false 13821 17 In the 1960s, Roger Zelazny dazzled the SF world with what seemed to be inexhaustible talent and inventiveness. <I>Lord of Light</I>, his 3rd novel, is his finest book: a science fantasy in which the intricate, colorful mechanisms of Hindu religion, capricious gods & repeated reincarnations are wittily underpinned by technology. "For six days he had offered many kilowatts of prayer, but the static kept him from being heard On High." The gods are a starship crew who subdued a colony world; developed godlike--tho often machine-enhanced--powers during successive lifetimes of mind transfer to new, cloned bodies; and now lord it over descendants of the ship's mere passengers. Their tyranny is opposed by retired god Sam, who mocks the Celestial City, introduces Buddhism to subvert Hindu dogma, allies himself with the planet's native "demons" against Heaven, fights pyrotechnic battles with bizarre troops & weapons, plays dirty with politics and poison & dies horribly but won't stay dead. It's a huge, lumbering, magical story, told largely in flashback, full of wonderfully ornate language (& one unforgivable pun) that builds up the luminous myth of trickster Sam, Lord of Light. Essential SF reading.--David Langford 1011388 book 1967 Lord of Light total:1467|5:675|4:441|3:263|2:64|1:24| 1467 6080 2086 160 3 15 false false Sat Apr 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Feb 26 16:29:15 -0800 2009 Thu Jun 25 16:12:59 -0700 2009 1
I'm still scratching my head wondering why or how this novel won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1968. My memories of those times are sparse as I wasn't in grade school yet. Without researching extensively into the myth...more...]]> 5 3 false false Tue Feb 03 17:55:09 -0800 2009 Mon Dec 29 10:04:43 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 03 17:55:09 -0800 2009
The Plot: Long story short, immortals from Earth set up shop on another world and assumed the ...more...]]> 5 4 false false Wed Oct 31 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Dec 19 03:16:36 -0800 2007 Fri Oct 31 11:12:30 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 4 false false Sat Sep 29 17:51:45 -0700 2007 Fri Nov 02 09:31:19 -0700 2007
Roger Zelazny is a writer who packs a lot into a story, yet makes it very eas...more...]]> 5 2 false false Wed May 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 29 18:23:54 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 01 21:46:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Mar 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jan 13 06:59:19 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 18 00:11:56 -0700 2009 Lord of Light, Zelazny drops the reader smack into the middle of an epic and eternal struggle, taking place on a distant planet in the distant future. It's an incredibly disorienting way to enter a story, especially one as bizarre and complicated as this one is. The structure of the...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1977 Mon Jul 14 12:34:17 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 13:27:21 -0700 2008
Lord of Light has been on my top ten list for ove...more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri Mar 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 11 10:54:10 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 15 13:09:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue May 05 12:49:54 -0700 2009 Tue May 05 12:51:39 -0700 2009
"Earth is long since dead. On a colony planet, a band of men has gained control of technology, made themselves immortal, and now rule their world as the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Only one dares oppose them: he who was once Siddhartha a...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Dec 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 19:14:14 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 22 09:48:42 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1994 Thu Dec 18 08:08:06 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 18 20:02:22 -0800 2008
If I recall correctly the way the main character describes his powers reminds me of the way you describe the powers of a role playing game, but this b...more...]]> 5 1 true false Fri May 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 14:05:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 29 20:03:17 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 09:29:42 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 09:36:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu May 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 19:36:18 -0700 2009 Thu May 14 13:25:21 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jun 18 17:07:07 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 17:16:14 -0700 2009
This is the best novel Roger Zelazny ever wrote. Remember Arthur C. Clark's dictum that a sufficiently advanced technology resembles magic? That is at play here.

Set on a far-future colony planet, the ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Sep 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 28 21:32:58 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 07 05:20:31 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1989 Mon Feb 25 22:28:26 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 22:39:35 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Mar 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Feb 15 17:20:25 -0800 2008 Fri Mar 14 22:00:34 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1973 Fri Oct 12 15:48:37 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 25 06:50:12 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 09 08:34:20 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 26 20:40:31 -0700 2007 more...]]>