures as a lowly serf in the science-based Proton, and an exalted Adept in the magic based Phase. He continues to explore both worlds and Anthony paints a beautiful picture of the world of Phase, making you feel it's the better place to live.
Stile is still trying to win the game, working through one challenge at a time and getting closer to the top with every win, but he's also working to track down the murderer of his other self, the person who still wants to kill him as well. The book builds to the final confrontation between them and a lot of questions are answered, but more are opened setting the path for the next book in the series.
Again this book can feel a bit dated in the male/female relations department because it's almost 40 years old but if you get past that it's a really lovely series and one that mixes both Sci-fi and Fantasy which is rare.
Stile is still trying to win the game, working through one challenge at a time and getting closer to the top with every win, but he's also working to track down the murderer of his other self, the person who still wants to kill him as well. The book builds to the final confrontation between them and a lot of questions are answered, but more are opened setting the path for the next book in the series.
Again this book can feel a bit dated in the male/female relations department because it's almost 40 years old but if you get past that it's a really lovely series and one that mixes both Sci-fi and Fantasy which is rare.
September 15, 2024
Rereading this series, multiple decades after I first encountered it as an early teen, has made it very very obvious that my childhood taste in fantasy/sci-fi was not good. What most surprised me was how incredibly tedious these books are. While the premise is vaguely interesting, the plot just kind of hangs out, limply, for a few hundred pages.
And Anthony must have cut some sort of deal with his publisher, stipulating that no one would ever edit a single solitary word of his text - that's the only way I can explain the inclusion of a 15 fucking page football game smack dab in the middle of things. But if you're a fan of misogyny and some of the least plausible dialogue in the history of writing, perhaps you will like this better than I.
And Anthony must have cut some sort of deal with his publisher, stipulating that no one would ever edit a single solitary word of his text - that's the only way I can explain the inclusion of a 15 fucking page football game smack dab in the middle of things. But if you're a fan of misogyny and some of the least plausible dialogue in the history of writing, perhaps you will like this better than I.
Read
October 23, 2025In Book Two of the epic adventure that began in SPLIT INFINITY, Stile discovers life on Proton and Phaze is getting more difficult. On Proton he's a serf trying to prove his right to exist by competing in the Great Games. And on Phaze, where only magic worked, he was the Blue Adept trying to master the powers of sorcery. On both worlds, someone was trying to assassinate him. And as if that weren't enough, he has to win the love of Lady Blue, fight a dragon, discover the ultimate weapon, and of course, seek out the all-powerful Citizen who was trying to kill him!THE APPRENTICE ADEPT SERIESBook One: SPLIT INFINITYBook Two: BLUE ADEPTBook Three: JUXTAPOSITION
February 1, 2022
Not my favorite in the series. One can accept the death of a congenial character, but when that happens here it’s much too graphic for my taste. And in a series containing an overarching plot, an author can leave everything up in the air at the end of each volume (like Lord of the Rings) or have each volume have its own minor plot that can be resolved by the last page, bringing the reader to a point of balance, however precarious. At the end of The Blue Adept there is a resolution, but I feel off balance.
January 16, 2023
Rereading this series, that I thought so much of in high school, and wow, well, I guess my tastes have changed. It has entertaining and RPG worthy concepts, especially two worlds juxtaposed over each other, dual existence, different forms of magic, golems vs robots, werewolves and vampires that interact instead of slaughter; and I like the mechanic of the Game and its grids.
Again, my tastes have changed. Despite all the good of all of the above, I'll be handing these books along to new owners once I finish my reread of them.
Again, my tastes have changed. Despite all the good of all of the above, I'll be handing these books along to new owners once I finish my reread of them.
February 15, 2018
Well, I liked this; but not as much as the 1st one. Stile is still slipping between Proton and Phaze searching for his enemy. He's still being helped by Neysa the Unicorn, Sheen the android and Lady Blue. He's still playing the Game in Proton. He's doing well, with the help of his friends. So, I'm not sure why I didn't like this one as much as the first. However, I will still move on to the next book.
September 8, 2024
Blue Adept by Piers Anthony.
Stile, now the Blue Adept, has settled well into a life in Phaze, a world of magic. He lives a double life, returning through the magic curtain to the world of Proton, moving back and forth as needed to continue his search for his alternate self's murderer and his current mystery enemy in both frames. All the while competing in Proton's great game tournament.
A good sequel. I was glad that the tournament sections were not dull compared to Phaze.
Stile, now the Blue Adept, has settled well into a life in Phaze, a world of magic. He lives a double life, returning through the magic curtain to the world of Proton, moving back and forth as needed to continue his search for his alternate self's murderer and his current mystery enemy in both frames. All the while competing in Proton's great game tournament.
A good sequel. I was glad that the tournament sections were not dull compared to Phaze.
December 2, 2025
it's interesting when you go back to books you read as a child. I knew anything was criticized for his sexism and I had stopped reading his books because of the lack of development in the never ending series. his world view is very sexist in a way my younger self never realized and he is a sloppy writer constantly making asides to insert his own opinion on the story without any subtlety. he does have the ability to name very clever worlds.
August 23, 2019
Second in the Adept series
This book was excellent in plot and narrative descriptions, truly engrossing. Piers Anthony’s style or writing is a pleasure to read AndI can’t wait to read the third book in this series. Having read all existing Xanth series and Cluster series finishing this series leaves me a difficult choice what to read next
This book was excellent in plot and narrative descriptions, truly engrossing. Piers Anthony’s style or writing is a pleasure to read AndI can’t wait to read the third book in this series. Having read all existing Xanth series and Cluster series finishing this series leaves me a difficult choice what to read next
January 5, 2021
This is second in a series, and I wouldn't recommend reading it without reading books 1 and 3.
Super-man gets to travel between technology-game-land and magic-land, and tries to not get assassinated. By this book, he tries to figure out more magic realm things, all while spinning plates in tech land.
Super-man gets to travel between technology-game-land and magic-land, and tries to not get assassinated. By this book, he tries to figure out more magic realm things, all while spinning plates in tech land.
January 23, 2023
Much like Split Infinity, this is weird. It’s dirty, verging on smut, and the plot is complicated and odd, but it has interesting ideas and is strangely compelling. It’s flawed, and I honestly have no idea whether I’d recommend it or not - a very strange book in a very strange series, and I think I need to finish it to know how I feel.
May 16, 2017
Better than book 1. Kept me on the edge of my seat. Loved the books as a kid and still do. They are fun. I don't understand the bashers. These are fantasy books. You suspend belief when you read books like this.
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