Ballantine / Del Rey first edition August 1984 hardcover. [FPT and "TK" at top of front flap (no price), number sequence is complete: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10; sticker on back cover with "FPT" and price.] Cover art by Michael Whelan, 292 pages, $13.95 cover price. Condition is VG+ or better in a VG+ Dustjacket: the book is tight and square, with no stamps marks or writing (age tanning is negligable.) I'm knocking condition down from near-Fine due to a very slight overall curvature or warp - the book is tight and and spine is square enough that I believe it unread. Unclipped DJ has a short 1/4" tear at middle right, slight fading to spine, light overall wear and rubbing (see scan.)

The 2nd book in Piers Anthony's "Incarnations of Immortality" series: Bearing An Hourglass. (From the front flap of the Hc): When the child he had fathered died of an incurable disease, and the woman he loved committed suicide in her grief, Norton no longer cared what happened to him. Thus, when Gawain the Ghost informed him that the position of the Incarnation of Time was about to be vacant, Norton volunteered. Being Time wasn't so bad at first, though he now lived backward from present to past. The Hourglass enabled him to journey back to see the one he had loved again. The other seemingly all-powerful, living Incarnations - Death, Fate, Nature, and War - all welcomed him to their ranks. Even Satan visited him, bringing a gift - a trip to the world of Bat Durston and the Bems. Another jaunt took him to the world of the Damsel in Distress, the Evil Sorceress, and the Enchanted Sword. But Satan was the Father of Lies and Illusions. Norton learned that, while he was being distracted, he had already become deeply enmeshed in a foul plot of Satan to destroy all that was good. Death's beloved Luna was now a Senator, and her deciding vote could thwart Satan's plans for Earth. Norton had been tricked by the Evil One into enabling Satan to spread his minions through the past to make her election impossible. Using the Hourglass, Norton could go back through time to try to overcome this threat. But the schemes of Satan were never that simple. Behind the obvious menace lay deeper and deeper levels of intrigue. In the end, Norton was forced to confront the immense power of Satan directly. And though Satan banished him to Hell, he knew he must fight on.