On a Pale Horse is a fantasy novel by Piers Anthony

Piers Anthony

Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob is an English American writer in the science fiction and fantasy genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is most famous for his long-running novel series set in the fictional realm of Xanth.Many of his books have appeared on the New York Times Best...

, first published in 1983. It is the first of eight books in the Incarnations of Immortality

Incarnations of Immortality

Incarnations of Immortality is the name of an eight-book fantasy series by Piers Anthony. The first seven books each focus on one of seven supernatural "offices" in a fictional reality and history parallel to ours, with the exception that society has advanced both magic and modern technology...

 series. The book focuses on Zane, a photographer about to commit suicide, but who instead kills Death

Death (personification)

The concept of death as a sentient entity has existed in many societies since the beginning of history. In English, Death is often given the name Grim Reaper and, from the 15th century onwards, came to be shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe and clothed in a black cloak with a hood...

 and must assume his office.

The title is derived from the sixth chapter of Book of Revelation

Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...

, in which one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in the last book of the New Testament of the Bible, called the Book of Revelation of Jesus Christ to Saint John the Evangelist at 6:1-8. The chapter tells of a "'book'/'scroll' in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals"...

, Death, rides upon a pale horse.

The book also spawned a 5-issue comic series. It was released by Innovation in 1993.

Plot summary

The book focuses on Zane, a desperate and lonely man who decides to commit suicide. As he is about to shoot himself, he sees the figure of Death

Death (personification)

The concept of death as a sentient entity has existed in many societies since the beginning of history. In English, Death is often given the name Grim Reaper and, from the 15th century onwards, came to be shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe and clothed in a black cloak with a hood...

 walking towards him and, panicking, Zane shoots and kills Death instead. Zane learns that deities

Deity

A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....

 such as Death, Time

Chronos

In Greek mythology, Chronos in pre-Socratic philosophical works is said to be the personification of time. His name in Greek means "time" and is alternatively spelled Chronus or Khronos.Chronos was imagined as an incorporeal god, serpentine in form, with three heads—those of a man, a bull, and...

 and the Fates

Moirae

The Moirae, Moerae or Moirai , in Greek mythology, were the white-robed incarnations of destiny . Their number became fixed at three...

 are roles performed by human beings. Further, having killed Death, Zane must himself become Death. Death's role is to send the soul

Soul

A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...

s of the dead to Heaven

Heaven

Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...

, Hell

Hell

In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...

 or Purgatory

Purgatory

Purgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven...

 depending upon the good and evil gathered by the soul during their life. Where a soul is in fine balance, Death must attend personally to make the final determination and send the soul to its appropriate destination.

In performing his role, Zane attends the death of a powerful magician

Magician (fantasy)

A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, wizard, enchanter, enchantress, thaumaturge or a person known under one of many other possible terms is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources...

, Cedric Kaftan Jr.. Cedric tells Zane that he manipulated fate to ensure that Zane became Death. Cedric believes that Zane will fall in love with his daughter, Luna Kaftan, and will guard her life. Luna is threatened by Satan

Satan

Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...

 due to a prophecy

Prophecy

Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...

which states that she is destined to thwart Satan's schemes.

On Cedric's final wishes, Luna and Zane spend time together and quickly fall in love as predicted. Zane also learns that Luna took on some of her father's sin to ensure that his soul was in balance when he died so that he would receive a personal visitation from Death. Cedric assumed his daughter was innocent and that this excess sin would not burden her soul but she had performed black magic without telling him and her soul is now destined for Hell should she die.

Satan succeeds in manipulating fate to ensure that Luna will die before she can fulfill the prophecy. Believing her death to be inevitable, Luna chooses to die in the place of a young woman. This final good deed places Luna's soul in balance and Zane must personally attend to her death, but he refuses to take her soul because of his love for her. By refusing to take her soul, no other souls can make their journeys to the afterlife and dying mortals remain in agony, unable to die. Satan appeals to Zane to end his strike, and tries to bribe him and then intimidate him into taking Luna's soul to end the deadlock.

Zane, however, has come to realize that, as Death, he has absolute power over his own sphere of influence and that Satan cannot force him to take a soul. With no souls being released and, in particular, no souls going to Hell, Satan admits defeat. His plot to kill Luna before her time is exposed and she is able to return to life.

Death's Cloak

Death's Cloak provides significant protection against the elements and nearly all physical harm. It is magical in nature and allows Death to appear "socially" invisible to any who may observe Death, i.e. he may appear as a policeman when an accident takes place. When the cowl of his cloak is pulled up a skeletal mask is generated. Death also has the ability to generate an unnerving presence to anyone who looks directly at Death, "Death Stare". This is part of the costume of death.

Death's Gloves and Shoes

Death's Gloves and Shoes complete the costume. Magical in nature, they give Death the power to open doors and walk on water, while protecting the wearer from harm. In addition, they also generate the skeletal look typical for the incarnation of death.

Death's Watch

Death carries a heavy well made chronometer (watch) with several functions, the watch is also attuned to Chronos and has the ability to stop time. The first is to show a countdown, this countdown is how much time a person has before their soul requires death's attention. The second function shows the backlog whenever Death takes a break. The watch can also be use to recycle some time to gain more travel time between "clients."

Scythe

Death has a magical scythe that grants the user the ability of cutting through any substance, including flames. The scythe has the ability to destroy supernatural creatures as well.

Jewels and Gems

Death has several magical Jewels and Gems, such as his earring, which allows Death to speak and understand any language. The most notable of these Gems are a matched pair that Death uses to "weigh" a soul's good and bad deeds to determine whether it is destined for heaven or hell.

Mortis

Mortis, is an intelligent creature whose typical form is a pale stallion is Death's primary means of transportation. Based on the needs of Death, Mortis can become any number of forms, i.e. car, plane or boat. Mortis is immune to physical harm and when Death is astride the horse the 'presence' of Death is amplified.

Literary significance and reception

In his book Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination, author Richard Mathews says that On a Pale Horse "explores fantasy's (and Anthony's) unique ability to embody abstractions. In the novel, an incarnation of Death engages in symbolic interactions written with the goal of helping readers come to terms with the inevitable end of life."