Muse of Art

Piers Anthony

Book 4 of Geodyssey

Language: English

Publisher: Tor Fantasy

Published: Jan 1, 2000

Description:

A towering testament of ambition and desire, hope and despair, Piers Anthony's epic Geodyssey saga is nothing less than the story of humanity itself. As seen through the eyes of a handful of courageous, passionate men and women reborn again and again in some of the most turbulent ages of history. * Muse of Art* is the newest chapter in this astonishing chronicle, probing the heart of our deepest fears and highest aspirations, illuminating the spark that makes us what we are.

It is the arts that truly define humanity and set us apart from all other species on earth. In a rousing, passionate story that ranges from the mists of prehistory to a terrifyingly plausible near future, Muse of Art explores the special talents that have inspired and motivated us since the earliest days of our existence: curiosity and creativity, seduction and survival, destruction and healing.

**

From Publishers Weekly

The fourth volume of the Geodyssey series explores the evolution and history of our species from the distant past (500,000 years ago) to the near future by examining the use of such diverse (and dubious) arts as curiosity, healing, story, expression, drama, seduction, arrogance, ploy and justice. Anthony creates a family of archetypes (Pul the Warrior, Heath the Healer, Od the Scientist, Dillon the Hunter, Bata the Wise Woman, Melee the Seductress, etc.) and sets them in different historical situations to show how each of these arts was used. The author is at his best explaining how science flourished: Ods curiosity about volcanoes helps save not only his life but those of other homo erectus smart enough to listen to a physically weak but intellectually superior man. Other scenarios, such as Melees interminable seduction of Dillon in the Olmec culture (around 900 B.C.), seem more like an excuse for peeking up a beautiful womans skirt. Anthony fails to impart a proper period flavor to the chapters, so both the writing and the history remain flat. Even after half a million years of civilizing arts, moreover, at the end of the novel, as at its beginning, men tell women what to do, women influence men through sex, and warlike stupidity still fractures mankind into small tribes bent on their own survival. In his introduction, Anthony refers to this as a message novel; the (likely unintended) message seems to be that the more things change, the more they remain the same.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A primitive mans curiosity, an old womans healing knowledge, and a clever girls ability to use stories to change the minds of her people begin the discovery of the arts of survival that carry the human race from prehistory to the near-future. This latest addition to Anthonys epic story cycle, which includes Hope of Earth (LJ 4/15/97), examines the progress of humanity through the vehicle of short stories and vignettes that feature recurring characters and common themes. Ambitious in scope, highly personal in execution, this stand-alone tale of epic events and common people belongs in most fantasy collections.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. 

SUMMARY:
A towering testament of ambition and desire, hope and despair, Piers Anthony's epic Geodyssey saga is nothing less than the story of humanity itself. As seen through the eyes of a handful of courageous, passionate men and women reborn again and again in some of the most turbulent ages of history. Muse of Art is the newest chapter in this astonishing chronicle, probing the heart of our deepest fears and highest aspirations, illuminating the spark that makes us what we are.It is the arts that truly define humanity and set us apart from all other species on earth. In a rousing, passionate story that ranges from the mists of prehistory to a terrifyingly plausible near future, Muse of Art explores the special talents that have inspired and motivated us since the earliest days of our existence: curiosity and creativity, seduction and survival, destruction and healing.