Lord of Light

published	1976 by EOS
first published	1967
binding	Paperback
isbn	0380014033 (isbn13: 9780380014033)
pages	288
literary awards	1968 Hugo Winner
description	In the 1960s, Roger Zelazny dazzled the SF world with what seemed to be inexhaustible talent and inventiveness. Lord of Light, his third novel,...more [close] In the 1960s, Roger Zelazny dazzled the SF world with what seemed to be inexhaustible talent and inventiveness. Lord of Light, his third novel, is his finest book: a science fantasy in which the intricate, colorful mechanisms of Hindu religion, capricious gods, and 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--though 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 and weapons, plays dirty with politics and poison, and dies horribly but won't stay dead. It's a huge, lumbering, magical story, told largely in flashback, full of wonderfully ornate language (and one unforgivable pun) that builds up the luminous myth of trickster Sam, Lord of Light. Essential SF reading. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk [close]
date added	03-23-07 edit book

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John rated it:

(review of isbn 0060567236)

11/02/07

I first read this book a good while ago, sometime in high school. I'm sure now that I didn't fully appreciate it. I just used this book in my AP English class, and I think that I'm closer to appreciating it now.

Roger Zelazny is a writer who packs a lot into a story, yet makes it very easily readable. Zelazny said in some interviews that he was usually reading 6 or 7 books at a time, in fields from history to the hard and social sciences to mythology or religion to literature and speculative ...more I first read this book a good while ago, sometime in high school. I'm sure now that I didn't fully appreciate it. I just used this book in my AP English class, and I think that I'm closer to appreciating it now.

Roger Zelazny is a writer who packs a lot into a story, yet makes it very easily readable. Zelazny said in some interviews that he was usually reading 6 or 7 books at a time, in fields from history to the hard and social sciences to mythology or religion to literature and speculative fiction. Probably he read less of these last than of the former, and this breadth of knowledge comes through in this science fiction novel that reads almost like fantasy. He blends the elements so well, and in this backward world where an elite has set itself up with technology, science seems like magic (or spirituality). In essence, the colonists of this planet discovered a technology that allowed a person's essential self, the atman or soul, to be transfered from one body to another, using genetic engineering to create new host bodies. At first, these people just jumped from body to body fathering a race of humans that they neglected to care for as they subdued the natural dangers of the planet. In time, they set themselves up as gods over the children they'd created, and in a world where reincarnation could be literal, they naturally recreated Hinduism as the world's religion.

This is all basically backdrop for the novel. This is why it reads, at times, as though we're in India of 500 BCE. This is the story of one of these original colonists who has rejected his fellow colonists' plans for the planet. He wants to share the wonders of technology with all the people so that they can all share in the lives that the "gods" lead. This is the story of his battle--sometimes subtle, sometimes overt--against the gods.

I decided to teach this book, as much as anything, because we had a bunch of copies sitting in the bookstore. I had no idea what I would talk about, what would be worth talking about in the book, because it had been too long since I'd read it. I figured, though, that if someone in the past had thought it was a good idea, well, I'd give it a shot too. And except for some laziness shown by students, it went very well. The boys (recall that I teach at an all-boys boarding school) really seemed to like it, no doubt because it had a lot of action in it, but there were also lots of "big issues": primary among them was whether government should be managed by an elite or open to the people, but there were also issues of religion (we see it both as a tool of the elites to keep "the rabble" in check, but also as a real and positive force in the lives of believers), issues of "the ends vs. the means," and issues of personal regret and reconciling with the past as one changes throughout life (or, well, lives).

Like I said, though: as much as there are lots of interesting issues to think about, Zelazny makes it all go down pretty smoothly--the strangeness of the eastern setting and the science-fiction background are offset by the fast pacing, the witty dialogue and writing, and Zelazny's expert craftsmanship. I almost gave this book 4 stars, but the more I think about it, it's better than that--4.5, maybe. The ending seemed a bit rushed (the first and last chapters serve as bookends around one long flashback that makes up the rest of the novel), but all in all I'm not complaining. A very good book that I may very well teach again and will enjoyably read again when if I do....less

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