BOOK SPLIT INFINITY

Split Infinity by Piers Anthony BOOK REVIEW

BY ROBERT H. JERGE III

Draw the curtains and step into the magical world of Split Infinity: this novel is a technological fantasy that encompasses the advances in technology and the popular role-playing game of the time, Dungeons and Dragons. This 1980 fantasy novel is the first of a trilogy that follows Stile, a smaller-than-average human gamemaster on the planet of Proton, as he attempts to make his way up its rungs in the Game. This series of pre-categorized oneon-one competitions is the only hope the serfs of Proton have of attaining true freedom.

Proton is a martian-esque planet with no habitable atmosphere, dotted with biospheres. The inhabitants of Proton are put into one of two classes: serfs and citizens. The citizens are the free folk of the world, while the serfs are the servants to the citizens. Moving up enough rungs would aid in Stile’s chances of winning in this year’s tourney and a chance at becoming a citizen one day.

Piers Anthony explains The Game through Stile’s venture to the top rung. The Game is used to rank serfs works by pitting them against other serfs of the same age bracket. To move up, the serfs would obviously have to win. The most interesting thing about The Game is how the games are assigned to the contending serfs. The challenged serf would choose among a combination of categories, for example, Stile’s bout with Tome was an actionair game which meant that they were going to do some sort of firearm dual. The games selected in the book were chosen by Stile’s opponents to disadvantage him. It is through his adventures in Phaze that give him the advantage in the Game. The fencing lessons Neysa, his unicorn companion in Phaze, gave him the upper hand in a match against a higher rung holder.

Stile crosses between worlds by entering a curtain that almost randomly presented to him. His first encounter was when he was fighting with a demon he thought was a bad dream. Crossing between the science-fiction planet of Proton and the magical land of Phaze can be a bit daunting. The enemies on Phaze consist of goblins and a demon who grows stronger the more Stile uses his magic, on Proton however, we are told that there is someone who is out to kill him before he can be placed on the top rung before the end of the tourney.

Piers Anthony’s ability to combine the phantasms of fantasy and the advancement of science-fiction has made this book a pleasure to read. The book has some elements and monsters inspired from Dungeons and Dragons, such as demons, unicorns, and powerful warlocks and some science-fiction elements such as extraterrestrial biospheres. I think this book hit home with a lot of young adults (of the time) due to the popularity of Dungeons and Dragons. On Proton, Stile engaged by threats of somewhat known potential, while Phaze has a seemingly endless line up of antagonists to throw our hero into peril. Unlike some magic based fantasy novels, Stile conjures up magic in a way I deem peculiar and

a bit odd. He must speak in rhyme in order to make anything happen in the world, the only downside is that he can only utter an incantation once and can never say the same rhyme twice. There was a scene where he accidentally sent his unicorn companion to hell with some goblins they were fighting. He returns her back to the world of Phaze shortly after, but the recent traumatizing experience forces him to use his magic sparingly so he doesn’t endanger anyone else, or himself.

Overall, the book is a pretty good read. It is not in anyway similar to many of the novels I’ve seen published today, but that shouldn’t hinder anyone from grabbing a copy and diving into the Apprentice Adept Trilogy. S