Books that follow one character through multiple lives / incarnations?

[Huck]

I am looking for novels or short stories (SF/F or otherwise) that follow a character through several lives. One example that comes to mind is Virginia Woolf's Orlando; depending on how you read it, Cloud Atlas might also fall into this category.

What sparked this thread is Noble's mention of Jack London's Star Rover in the obscure books thread. I haven't read it yet, but is seems to fit the bill perfectly, and so I thought I'd ask you all whether you had any further -- much appreciated -- suggestions or recommendations.

Thanks!

Edit 2:

The list below now includes all recommendations up to post #34. I've also started the Deverry series, and it's really great. This one series alone is worth having started the thread, and there are so many more books to look forward to.

Edit 1:

I've compiled a list of all your recommendations so far (# 25 -- do keep them coming!); the order is -- very loosely -- the order I'll try to read them in. I'll report back with my comments on each book after I've read it.

Jack London, Star Rover

Katharine Kerr, Deverry series (four series: Deverry, Westlands, Silver Wyrm and Dragon Mage)

Kim Stanley Robinson, Years of Rice and Salt

Roger Zelazny, Lord of Light

Hal Duncan, Vellum and Ink

Kate Atkinson, Life After Life

Yukio Mishima, Sea of Fertility tetralogy (“not among his strongest”)

M.D. Lachlan, The Craw Trilogy

Andrew Davidson, The Gargoyle

H Warner Munn, Merlin's Ring

Ben Bova, Orion

Chris Carlson, Shadow of the Wolf (the cover! Also: the cover!)

Philip Jose Farmer, Riverworld

Moorcock, Eternal Champion cycle

Christopher Priest, The Separation

Alan Garner, The Owl Service

Graham Masterton, The Manitou

F Paul Wilson, The Keep

H Rider Haggard, She

Ramsey Campbell, The Hungry Moon

Karl Edward Wagner, Kane, the Mystic Swordsman (5 vols, features an immortal)

Robert Holdstock, Mythago Wood (possibly more metamorphosis than reincarnation?)

Robert Littell, Legends (political fiction)

Olivia Butler, Patternmaster ("uneven quality but overall enjoyable")

Karen McIntosh, The Quickening trilogy (warning: writing rather poor)

M. John Harrison, Viriconium (comes with the somewhat unusual recommendation of “And if you would like to soon be contemplating suicide, you could also read this”)

Piers Anthony, Geodyssey (possibly not very good)

Possibly more along the lines of Groundhog Day:

Ken Grimwood, Replay

Hiroshi Sakurazaka, All You Need is Kill

(possibly also Life after Life, see above?)

Anime:

Fantastic Children

[russjass]

The Deverry series by Katharine Kerr (four series really, Deverry, Westlands, Silver Wyrm and Dragon Mage) follow several characters and their growth and interactions through multiple incarnations over approx 600 years.

They are also fantastic books.

[Sci-2]

Moorcock's Eternal Champion Cycle

[Fez]

Piers Anthony's Geodyssey series. I can't really recommend you read it though.

[Huck]

Wow -- these are great responses. Thanks! I'll read all of them (thanks for the fair warning though, Fez). Keep them coming :)

[Datepalm]

Kim Stanley Robinson's Years of Rice and Salt follows two characters, (and a few minor ones, IIRC, but mostly two) through an alternate history setting.

[Leofric]

Kim Stanley Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt details 600 years of an alternate history diverging in the fourteenth century with several characters being reincarnated in different time periods.

[Angalin]

Kate Atkinson's new novel, Life After Life, follows one character through different possible lives and has been getting fantastic reviews.

[Patrick Mallister]

Probably my favorite book fits this: Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. Absolute classic. Every time I read it is on a whole new level. A couple of cool quotes about from Neil Gaiman:

"It's fantasy, or it's science fiction, or it's a retelling of the tales of the Hindu gods, as they encounter Mahasamatman, who may be Buddha and may just be a guy called Sam. It's a book I reread every few decades, and love."

and

"I was pleased to get a copy of Roger Zelazny's novel Lord of Light the other day. It's one of my favourite books (I think the first thing author Steve Brust ever said to me was "Let's have an argument. Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light is the best book anyone's ever written." "Ah," I said, "If you make it best SF book of the 1960s, I'll go along with it." "Oh. Fair enough." It was the first of a long line of failed arguments.) It's got a blurb from me on it, which I hope sells many copies."

[TheDanish]

Another vote for Kim Stanley Robinson's Years of Rice and Salt. Fantastic read, and alternate history done with a purpose.

[Darth Richard]

The Deverry series by Katharine Kerr (four series really, Deverry, Westlands, Silver Wyrm and Dragon Mage) follow several characters and their growth and interactions through multiple incarnations over approx 600 years.

They are also fantastic books.

:agree:

I like the cut of your jib, sir.

[RedEyedGhost]

I'll fourth The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson as an example of what you are looking for, but it is a bit slow and boring at time (while brilliant at others).

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson is another; it also has high and low points. We used to have a thread about it, but it looks like it got culled to help the board survive the influx of tv viewers.

The Craw Trilogy by M.D. Lachlan was extremely enjoyable to me. It details the multiple lives of two twin sons of Loki (one of whom is Fenrir the other is to be Fenrir's food source to activate him), the woman they both love, and Odin's need to repeatedly die in the mortal world in order to postpone Ragnarok.

And if you would like to soon be contemplating suicide, you could also read M. John Harrison's Viriconium.

The next three aren't exactly what you're looking for, but are similar enough, and they're all freaking awesome.

Replay by Ken Grimwood; AMAZING story! It details Jeff Winston's life as he relives the same 25 years over and over and the different choices he makes each time. Kind of like Groundhog Day, but over a much long loop.

All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka; more similar to Groundhog Day as the main character relives a battle against alien invaders trying to get it right. Great, great story - soon to be ruined by Hollywood as a major motion picture starring Tom Cruise.

The Separation by Christopher Priest; a WWII tale of twin brothers a the possible lives that they lived.

[Errant Bard]

I'll add Vellum and Ink by Hal Duncan, it's exactly what you're looking for (plus multiple realities)

[Sci-2]

I'll add Vellum and Ink by Hal Duncan, it's exactly what you're looking for (plus multiple realities)

+1,000!!!

[TheEvilKing]

Karen McIntosh's The Quickening trilogy fits the bill. The main character gets a curse where whenever he dies, his soul passes on to the body of the person who killed him.

Unfortunately I found the series to be quite poor and would not recommend it (although I seem to recall that the writing improves drastically with each book).

[King Tyrion I]

If you are into political fiction, the book I'm reading at the moment might be interesting for you. It's "Legends" by Robert Littell.

[Mark Lawrence]

Will second (third?) Katherine Kerr - sounds exactly what you want. And I really enjoyed the books, though so long ago I can recall almost nothing about them!

[unJon]

I'll pile onto recs for Lord or Light. Also the Olivia Butler Patternmaster books have a character that fits this bill. I found these books to be of uneven quality but overall enjoyable.

[Howdyphillip]

Orion by Ben Bova is the story of the everman

Riverworld by Philip Jose Farmer is about second life

[Errant Bard]

If I may be allowed a nitpick:

Lord of Light does not follow a character through multiple lives/incarnations, it follows one guy through a small part of his life, and reincarnation is only there as a backstory

it's mostly a hoax too

Also, Riverworld is less about multiple lives/incarnations than it is about death becoming non-permanent (transient?) and pitting every famous guy from every era against each others. (Also: aliens )