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Mode #1
Virtual Mode
Colene does not know what to think of the stranger she has rescued. Darius tells her he has traveled from "his reality" to find her. In proving to Colene that other worlds do exist, he uses up the power of the artifact that would allow them to travel back to his universe.
They must try a slower, more dangerous method: the creation of a four-dimensional universe. Darius picks five anchor points in five different universes to set up a skew path, a "Virtual Mode," on which the anchors can walk.
Thus begins a tale of romance, danger, adventure, and intrigue as the two travel through a myriad of alternate realities where anything is possible.
They must try a slower, more dangerous method: the creation of a four-dimensional universe. Darius picks five anchor points in five different universes to set up a skew path, a "Virtual Mode," on which the anchors can walk.
Thus begins a tale of romance, danger, adventure, and intrigue as the two travel through a myriad of alternate realities where anything is possible.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published February 13, 1991
23 people are currently reading
1307 people want to read
About the author
Piers Anthony
438 books4,198 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
February 24, 2015
I KNEW EXACTLY WHAT I WAS GETTING INTO THIS TIME.
Yes I'm going to rant now so bear with me. TW for talk of suicide and sexual assault.
Where to start though? Maybe the cover? Here we meet our protagonist Colene (as in Colene, Colene, Colene, Coleeeene, I'm begging of you please don't take my man) and her psychic horse who is good for absolutely nothing. Colene is 14 and suicidal. You know how we know she's suicidal? She keeps telling us that she's suicidal. Have you ever heard of character development? Maybe allowing a character's actions to show us their inner feelings? Nah. I mean, there are some sad stories in her past that kind of feel like they're supposed to explain her current "depression" and "suicidal thoughts" but it never feels like they are linked at all. Plus the sad stories are so over the top. Her parents hate each other so much that her dad is always out sleeping with other ladies and her mom stays at home and gets drunk every night. On the rare occasions that they end up in the same room together, they scream at each other until they fuck on the floor. Without care that their teenage daughter is hanging around, causing her to peace to the shed in the backyard. Since her parents have no point except to be a terrible thing in Colene's life, they really don't need to be so comically awful. But subtlety is not in Piers's vocabulary.
Alright, lets move on to Piers Anthony's sexism. Which I imagine will be the entire rest of my review. So Colene meets this dude, Darius, from an alternate reality, which are called modes, who is much too old for her but since she has a nice body they fall in love. In Darius's magical mode, people can transfer emotions directly using magic. The grand poo-bah of his society is the dude with the best magic power to multiply emotions, and he goes around the kingdom multiplying joy for his people. He's always a man (even though he doesn't have to be because there's a lady who's really good at multiplying joy and she was refused the post because IT'S ALWAYS BEEN MEN). The way that he spreads joy is by literally sapping his wife of her own joy until she is depleted of happiness. When she's all used up, he discards her for a new, more joyful wife, until he strips her of all positive emotion and gets rid of her too. Every few years he destroys a woman's life and moves on to the next one. I don't think we really need to talk about how messed up and sexist that is. It is explicitly said that women can't be grand poo-bah JUST BECAUSE come on ladies...and nowhere is it said that the person being sapped of their emotions must be female but it always is. OK, so Darius doesn't like this deal and he goes traipsing through the modes to find a lady from another universe that maybe won't be depleted by his job so he doesn't have to ruin people's lives, how nice! There's a messed up scene though where he has to go to an old poo-bah to ask about taking his spot while he's off in the modes, and the guy condescends like crazy to his "love-wife" and they both basically treat her like she's an idiot, all "she doesn't know what she wants, we'll teach her, it'll be a sad lesson, but as men she must know to listen to us because we are right alll the time". That's basically how it goes.
There's a lot of stuff that Colene thinks about everything that could potentially be explained by the fact that she's a 14 year old girl who lives in a sexist society, but Piers Anthony is not that good a writer and I've read enough of his other books to know that all this disordered thinking comes from his brain. She has some dumb ideas about gender roles that are straight from Piers. She has some damaging thoughts about her own gang rape: "I was so drunk I may have even thought it was fun at the time." This would be a good point to address the fact that victim blaming is rampant in our society, and that many victims begin to internalize the idea that maybe it was kind of their fault if they were drunk, but none of this is addressed at all. Piers is DEFINITELY not nuanced enough to show that while his character maybe believe something like that, it is wrong and a symptom of societal problems with how we react to assault victims and gender roles. "It sure taught me to be wary of liquor and of men!" Here's another overwhelming theme of Piers Anthony books: all men are always thinking about sex and are all potentially driven out of control by a lady's body. He doesn't realize how insulting that is to his entire gender? "She did know the nature of men; they were always interested in sex, and took it when they got the chance. That night with the boys--she had represented Opportunity." "With a woman, sex and love were aspects of the same thing. That was why the abuse of sex was so horrible; it soiled love. But with a man they were in different ballparks. A man could love one woman and have sex with another. It was part of the basic misunderstanding between the sexes." EEUUUUUUCCCHHHHH.
Let's go through the female characters, shall we? Colene we've done. Later on in the book, there are some female slaves - bred to serve, basically - who are defined by their sex and what they can provide with their bodies. There are male slaves also, but they're not nearly as sexual...presumably because women don't desire sex outside of love so there's no need for male slaves to be sexual. We just assume that gay people don't really exist here. There's another female character later, who is useful because she can sort of see into the future, but doesn't talk and is pretty much an ignored character because she's an OLD LADY and therefore UNATTRACTIVE and therefore NOT IMPORTANT.
Let us move on to the other most major female character in the book. She has so much potential for being completely bad-ass except for the bad luck of being written by Piers Anthony. Her name is Prima, and she's from Darius's mode. She had great magic, enough to definitely qualify for being grand poo-bah of spreading happiness, but because IT IS NOT DONE she wasn't allowed to do it. "I was attracted to her not for her beauty or personality, for she was not remarkable in these respects..." She is introduced as not being very good-looking, and for the rest of her time in this book, they will not shut up about what she looks like. Because her society was sexist, she set off into the modes to see if she could find a society in which women were equal. Fuckin' A. As Darius moves through the modes, he is captured by sentient dragons, only to find that Prima was captured by them 20 years prior, and, still sharp as ever, helps him to escape. Sounds like she's pretty competent and take-charge! "...I must make obvious attempts to seduce you, so that the dragon will know that we are potentially breedable. I realize that this will be distasteful to you because I am too old and unattractive, but our lives will be at stake, so I ask you to behave in a manner the dragon will find reasonable." "...you have seen my body. Please answer with candor: do I retain sexual appeal?" Oh yeah, did you just survive for 20 years in a prison camp, learning the language of your captors, before planning and executing an escape plan with a dude you just met? And actually the first thing you can think of is how attractive you look to the dude? Nooooooo Piers, noooooo. Don't worry, Darius, true to form as a man, WILL NOT STOP TELLING US WHAT HE THINKS OF PRIMA'S BODY. "She seemed to be about forty and not unhandsome...Her feet were in sandals, and were filthy, the toenails growing down and around in a manner that might be practical in a wilderness for protection against abrasions, but were detestable aesthetically. Her hair was long and somewhat unkempt, as if maintaining appearances was pointless here." Here, being the PRISON CAMP. "Then she removed her worn shirt, showing her haltered bosom. It was a good one, considering her age...he saw that she was lean, rather than plump, but her posterior was well rounded and her breasts were of adequate mass...in the appropriate apparel her body would be attractive enough...she was older than he, and not beautiful (thought not ugly), but she had a good mind to go with her excellent power..." I get the impression that Piers thinks he's doing something good by mentioning her great magical power and intelligence every time he mentions her looks - we may be obsessed with what she looks like, because she's a woman so OBVIOUSLY, but she's also a woman who is smart! Novel, huh? Here's an idea - what about a female character who is strong and smart and capable full stop? And maybe who cares what she looks like? Next time, can we try to use the same amount of physical description words for the lady characters as for the guy characters? Can maybe not every character be constantly thinking about women's bodies? Every character! All the time! It's really hard to get into the story when I have to stop reading to roll my eyes and give the finger to a book.
So probably if I'd read this as a 14 year old I would have been really into it, but as an adult I recognize that Piers Anthony is a sexist dude who will not stop writing female characters even though he's sooo baaaad at it. I didn't comment on much of the story in this review, because while his ideas are pretty creative and interesting as usual, they are just so bogged down with terrible awful terrible sexist awful things. This is a great book to hate read though.
Yes I'm going to rant now so bear with me. TW for talk of suicide and sexual assault.
Where to start though? Maybe the cover? Here we meet our protagonist Colene (as in Colene, Colene, Colene, Coleeeene, I'm begging of you please don't take my man) and her psychic horse who is good for absolutely nothing. Colene is 14 and suicidal. You know how we know she's suicidal? She keeps telling us that she's suicidal. Have you ever heard of character development? Maybe allowing a character's actions to show us their inner feelings? Nah. I mean, there are some sad stories in her past that kind of feel like they're supposed to explain her current "depression" and "suicidal thoughts" but it never feels like they are linked at all. Plus the sad stories are so over the top. Her parents hate each other so much that her dad is always out sleeping with other ladies and her mom stays at home and gets drunk every night. On the rare occasions that they end up in the same room together, they scream at each other until they fuck on the floor. Without care that their teenage daughter is hanging around, causing her to peace to the shed in the backyard. Since her parents have no point except to be a terrible thing in Colene's life, they really don't need to be so comically awful. But subtlety is not in Piers's vocabulary.
Alright, lets move on to Piers Anthony's sexism. Which I imagine will be the entire rest of my review. So Colene meets this dude, Darius, from an alternate reality, which are called modes, who is much too old for her but since she has a nice body they fall in love. In Darius's magical mode, people can transfer emotions directly using magic. The grand poo-bah of his society is the dude with the best magic power to multiply emotions, and he goes around the kingdom multiplying joy for his people. He's always a man (even though he doesn't have to be because there's a lady who's really good at multiplying joy and she was refused the post because IT'S ALWAYS BEEN MEN). The way that he spreads joy is by literally sapping his wife of her own joy until she is depleted of happiness. When she's all used up, he discards her for a new, more joyful wife, until he strips her of all positive emotion and gets rid of her too. Every few years he destroys a woman's life and moves on to the next one. I don't think we really need to talk about how messed up and sexist that is. It is explicitly said that women can't be grand poo-bah JUST BECAUSE come on ladies...and nowhere is it said that the person being sapped of their emotions must be female but it always is. OK, so Darius doesn't like this deal and he goes traipsing through the modes to find a lady from another universe that maybe won't be depleted by his job so he doesn't have to ruin people's lives, how nice! There's a messed up scene though where he has to go to an old poo-bah to ask about taking his spot while he's off in the modes, and the guy condescends like crazy to his "love-wife" and they both basically treat her like she's an idiot, all "she doesn't know what she wants, we'll teach her, it'll be a sad lesson, but as men she must know to listen to us because we are right alll the time". That's basically how it goes.
There's a lot of stuff that Colene thinks about everything that could potentially be explained by the fact that she's a 14 year old girl who lives in a sexist society, but Piers Anthony is not that good a writer and I've read enough of his other books to know that all this disordered thinking comes from his brain. She has some dumb ideas about gender roles that are straight from Piers. She has some damaging thoughts about her own gang rape: "I was so drunk I may have even thought it was fun at the time." This would be a good point to address the fact that victim blaming is rampant in our society, and that many victims begin to internalize the idea that maybe it was kind of their fault if they were drunk, but none of this is addressed at all. Piers is DEFINITELY not nuanced enough to show that while his character maybe believe something like that, it is wrong and a symptom of societal problems with how we react to assault victims and gender roles. "It sure taught me to be wary of liquor and of men!" Here's another overwhelming theme of Piers Anthony books: all men are always thinking about sex and are all potentially driven out of control by a lady's body. He doesn't realize how insulting that is to his entire gender? "She did know the nature of men; they were always interested in sex, and took it when they got the chance. That night with the boys--she had represented Opportunity." "With a woman, sex and love were aspects of the same thing. That was why the abuse of sex was so horrible; it soiled love. But with a man they were in different ballparks. A man could love one woman and have sex with another. It was part of the basic misunderstanding between the sexes." EEUUUUUUCCCHHHHH.
Let's go through the female characters, shall we? Colene we've done. Later on in the book, there are some female slaves - bred to serve, basically - who are defined by their sex and what they can provide with their bodies. There are male slaves also, but they're not nearly as sexual...presumably because women don't desire sex outside of love so there's no need for male slaves to be sexual. We just assume that gay people don't really exist here. There's another female character later, who is useful because she can sort of see into the future, but doesn't talk and is pretty much an ignored character because she's an OLD LADY and therefore UNATTRACTIVE and therefore NOT IMPORTANT.
Let us move on to the other most major female character in the book. She has so much potential for being completely bad-ass except for the bad luck of being written by Piers Anthony. Her name is Prima, and she's from Darius's mode. She had great magic, enough to definitely qualify for being grand poo-bah of spreading happiness, but because IT IS NOT DONE she wasn't allowed to do it. "I was attracted to her not for her beauty or personality, for she was not remarkable in these respects..." She is introduced as not being very good-looking, and for the rest of her time in this book, they will not shut up about what she looks like. Because her society was sexist, she set off into the modes to see if she could find a society in which women were equal. Fuckin' A. As Darius moves through the modes, he is captured by sentient dragons, only to find that Prima was captured by them 20 years prior, and, still sharp as ever, helps him to escape. Sounds like she's pretty competent and take-charge! "...I must make obvious attempts to seduce you, so that the dragon will know that we are potentially breedable. I realize that this will be distasteful to you because I am too old and unattractive, but our lives will be at stake, so I ask you to behave in a manner the dragon will find reasonable." "...you have seen my body. Please answer with candor: do I retain sexual appeal?" Oh yeah, did you just survive for 20 years in a prison camp, learning the language of your captors, before planning and executing an escape plan with a dude you just met? And actually the first thing you can think of is how attractive you look to the dude? Nooooooo Piers, noooooo. Don't worry, Darius, true to form as a man, WILL NOT STOP TELLING US WHAT HE THINKS OF PRIMA'S BODY. "She seemed to be about forty and not unhandsome...Her feet were in sandals, and were filthy, the toenails growing down and around in a manner that might be practical in a wilderness for protection against abrasions, but were detestable aesthetically. Her hair was long and somewhat unkempt, as if maintaining appearances was pointless here." Here, being the PRISON CAMP. "Then she removed her worn shirt, showing her haltered bosom. It was a good one, considering her age...he saw that she was lean, rather than plump, but her posterior was well rounded and her breasts were of adequate mass...in the appropriate apparel her body would be attractive enough...she was older than he, and not beautiful (thought not ugly), but she had a good mind to go with her excellent power..." I get the impression that Piers thinks he's doing something good by mentioning her great magical power and intelligence every time he mentions her looks - we may be obsessed with what she looks like, because she's a woman so OBVIOUSLY, but she's also a woman who is smart! Novel, huh? Here's an idea - what about a female character who is strong and smart and capable full stop? And maybe who cares what she looks like? Next time, can we try to use the same amount of physical description words for the lady characters as for the guy characters? Can maybe not every character be constantly thinking about women's bodies? Every character! All the time! It's really hard to get into the story when I have to stop reading to roll my eyes and give the finger to a book.
So probably if I'd read this as a 14 year old I would have been really into it, but as an adult I recognize that Piers Anthony is a sexist dude who will not stop writing female characters even though he's sooo baaaad at it. I didn't comment on much of the story in this review, because while his ideas are pretty creative and interesting as usual, they are just so bogged down with terrible awful terrible sexist awful things. This is a great book to hate read though.
February 1, 2012
In all honesty, I never finished this book. Chances are I never will. But this book has brought great joy and delight far beyond its 99 cent price tag and has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf. The saying is don't judge a book by its cover, but in my opinion, this book got just the cover it deserves. It DESERVES the early 1990's girl from Full House standing with a duffel bag beside a horse in front of some strange pink and purple light show. And that may be the high point. I like to randomly open it and just start reading. It has never failed me yet. There is always something completely ridiculous going on that I probably wouldn't be able to read with a straight face even if I was trying to take the book seriously. I swear at one point they are talking about selling ovaries on the black market. I think I almost cried laughing at that point. Know someone who is feeling down? Call them up and read them a few paragraphs with no warning. They are guaranteed to forget their woes and say WTF??!
June 14, 2011
I used to love Piers Anthony as a child. I guess I've outgrown him.
September 28, 2012
Piers Anthony prefers to call Virtual Mode “imaginative fiction.” That reminds me of Harlan Ellison’s description of his work as “speculative fiction.” Virtual Mode, named after a means of accessing all the memory in a computer, is the first installment in a series of novels that seem like a hybrid between fantasy and science-fiction. The multi-dimensionality of this series has a feeling of soft science-fiction, but the working out of the plot is more like a pairing of fantasy and romance novel. Okay, I know what you’re thinking…”ROMANCE NOVEL?! Didn’t he get that out of his system with the Incarnations series?” Well, apparently not, if that’s a problem.
This is a romance between citizens of different worlds. [Yeah, and what was Dejah Thoris and John Carter or Jake and Neytiri?] Darius is a powerful transmitter of power, a multiplier effect for positive emotion in another dimension/reality, while Colene is a very young teenager. Darius is frustrated at being forced to doom the person he loves; Colene is suicidal after facing several personal tragedies—not the least of which was a gang rape. Both are challenged to discover the necessity of risk in authentic love—especially after something that is integral to any such story—misunderstandings on both sides. Darius doesn’t understand the underlying basis of Colene’s death wish and Colene doesn’t believe the reality of Darius’ magical dimension. Later, there are more humorous misunderstandings and a few worthy twists that are telegraphed, but not overtly obvious.
This is a story of extra-dimensionality, alternate geographies and life-forms. It has space travel and it has magic. The worlds and life-forms, such as those in Anthony’s marvelous trilogy “Of Man and Manta” (Omnivore, Orn, and OX where life forms from cellular automata and phytoplankton through manta ray-like creatures and humans find conceptual life), have a nice variety and intriguing settings/problems. Some of the life-forms are more like intelligent machines, but some are “furries” bio-engineered such as to make even a San Diego Comics Con attendee envious. It’s a nice mix.
Although I originally thought the travel through these alternate realities was going to be like a sci-fi, fantasy “buddy movie,” I was pleasantly surprised to see challenging quests and puzzles for both of the co-equal protagonists. Colene, typical to Anthony’s most successful work, is a punster. Part of her rebellion against the misfortune and disappointment in her life is to christen mundane objects around her with “punful” names. In tribute to the comic strip, Blondie, for example, the little storage shack near the Dogwood tree is “Dogwood Bumshed.” The puns are not as prolific as the ones in the Xanth series, but they provide some delightful comic relief. Darius is somewhat of a less dynamic protagonist. He wants to do the right thing and he has the right motivations, but he isn’t as well-rounded as Colene. That may change in the next three novels of the tetralogy and I’ll let you know what I think as soon as I manage to acquire or borrow them.
I think Anthony intended for the series to go longer than four books, much like the Xanth series, but it appears that the commercial response wasn’t as solid as he had hoped. I certainly hadn’t heard of this series before I discovered the first volume. I’m glad I did discover it, though. I like it better than anything he’s written since the earlier Incarnations works. Maybe I’m just a romantic after all.
This is a romance between citizens of different worlds. [Yeah, and what was Dejah Thoris and John Carter or Jake and Neytiri?] Darius is a powerful transmitter of power, a multiplier effect for positive emotion in another dimension/reality, while Colene is a very young teenager. Darius is frustrated at being forced to doom the person he loves; Colene is suicidal after facing several personal tragedies—not the least of which was a gang rape. Both are challenged to discover the necessity of risk in authentic love—especially after something that is integral to any such story—misunderstandings on both sides. Darius doesn’t understand the underlying basis of Colene’s death wish and Colene doesn’t believe the reality of Darius’ magical dimension. Later, there are more humorous misunderstandings and a few worthy twists that are telegraphed, but not overtly obvious.
This is a story of extra-dimensionality, alternate geographies and life-forms. It has space travel and it has magic. The worlds and life-forms, such as those in Anthony’s marvelous trilogy “Of Man and Manta” (Omnivore, Orn, and OX where life forms from cellular automata and phytoplankton through manta ray-like creatures and humans find conceptual life), have a nice variety and intriguing settings/problems. Some of the life-forms are more like intelligent machines, but some are “furries” bio-engineered such as to make even a San Diego Comics Con attendee envious. It’s a nice mix.
Although I originally thought the travel through these alternate realities was going to be like a sci-fi, fantasy “buddy movie,” I was pleasantly surprised to see challenging quests and puzzles for both of the co-equal protagonists. Colene, typical to Anthony’s most successful work, is a punster. Part of her rebellion against the misfortune and disappointment in her life is to christen mundane objects around her with “punful” names. In tribute to the comic strip, Blondie, for example, the little storage shack near the Dogwood tree is “Dogwood Bumshed.” The puns are not as prolific as the ones in the Xanth series, but they provide some delightful comic relief. Darius is somewhat of a less dynamic protagonist. He wants to do the right thing and he has the right motivations, but he isn’t as well-rounded as Colene. That may change in the next three novels of the tetralogy and I’ll let you know what I think as soon as I manage to acquire or borrow them.
I think Anthony intended for the series to go longer than four books, much like the Xanth series, but it appears that the commercial response wasn’t as solid as he had hoped. I certainly hadn’t heard of this series before I discovered the first volume. I’m glad I did discover it, though. I like it better than anything he’s written since the earlier Incarnations works. Maybe I’m just a romantic after all.
October 13, 2007
I told my fiance that I wanted something light to read, either sci-fi or fantasy, fun, not too difficult. This is the book he brought to me.
When I saw it, I was apprehensive. The cover has a young woman standing in front of a horse. "It's a girl and pony book?" "Well, yes, but not really. The horse is smarter than her." "Oh! Well okay, then."
It's not one of those adolescent reader books. It is, after all, Piers Anthony. And I like Piers Anthony's books.
This book is the first of a series. It's obvious that this is the case not just because the cover says "Book one of the Mode series" but because when you get to the last page, you're stuck at the beginning of a new adventure. The only thing left to do is pick up the next book to find out what on Earth just happened and how it's all going to turn out. Or try to read the Author's Note at the end of the book, get restless, and go write up a review of the book on Goodreads. Either one works.
The story is interesting. The characters are sometimes predictable, with one fabulous exception. The concept of the story was new to me, which was something that kept me interested. I have to say that it wasn't all that climatic, but it did keep me coming back to find out what was going to happen.
And probably one of the most interesting things, psychologically, was his use of a depressive self-abusive protagonist. While not as moved, perhaps, as I could have been by her troubles, I appreciated his candor with her situation and the way she thought about it and herself. I don't know how accurate it is to life, but it was interesting to see the world through her eyes for a while.
When I saw it, I was apprehensive. The cover has a young woman standing in front of a horse. "It's a girl and pony book?" "Well, yes, but not really. The horse is smarter than her." "Oh! Well okay, then."
It's not one of those adolescent reader books. It is, after all, Piers Anthony. And I like Piers Anthony's books.
This book is the first of a series. It's obvious that this is the case not just because the cover says "Book one of the Mode series" but because when you get to the last page, you're stuck at the beginning of a new adventure. The only thing left to do is pick up the next book to find out what on Earth just happened and how it's all going to turn out. Or try to read the Author's Note at the end of the book, get restless, and go write up a review of the book on Goodreads. Either one works.
The story is interesting. The characters are sometimes predictable, with one fabulous exception. The concept of the story was new to me, which was something that kept me interested. I have to say that it wasn't all that climatic, but it did keep me coming back to find out what was going to happen.
And probably one of the most interesting things, psychologically, was his use of a depressive self-abusive protagonist. While not as moved, perhaps, as I could have been by her troubles, I appreciated his candor with her situation and the way she thought about it and herself. I don't know how accurate it is to life, but it was interesting to see the world through her eyes for a while.
March 3, 2012
I persevered through the whole series, but honestly, it started off absurd and never recovered. The main character, Colene, suffers from suicidal depression as a result of being gang raped at a young age. She regularly engages in self harm, and then runs off with a bloke (Darius) she just met who promises a better life. She seems to like kissing her teacher and stripping in front of others and she's always trying to seduce the bloke.
The concept of parallel realities is interesting and somewhat original, but the story is tedious and repetitive with largely unbelievable characters. She seems to be constantly thinking about sex and the size of her boobs; he is prudish to the point of being ridiculous. Despite being only 14, she seems to have an amazing grasp of complex mathematics, ancient history, biology, physics - you name it. A real genius.
The story itself is repetitive and tedious - how many times does it have to explain that she is depressed. We get it! Each of the books covers a different phase of the journey with a new character, but follows much the same pattern. The language tends to be a bit arcane - "vessel of dolor"? No one says that. Maybe in the 1930s.
I kept at it until I finished the series, but I'm not sure why. Maybe I don't like quitting. But to be honest I was just glad it was over. I didn't get that feeling of satisfaction you should get from reading a good story. Instead I was left wondering whether the author maybe had some unresolved "issues" that he was expressing through his writing.
The concept of parallel realities is interesting and somewhat original, but the story is tedious and repetitive with largely unbelievable characters. She seems to be constantly thinking about sex and the size of her boobs; he is prudish to the point of being ridiculous. Despite being only 14, she seems to have an amazing grasp of complex mathematics, ancient history, biology, physics - you name it. A real genius.
The story itself is repetitive and tedious - how many times does it have to explain that she is depressed. We get it! Each of the books covers a different phase of the journey with a new character, but follows much the same pattern. The language tends to be a bit arcane - "vessel of dolor"? No one says that. Maybe in the 1930s.
I kept at it until I finished the series, but I'm not sure why. Maybe I don't like quitting. But to be honest I was just glad it was over. I didn't get that feeling of satisfaction you should get from reading a good story. Instead I was left wondering whether the author maybe had some unresolved "issues" that he was expressing through his writing.
April 15, 2015
I first read this book when I was about 12/13 but could never find any of the following books in the series. Something about this bugged me so finally I went back to this series as a promise to my younger self. Reading this now though I really am not impressed with Piers Anthony, particularly he seems to have some very strange ideas about women. I'll read the rest of the series to keep that promise to my self but I probably won't be going back to other Piers Anthony books any time soon.
June 18, 2016
There is no doubt in my mind as to why people love to read Piers Anthony. Engaging characters, fantastic imaginative world, good writing, and a well-constructed plot and great world building. The best part of the book is when he address the reader at the end of the book with his author’s notes. Piers Anthony is a very personal author and it shows in his straight non-story writing. VM is an interesting take on alternate dimensions. It is definitely a book written with a young protagonist but not suitable for kids that age.
The descriptions of the main character’s suicidal tendencies are very strong and somewhat disturbing. In a bet to win an object she challenges a bully to a contest where if she loses she will have sex with him for a week. The contest consists on one cutting themselves to see who will pass out first from loss of blood. Even more frank and graphic is the sexual material. It seems as if every character may engage in sexual activity at any moment. Describing the sexual hunger of a 14 year old is not something that anyone should really want to put in their minds, especially kids that age. There is also a cat like creature that wants to please her master sexually, which is her purpose in life. Her name just happens to be pussy.
Virtual Mode is a very well written sci-Fi Fantasy novel which ends in a cliff hanger which the author says at the end “Don’t be mad because it ends here.” But the R rated material tends to lower the entertainment quality and it is disturbing as it is too intertwined in the story to enjoy the fantasy. Although I probably won’t venture into the next mode I still want to check out the Xanth series, but will precede with caution which is my recommendation for the book and author.
The descriptions of the main character’s suicidal tendencies are very strong and somewhat disturbing. In a bet to win an object she challenges a bully to a contest where if she loses she will have sex with him for a week. The contest consists on one cutting themselves to see who will pass out first from loss of blood. Even more frank and graphic is the sexual material. It seems as if every character may engage in sexual activity at any moment. Describing the sexual hunger of a 14 year old is not something that anyone should really want to put in their minds, especially kids that age. There is also a cat like creature that wants to please her master sexually, which is her purpose in life. Her name just happens to be pussy.
Virtual Mode is a very well written sci-Fi Fantasy novel which ends in a cliff hanger which the author says at the end “Don’t be mad because it ends here.” But the R rated material tends to lower the entertainment quality and it is disturbing as it is too intertwined in the story to enjoy the fantasy. Although I probably won’t venture into the next mode I still want to check out the Xanth series, but will precede with caution which is my recommendation for the book and author.
July 25, 2019
I read this when I was a kid, and it has always been one of my favorite books. I still have my copy from when I was a kid too. But, it's not in the best shape. I probably have read it a number of times. It's a really good book to read. But, it is more for the preteen age kids. I was a preteen when I read this and loved it back in the early 1990s. I admit I haven't read the story in around 20 years or more. But, it does talk about relevant stuff that should have more awareness. Some of those things that happened to Collene are still rather relevant today. But, if this book was released today it would probably be viewed as misogynistic and not do as well as it did when it came out when I was a kid. But, oh well. I just remember my preteen self absolutely loved this book. However, my adult self wouldn't want my daughter to read some of the content in this book. It is a bit much for a 14 year old to read. But, I believe when I was that age I shouldn't have read a lot of stuff. However, this will still be one of my favorite books. But, I really don't want my daughter to read it.
December 30, 2015
She's a cutter and into fractal math.
That's about all I remember!
That's about all I remember!
January 23, 2022
Imaginative world building and a quick read. Sensitive readers should research for trigger warnings as this book does deal with some unpleasant topics.
August 7, 2011
This was my first experience of reading a Science-Fiction novel, and I really enjoyed it! It had elements of fantasy that I could recognise, but I enjoyed the 'otherness' that I presume is the Sci-Fi model.
For the first in the 'Mode' series, Anthony does a good job of hooking readers into wanting to read the next book. He explains the concept of the Virtual Mode, and we are thoroughly introduced to the characters and their motivations and personalities. I can't wait to read the sequel.
'Virtual Mode' itself is an interesting novel spanning many realities - from the norm we know in our own lives, to realities, or Modes, governed by dragons or other animals, some governed by angry digger-trucks, and others where humans were slaves. The constant changing of Modes on the characters' journey keeps the reader interested. The main characters, Darius and Colene, are accessible and I found myself able to sympathise with both in different ways when it came to their points of view.
Read this book if you have even a slight interest in science or just enjoy a fantasy novel with a twist!
For the first in the 'Mode' series, Anthony does a good job of hooking readers into wanting to read the next book. He explains the concept of the Virtual Mode, and we are thoroughly introduced to the characters and their motivations and personalities. I can't wait to read the sequel.
'Virtual Mode' itself is an interesting novel spanning many realities - from the norm we know in our own lives, to realities, or Modes, governed by dragons or other animals, some governed by angry digger-trucks, and others where humans were slaves. The constant changing of Modes on the characters' journey keeps the reader interested. The main characters, Darius and Colene, are accessible and I found myself able to sympathise with both in different ways when it came to their points of view.
Read this book if you have even a slight interest in science or just enjoy a fantasy novel with a twist!
February 11, 2009
This was the book that finally made me give up on Piers Anthony for good. It's the same basic underlying plot device as [pick any Piers Anthony novel from the past 20 years], where [insert protagonist] gets into an unusual situation whose solution inevitably involves solving a series of mental gymnastic riddles. Sigh.
January 11, 2011
This book is pedantic and disturbing in so many ways. Don't waste your time.
February 4, 2022
This is a very problematic book. I read it the first time over a decade ago, it was titillating and novel. The second time, reading in 2022, I'm more aware of the world I reside in, and can read the book on multiple levels. It's a conundrum.
On one hand, the concept of writing about a 14year old teen who falls for a much older man, in a world that is fairly sexually explicit, is frankly an antithema to the social values we hold up today. You could read this book as a child romance grooming adventure... And it's not inaccurate. The reality is that any adult that does initiate or encourage any carnal or romantic relationship with a teen, especially a 14yr old, is deplorable, and lampshading, societies or fantasy that allows, permits or dismisses that is simply aiding and abeiting the concept that it's OK. End of story.
Hoowwwever.... I still really enjoy this story. I'm kinda worried about what that says about me, and I try not to dwell on the main character being 14. It's fairly easy because she acts and thinks far older than an actual 14yr old, the authors attempts aside.
Putting all that aside, and putting aside the fundemental truth that a grown man can never fully accurately encapsulate in writing the thinking and personality of a young deeply troubled 14 year old girl..... It's still a good read if you can overlook the privilege and sexism that is inate to the authors writing.
There's some core concepts that are deeply fancinating in the world creation. There are some great character growths that are enjoyable to watch unfold. There are some emotional truths that hold true to the word around us.
It loses a star for things being a little too convenient and predictable. Take off 2 more stars for the sexually active child main character if you can't over look that. Take off another star if you don't want to read about the attractiveness level of all female characters introduced as a primary definition of who they are as a character. Hmm, that's down to 1 star. What can I say, it's a product of its times. A fun sexist fantasy written by a guy who kinda writes a lot of sexual fantasies...
I will say one further thing. The authors note at the end of the book makes clear that this story and this choice of protagonist is based on the authors real life interactions with girls in similar situations. I think the intention in part was to write them as a character in a way that could help. It's limited and flawed, it suggests that the key to overcoming problems lies in the pursuit of love and relationships. I don't believe that to be true and also I think encouraging you woman to seek an older man to save them will usually end badly, caveats or no caveats. A better story would be one of self worth and empowerment, alas a man of his times, Piers seeks to offer help, misguided though it may be, at least the motivations aren't grotesque.
On one hand, the concept of writing about a 14year old teen who falls for a much older man, in a world that is fairly sexually explicit, is frankly an antithema to the social values we hold up today. You could read this book as a child romance grooming adventure... And it's not inaccurate. The reality is that any adult that does initiate or encourage any carnal or romantic relationship with a teen, especially a 14yr old, is deplorable, and lampshading, societies or fantasy that allows, permits or dismisses that is simply aiding and abeiting the concept that it's OK. End of story.
Hoowwwever.... I still really enjoy this story. I'm kinda worried about what that says about me, and I try not to dwell on the main character being 14. It's fairly easy because she acts and thinks far older than an actual 14yr old, the authors attempts aside.
Putting all that aside, and putting aside the fundemental truth that a grown man can never fully accurately encapsulate in writing the thinking and personality of a young deeply troubled 14 year old girl..... It's still a good read if you can overlook the privilege and sexism that is inate to the authors writing.
There's some core concepts that are deeply fancinating in the world creation. There are some great character growths that are enjoyable to watch unfold. There are some emotional truths that hold true to the word around us.
It loses a star for things being a little too convenient and predictable. Take off 2 more stars for the sexually active child main character if you can't over look that. Take off another star if you don't want to read about the attractiveness level of all female characters introduced as a primary definition of who they are as a character. Hmm, that's down to 1 star. What can I say, it's a product of its times. A fun sexist fantasy written by a guy who kinda writes a lot of sexual fantasies...
I will say one further thing. The authors note at the end of the book makes clear that this story and this choice of protagonist is based on the authors real life interactions with girls in similar situations. I think the intention in part was to write them as a character in a way that could help. It's limited and flawed, it suggests that the key to overcoming problems lies in the pursuit of love and relationships. I don't believe that to be true and also I think encouraging you woman to seek an older man to save them will usually end badly, caveats or no caveats. A better story would be one of self worth and empowerment, alas a man of his times, Piers seeks to offer help, misguided though it may be, at least the motivations aren't grotesque.
August 11, 2019
I remember this being one of the first adult books I ever read.
I think I was between 10-12 and before this, I didn't know that books like this even existed. It blew my tiny little mind.
I need to read it again, I've been looking but haven't found a copy yet.
But from memory - due to certain circumstances, a young girl is visited by a man from another dimension, and he needs help. He hones in on this 12 year old girl and takes her on an adventure, which is a long walk. But his power is that as they move, they cross dimensions. Dimensions close by are obviously similar, but as they get further and further, they get more and more different.
So, every few steps, the world begins to look slightly different. Subtle changes in the buildings, the clothes people wear.. until days later they are in magical realms, weird fractal looking dimensions, all kinds of odd places.. adventures and obstacles ensue..
I also found the love that grows between them quite charming. But I was young at the time and I've apparently read that the author has taken backlash for there being sexy intimacy between the young girl and the older man.. like he's writing some sort of perverted fiction for his own gratification. I didn't even think of that at the time.. the story was too interesting and I didn't even remember that part until I was reminded that the two protagonists snuggle up on one cold night while traversing the dimensional journey back to his home dimension where she is needed to help in whatever the plot point was that required her in the first place..
I'm going to totally over-rate this and I assume this isn't to everyone's taste. But my young memories of it were fantastic and it holds a huge nostalgic place in my heart. I also read the sequel Fractal Mode, but don't remember quite as much about it - just that it wasn't as good as we'd been introduced to most of the characters (including, if memory serves - 'Squerio' the telepathic horse) before and it was another adventure.
There's a third in this series too, but I haven't read it (to my recollection)
I think I was between 10-12 and before this, I didn't know that books like this even existed. It blew my tiny little mind.
I need to read it again, I've been looking but haven't found a copy yet.
But from memory - due to certain circumstances, a young girl is visited by a man from another dimension, and he needs help. He hones in on this 12 year old girl and takes her on an adventure, which is a long walk. But his power is that as they move, they cross dimensions. Dimensions close by are obviously similar, but as they get further and further, they get more and more different.
So, every few steps, the world begins to look slightly different. Subtle changes in the buildings, the clothes people wear.. until days later they are in magical realms, weird fractal looking dimensions, all kinds of odd places.. adventures and obstacles ensue..
I also found the love that grows between them quite charming. But I was young at the time and I've apparently read that the author has taken backlash for there being sexy intimacy between the young girl and the older man.. like he's writing some sort of perverted fiction for his own gratification. I didn't even think of that at the time.. the story was too interesting and I didn't even remember that part until I was reminded that the two protagonists snuggle up on one cold night while traversing the dimensional journey back to his home dimension where she is needed to help in whatever the plot point was that required her in the first place..
I'm going to totally over-rate this and I assume this isn't to everyone's taste. But my young memories of it were fantastic and it holds a huge nostalgic place in my heart. I also read the sequel Fractal Mode, but don't remember quite as much about it - just that it wasn't as good as we'd been introduced to most of the characters (including, if memory serves - 'Squerio' the telepathic horse) before and it was another adventure.
There's a third in this series too, but I haven't read it (to my recollection)
August 29, 2022
One of my favorite books... and I must say I am amused at all the cancel culture crowd rating it poorly because it has sexist tones... did you live thru the 90's? No? Guess not. You can't rate a book from another decade based on the values of the current decade. Let me repeat that louder for those in the back... You. Can. NOT. rate a book written in the past based on the values of the present. I enjoy Piers Anthony and this is my favorite series closely followed by the Incarnations of Immortality series. Yes this contains sensitive topics and that is a valid reason not to read it if that triggers you... but to read it KNOWING it contains sensitive topics and then rant about it? Yeah no.
The world building is fascinating, the science is on point, and the characters are deep and well crafted. We clearly see their inner struggles and as the series progresses we learn more back story. Another review complained about the female slaves found on one of the modes and insinuated that only females were slaves... well... maybe they didn't read the entire book because the slaves came in sets of three... male, female, and neuter are the terms used (as the slaves are created in animal likeness)... it doesn't get more equal opportunity than that... and actually despite these characters being created from a genetic pool rather than born I'd still say Anthony was ahead of his time including that gender aspect. For the 90's acknowledging that there are more than male/female gender was pretty groundbreaking.
This book (series) has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf.
The world building is fascinating, the science is on point, and the characters are deep and well crafted. We clearly see their inner struggles and as the series progresses we learn more back story. Another review complained about the female slaves found on one of the modes and insinuated that only females were slaves... well... maybe they didn't read the entire book because the slaves came in sets of three... male, female, and neuter are the terms used (as the slaves are created in animal likeness)... it doesn't get more equal opportunity than that... and actually despite these characters being created from a genetic pool rather than born I'd still say Anthony was ahead of his time including that gender aspect. For the 90's acknowledging that there are more than male/female gender was pretty groundbreaking.
This book (series) has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf.
June 28, 2023
I have complicated feelings about this series, of which book 1 is possibly the most complicated (I need a refresher on the later books, but the complication is strongest in 1 I *think*?).
The main issue is that Darius has to find a companion who can help with his job sharing happiness (this is super convoluted but actually not the issue here), and so he targets Colene, a suicidal teenage girl DEFINITELY much, much younger than he is... OKAY THEN.
I actually really like the whole "learning how to talk to each other" part that tends to get skipped over in other stories (using "magic translators" or ignored entirely). I also sort of like the "travel through multiple dimensions a slice at a time" aspect, from a primal "always have an escape route" instinct, though I do recognise the inherent dangers with that, too.
I guess it's mostly this discomfort of the age gap and some of the way Colene's depression is handled. I think it's the first story I came across where one of the main characters is definitely suicidal and has attempted or toyed with it. The rest of the story feels rather normal (for fantasy/sci-fi) by comparison.
Decent story, but maybe pass if suicide is too much. (She doesn't, but there are some graphic descriptions that are uncomfortable to read.)
The main issue is that Darius has to find a companion who can help with his job sharing happiness (this is super convoluted but actually not the issue here), and so he targets Colene, a suicidal teenage girl DEFINITELY much, much younger than he is... OKAY THEN.
I actually really like the whole "learning how to talk to each other" part that tends to get skipped over in other stories (using "magic translators" or ignored entirely). I also sort of like the "travel through multiple dimensions a slice at a time" aspect, from a primal "always have an escape route" instinct, though I do recognise the inherent dangers with that, too.
I guess it's mostly this discomfort of the age gap and some of the way Colene's depression is handled. I think it's the first story I came across where one of the main characters is definitely suicidal and has attempted or toyed with it. The rest of the story feels rather normal (for fantasy/sci-fi) by comparison.
Decent story, but maybe pass if suicide is too much. (She doesn't, but there are some graphic descriptions that are uncomfortable to read.)
August 21, 2018
I read this one yonks ago, in hardcover, when it was new. (In fact, I still have the book because I can't bear to trade them off or sell them on.) Did read it, did finish it, but ... hmm. I didn't get enough out of it to go on with the series which spun off it. Perhaps the series got a little better as it progressed, but I'm afraid I didn't stick around to find out! About this time (early/mid 1990s) books were starting to get ludicrously expensive in Australia, and I found myself haunting book exchanges more than new-book stores. Oddly enough, you can find jewels on the sale tables while not-so-good titles are shelved at $28 for a paperback in the store... *sigh*
May 5, 2017
I picked this one up for a trip down memory lane. When I was in my early 20's I went through a phase where I devoured Piers Anthony novels. His voice definitely rang a bell and it was fun to reminisce, but I think I've outgrown his particular style of fantasy sci-fi. The younger Wayne may have given this a 4, but the present Wayne must regretfully say it is about a 2.5. I'll round up for an old favorites sake.
July 5, 2019
I first read this series many years ago when it was originally published. While there were most definitely aspects I felt did not stand up to the test of time in general I did enjoy re-reading this series. The characters have very clear points they are trying to portray and I like the scienc"ish" bits in it.
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March 17, 2020This was the first book series I ever read as a teenager. It got me into reading when I hated to read. If you get triggered by sexual violence and self harm then I suggest you don't read this series. It's about a girl trying to heal and she heals while going on a crazy adventure into fractal worlds.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2021
Ok I read this book when I was in fifth grade and I loved it. But I could never find the ones that come after this one.
Well I just read it again and I still love it, I’m going to go read book 2 .
Also wanted to say I saw a bunch of bad reviews.... how I’m not sure. Love you Piers Anthony, keep up the good work.
Well I just read it again and I still love it, I’m going to go read book 2 .
Also wanted to say I saw a bunch of bad reviews.... how I’m not sure. Love you Piers Anthony, keep up the good work.
September 14, 2023
Virtual Mode was quite freshly fun. I'm reminded that there is a "young adult" genre where characters are simple and straightforward, no artificial obfuscation needs to take place to "tease our overdeveloped minds": we can simply sit back and enjoy the cute story and wonder at the crafty problem solving involved.
July 2, 2018
Can I do zero stars? The most disturbing part is that I remember actually liking this as a teenager (shudder). Piers Anthony is sci-fi geek who somehow got his frat-boy pervy/sci-fi sexual fantasies published.
August 9, 2020
I’ve read this twice. Once in Jr High and once as an adult. It’s a strange blend of story. I would also note that the main character has some pretty serious issues with self-harm, so this might not be the book for everyone.
March 30, 2021
I am re-reading books from long ago prior to putting them in the Little Free Library out front. This one has definitely not aged well. At all. I won't put it into the kids' section, that's for sure.
I did love the concept of a virtual mode! Tempted to give it a third star just based on that.
I did love the concept of a virtual mode! Tempted to give it a third star just based on that.
March 28, 2019
What a weird book.
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September 18, 2019This one means the world to me. Piers sent it to me hit of the press. My name is mentioned in the notes. 😀
May 6, 2020
If a grown man wrote what he thought a teenage girl would think and feel and say....oh wait that’s what this is and it’s not done well.
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