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Schepselen van licht en donker

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 1,867 ratings · 73 reviews

Two gods, two houses, one quest & the eternal war between life & death: To save his kingdom, Anubis, Lord of the Dead, sends forth his servant on a mission of vengeance. At the same time, from The House of Life, Osiris sends forth his son, Horus, on the same mission to destroy utterly & forever The Prince Who Was a Thousand.
But neither of these superhuman warr...more

pocket, 178 pages

Published 1980 (first published July 1969)

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Aug 22, 2011 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fantasy, mythstories-and-legends

Zelazny’s stories often leave me scratching my MENTAL JUNK searching for a new means to describe his impressive creative chops. Well, after several brain limbering exercises, I came up with COSMICaweTASTIC SUPERBitude to describe this lesser known but amazing piece. I'm not sure exactly what it means but I think it's something positive.

This is certainly one of Zelazny’s more creative works, which is really saying something given his penchant to WTF his reader with bizarre and unique imagery.

As...more

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Sep 19, 2009 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, science-fiction

I re-read this in Sep09, armed with some extra knowledge gleaned from two of the 6 book collected works of his. In them, he explains that he wrote this novel as an exercise for himself & never expected to publish it. He was asked for it & was surprised that it did so well.

He said he threw everything he had at this novel, in no particular order. It is an amalgamation of styles, mythologies, SF & Fantasy. Somehow, it really works. That's as amazing as is my fascination for the book, re...more I re-read this in Sep09, armed with some extra knowledge gleaned from two of the 6 book collected works of his. In them, he explains that he wrote this novel as an exercise for himself & never expected to publish it. He was asked for it & was surprised that it did so well.

He said he threw everything he had at this novel, in no particular order. It is an amalgamation of styles, mythologies, SF & Fantasy. Somehow, it really works. That's as amazing as is my fascination for the book, re-reading it for the tenth time or so in 30 years. It was every bit as entertaining. I still completely agree with my original review.

------------- Original Review ---------

Zelazny is well known for the long, strange trips he takes you through in his stories. This book may well be one of his strangest. There are parts of this book I love, others I dislike & most are somewhat bewildering, especially on the first read. The world is an interesting mix of SF & Fantasy, without any definitive lines. Human nature has remained the same & it has been exaggerated by the power that some wield, but it's done with a light, often humorous touch - e.g. The Agnostics Prayer. (Google it & you'll find it quickly. It's infamous.)

This is a heroic fantasy filled with flawed heroes, noble villains & many who are both. There certainly are maidens to be rescued & wicked witches to fight. Both heroes & villains are in such impossible situations that it is tough to decide who to root for at times. Some characters are both or neither, but I originally felt they should be one or the other. Other characters are so alien that mere human morality doesn't apply. It's difficult to tell who those are at times, too. You'll have to decide for yourself when you reach the end of the novel. Warning: you may change your mind on a re-read - I have.

I found this book very difficult to put down. At times, it was as irritating as a bit lip - I had to read it the same way I poke at a sore spot. Other times, I just HAD to find out what happened next. Whatever the reason, once started, I've always wanted to continue reading. That's possibly the highest praise I can give to a novel. It's too intriguing to put down.

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May 18, 2010 Manny rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Roger Zelazny scored a hit with Lord of Light, a moving SF retelling of Hindu and Buddhist myth. I get the feeling that he thought he should do it again, but that's usually a recipe for disaster. Home Alone is a surprisingly good comedy. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York hovers between dull and embarrassing.

Well, this is Zelazny's Home Alone 2. He's decided to do Egyptian mythology instead of Hindu/Buddhist, but none of the symbols and images gel, there's no plot to speak of, and most of the time i...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Zelazny was one of the cleverest of the SF writers emergiing from the 1960s, in the stew of New Wave, and also one of the gutsiest. "Creatures of Light and Darkness" is his riff on Egyptian mythology, set in a "future" wherein the ancient conflicts of the various gods---Anubis, Osiris, Set, Thoth, Isis, and Typhon---are once more met in an ageless attempt to establish who's in charge.

But wait! It's not quite that simple. Set the Destroyer is not just the Egyptian god, but partly Vishnu, who is e...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Alytha rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I finished Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny last night. A rather curious piece of literature...

The plot: (possibly. It might actually be about something completely different. It's hard to say, really...)

In the far future, humanity and other 5 other intelligent races, have spread across the universe. Life and death are kept in balance by Anubis and Osiris, Lords of the House of Death and Life, respectively, who make sure that plagues strike fertile planets, and arid planets get a...more I finished Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny last night. A rather curious piece of literature...

The plot: (possibly. It might actually be about something completely different. It's hard to say, really...)

In the far future, humanity and other 5 other intelligent races, have spread across the universe. Life and death are kept in balance by Anubis and Osiris, Lords of the House of Death and Life, respectively, who make sure that plagues strike fertile planets, and arid planets get a little help sometimes.

Originally, Osiris and Anubis are so-called Angels, two of many, who were once the lieutenants of a powerful being, Toth. However, they rebelled because Toth was busy fighting an extremely powerful evil creature, the Thing That Cries In The Night, and Toth was cast out. Many of the Angels wander the worlds as immortals.

Now, Anubis has raised a champion, a warrior without a name or a history, to kill Toth, who is now called The Prince Who Was A Thousand. To make things interesting, Osiris hears of this and despatches his son Horus to do the same thing, as the one who kills the Prince would become the most powerful force in the universe. Various other immortals pop up, and ally with or against eachother to get either the Prince, or the warrior killed, or not. It gets rather confusing for a while, and then they decide to do something different after all....

I generally liked this book, although it is really cryptic and confusing...in a lot of places, it reads like what it started as, a writing exercise. Different chapters are written in completely different styles, ranging from relatively normal to poetry. What made me like the book though are the various extremely bizarre and absurd sequences.

For example, an oracle is visited, who specialises on reading stuff in human entrails. His victim is a rival oracle, and throughout the reading, both keep arguing about the correct interpretation of the entrails. "They are my innards! I will not have them misread by a poseur!"

Then, there's Osiris who has put the souls of his enemies into objects, which can talk through speakers. He has treaded someones's nerbous system through a carpet, on which he likes jumping up and down if he's annoyed. He might be the Lord of Life, but he's still not very nice.

There's also a sect which worships a pair of old boots. Their prayer is pretty hilarious, and somehow reminded me of John Malkovich's religion in the Hitchhikers Guide movie.

And there is the Agnostic's Prayer, just in case there may or may not be something out there:
"Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that you be forgiven for anything you may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Conversely, if not forgiveness but something else may be required to insure any possible benefit for which you may be eligible after the destruction of your body, I ask that this, whatever it may be, be granted or withheld, as the case may be, in such a manner as to insure your receiving said benefit. I ask this in my capacity as your elected intermediary between yourself and that which may not be yourself, but which may have an interest in the matter of your receiving as much as it is possible for you to receive of this thing, and which may in some way be influenced by this ceremony. Amen."

The bad thing is that things get rather confusing, with characters changing their names and allegiances all the time...I'll have to reread it at some point, and hope to keep track of everything.

All in all, 7/10 for sheer bizarreness(less)

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Sep 05, 2011 Meghan_K rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, zelazny-roger

I am immensely specific in tastes when it comes to reading science fiction, so when a good friend of mine highly recommended Roger Zelazny's Creatures of Light and Darkness I internally cringed as he handed the book to me so I could take it home. The cover was lame artistic wise, it was a small ragged looking, yellowing book that had been read ten times over since his dad bought it back in the early 70s and I was ultimately planning on putting it on the back-burner of my reading list.

I didn't, h...more I am immensely specific in tastes when it comes to reading science fiction, so when a good friend of mine highly recommended Roger Zelazny's Creatures of Light and Darkness I internally cringed as he handed the book to me so I could take it home. The cover was lame artistic wise, it was a small ragged looking, yellowing book that had been read ten times over since his dad bought it back in the early 70s and I was ultimately planning on putting it on the back-burner of my reading list.

I didn't, however, mainly because it was short and I reasoned with myself to at least try it out and see what the big deal was. If I didn't like it, well, at least I didn't like it and it didn't take up too much of my time. If I liked it, then I liked it.

Turned out that three hours later, one book completely finished, it was the latter of the two choices and now I have more of the authors work to read sitting on my shelf.

Zelazny has a bizarre way of writing which is attractive to follow and read mainly because he leaves it up to the reader to decide on colors, appearances, and the what not. As in he addresses the reader on more than one occasion early on as if you're suddenly the assistant in his show and helping set everything up for the rest of the audience. And the fact that when his descriptions of things are written so immensely specifically in an intriguing, artistic way, you have little room to doubt that that's how they are.

In addition, most ancient religion buffs would appreciate some of the Egyptian and Greek over and undertones included in the writing. In fact, two of the biggest characters in the book are Anubis and Osiris themselves.

The characters are given elaborate personalities to fit a science-fiction realm and become increasingly enjoyable as the plot continues onward. This was probably one of the more shocking aspects of the book because the writing itself isn't long, but yet with such an interesting cast, you'd expect something like that out of a 300 plus page book, not something that's a mere 187 (or as good reads lists, 190) pages. They're all enjoyable and a bit tongue in cheek here and there, making them all that much more strange and interesting.

The only place where this book seems to be average is in the plot, but then again what can an author do with such a cast and what religions he's brought in with such a short amount of time? Regardless, if you're new to the science fiction world and want a solid, short book to start out with, I really do recommend Zelazny's Creatures of Light and Darkness to try out. Get past all of the strange way Zelazny writes and you have a very enjoyable book.

And if you don't like it? Well, you only wasted about a few hours of your life so there's no problem, now is there?(less)

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Aug 09, 2010 Karlo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, own, scifi

I hoped that this would do similar things for me as Lords of Light, but it was not to be. The beginning was very promising, but there is a scene 1/3rd of the way in to the book where a key scene happens 'off camera' that threw me for a loop; a major conflict was side-stepped and it felt like a bit of a cheat to me. The book recovers somewhat thereafter, but the resolution again felt weak to me. The approach seemed to strive of a cyclical ourosbouros kind of feel and it didn't work for me.

I'll sa...more

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Sep 11, 2009 Cécile Cristofari rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Nô and Kabuki lovers

Shelves: science-fiction-sf

Between poetry, SF and acid trip... The plot is somewhat hard to follow, but you can very well read the book without that.

The story works like a kind of impressionist painting, where every short chapter acts as an image rather than a plot fragment. We never learn whose point of view it is and the heroes remain mysterious. As for the plot, it is quite different from the typical SF plot that tries to be extra coherent to compensate for the lack of realism of the setting. Here the characters have...more

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Sep 09, 2009 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think I may love this book, and the reason I do is it has that sort of very sixties speculative fiction (not science fiction!), writer on acid, weirdly formal tone with the sometimes base and violent content that I just can't resist. Better yet, it's not all sound and fury, Zelazny has built up a nice little story here about the ludicrous nature of religion (a theme I'd normally steer the over bright 16 year olds towards so they have something to be obnoxious about), done with this fantastic m...more

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Aug 02, 2011 Aerin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology, science-fiction, well-that-was-terrible

If you're ever in the mood for complex, confusing, grandiloquently-phrased science fiction that retells ancient myths in a far-future cosmic setting with advanced technology granting godlike powers upon petty, immortal human beings, then do yourself a favor and read Zelazny's Lord of Light. It's extraordinary.

And if, after reading that, you want more of the same (and don't mind if it's just a little worse in every way), then you might want to try Creatures of Light and Darkness.

It's not that thi...more If you're ever in the mood for complex, confusing, grandiloquently-phrased science fiction that retells ancient myths in a far-future cosmic setting with advanced technology granting godlike powers upon petty, immortal human beings, then do yourself a favor and read Zelazny's Lord of Light. It's extraordinary.

And if, after reading that, you want more of the same (and don't mind if it's just a little worse in every way), then you might want to try Creatures of Light and Darkness.

It's not that this one is bad - it's that Lord of Light does all of the same things and does them so much better. Here again, you encounter men who have made themselves into gods (Egyptian gods this time, rather than Hindu ones - so perish the thought that Zelazny is ripping off his own work or something, that would be ridiculous). Here again, you are dropped into the middle of the action with little to no way of knowing WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON until either you read through the ENTIRE book (twice, preferably, if you can stand it), or you cheat and look it up on Wikipedia. Here again there is a character who long ago fought a formidable foe, was vanquished, was killed, and is now back from the dead to fight it again. Here again, he is stymied by the other petty "gods" because absolute power corrupts, yadda yadda yadda. Here again, everyone talks like a god damn King James Bible.

All of those components manage to gel brilliantly, somehow, in Lord of Light, which is hugely more complicated, interesting, and multilayered than this one. This one is much shorter, much more half-assed, and has the added annoyance of incorporating various "experimental" chapters - one in verse! one in script format! Ughity-ugh.

In a universe where Lord of Light didn't exist, this one probably would have gotten three stars from me, because it's still a cool concept, and it's still kind of fun to try and see through the prose and get at the real story going on behind the scenes. And Zelazny's a good writer, and I enjoy his brand of opulent phrasing now and then. But it's just so unnecessary that Creatures of Light and Darkness even exists; I'd so much rather go back and read Lord of Light again.(less)

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Jul 17, 2012 Chris Branch rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

In Zelazny's defense, I read that he apparently wrote this as an experiment, never really intending it to be published. So how did the experiment turn out? Well, let's see - the book is pretentiously surreal, at many times just plain nonsensical. The characters are bizarrely unlikable, with incomprehensible motivations. The writing is - well, who am I to criticize the writing of a Hugo and Nebula award winner? Yeah, I know: when you're a pro, you've learned all the rules and earned the right to...more

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Dec 14, 2008 Yune rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Intensely weird. A not-unfamiliar theme of Zelazny's: the powerful borrowing names from a pantheon (in this case, Ancient Egyptian) and striving against each other among worlds. I was warned that this was comparable to Lord of Light, but more experimental. It's indeed less cohesive as a work, but there's a breeziness that makes it more fun, I think.

Deftly written, as is his wont, for all that elements of plot and setting are mosaic-like at times.

"'Human arms are weak,' says Anubis. 'Let these be...more

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Apr 24, 2010 Sid Fallon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An excerpt from this book. The prose in this book is incredible, but this particular quote was too awesome not share.

"Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that you be forgiven for anything you may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Conversely, if not forgiveness but something else may be required to insure any possible benefit for which you may eligible after the destruction of your body, I ask that this, whatever i...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Bill Wren rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Zelazny didn't intend to publish Creatures of Light and Darkness. It was at the urging of Samuel R. Delany that he did. Depending on your frame of mind when you read this, you may be glad he did publish or, conversely, think Delany was nuts to even make the suggestion.

When I first read the book years ago, I believe I loved it. This time, not so much. It really does read like an experiment in prose (and poetry) and as interesting as it is, the pieces don't hang together well as a coherent narrati...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Sanja rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

"Naučiću te zahvat zvani "Poljubac" , i hvata je u moćan zagrljaj i gnječije u svoje telo. Usta mu nalaze njena mada ona izvija glavu u stranu, i on se uspravlja odižići je sa tla. Ona niti može da diše unutar njegovog zagrljaja, a ne može ni da ga raskine; i poljubac traje sve dok joj snaga ne popusti, a on je nosi do divana i polaže je.
Tu su ruže, ruže, ruže, muzika, pokretna svetla, cvet koji je zgnječen.
Sada Crvena Veštica tiho plače.
Njen pajt ne razume.
Međutim uskoro hoće.
Ogledalo je i...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Ashuroa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-fantasy

I won’t say the text of the book jacket is intentionally misleading but misleading it certainly is. Not so much in WHAT is actually happening in this book – that much is true – but in how much space it has in this book or how important it is.

Yes, the two warriors are send out into the mortal world but it is not the mortal world we are familiar with. It is a strange, futuristic and at the same time archaic collection of planets / places.

And they are at most minor characters while Toth, Anubis, Os...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Trayana rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, sci-fi, weird, owned, bg, deities

„Създания от светлина и мрак” отваря рана в съзнанието ти, която не може да заздравее, защото постоянно бъркаш с пръст в нея. Докато четеш романа неволно се питаш дали авторът не е пил абсент или ял пейот. А може би е пушил опиум. Или просто геният му излиза извън възприятията ти. По-вероятно е последното.

Четеш първите откъси и оставаш с усещането за секс без оргазъм, макар на няколко пъти да се доближаваш до малката смърт. Неразбирането на сюжета пробива дупка в мозъка ти. Ако си верен поклонни...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Alazzar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If it were legal for novels to participate in Olympic track & field events (stay with me here, I’m going somewhere with this), Creatures of Light and Darkness would win just about anything involving speed. This book is a fast read. Granted, it’s short—only 199 pages—but it’s not the small size of this book that makes it so quick—the blazing pace and blurring page-turns are what put this masterpiece of Egyptian mythology ahead of the pack.

Egyptian mythology—yeah. If you don’t know anything ab...more If it were legal for novels to participate in Olympic track & field events (stay with me here, I’m going somewhere with this), Creatures of Light and Darkness would win just about anything involving speed. This book is a fast read. Granted, it’s short—only 199 pages—but it’s not the small size of this book that makes it so quick—the blazing pace and blurring page-turns are what put this masterpiece of Egyptian mythology ahead of the pack.

Egyptian mythology—yeah. If you don’t know anything about it, that’s okay. I don’t know a whole lot myself (aside from the fact that sphinxes have wings and pyramids look like half-buried D8’s), but the story was still great. One of the things that amazes me most about Creatures is that the plot was quite complicated (half of the characters go by more than one name, which you’d think would be a pain) yet I was still able to keep up. Mind you, this wasn’t a result of my exceeding intelligence (we’re talking about a guy who thinks daily head-butts are a good way to splurp blort dibble), but rather Zelazny’s masterful storytelling. I really can’t explain how I kept everything straight in my head, so my only conclusion is that Mr. Z willed it so.

I don’t really want to mention anything that spoils the plot, so I’ll just say that it’s a book about a bunch of people trying to kill each other, or maybe not kill each other, or maybe no one’s really sure what he/she is supposed to be doing at any given time. Sound familiar? If you’ve read Zelazny’s Amber books, that may be why. Not to say Creatures has a ton of similarities with Amber, but I can sorta draw a connection there. (Of course, I can also sorta draw a horse, but it just ends up looking like a five-armed octopus with dual mustaches. So maybe I have no idea what I’m talking about here.)

There are a lot of things that make this book interesting, not the least of which is its history-- Zelazny never intended to have Creatures published. It was strictly an experiment in form (some of the chapters are just long poems; the final one is written as a play), but some editor heard about it and insisted on seeing it and immediately bought it after reading. And now it’s one of only three (I believe) Zelazny books in print. (The others being the Chronicles of Amber and Lord of Light, which are both better than this book, but that doesn’t make this book any less awesome.)

If you’re not a Zelazny fan, you may not like it. If you are a Zelazny fan, you’ve probably read it. If you’re somewhere in the middle, I can’t help you. You’re weird.

EDIT: I just read the Wikipedia article on this book and realized I didn't actually follow the plot as well as I'd originally thought. But apparently I'd been duped into thinking I'd followed the plot, which is just as good, and still testament to Zelazny's storytelling skill: he can make it so I enjoy the book even if the plot was beyond me! FANTASTIC!
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Oct 16, 2010 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Finished reading this a couple of days ago. I re-read this actually. The first time was over 20 years ago. I read recently that Zelazny wrote this as more of an exercise (it's very poetic, actually one chapter is a poem).
The book is somewhat convoluted but is well worth the read. Zelazny is a great storyteller and usually mixes Science Fiction and Fantasy and this case mythology to make extremely interesting stories. Like his more famous Hugo and Nebula winning novel "Lord of Light", which used...more Finished reading this a couple of days ago. I re-read this actually. The first time was over 20 years ago. I read recently that Zelazny wrote this as more of an exercise (it's very poetic, actually one chapter is a poem).
The book is somewhat convoluted but is well worth the read. Zelazny is a great storyteller and usually mixes Science Fiction and Fantasy and this case mythology to make extremely interesting stories. Like his more famous Hugo and Nebula winning novel "Lord of Light", which used the Hindu pantheon of gods, this book utilizes Egyptian mythology.
Thoth, who is known as the Prince who was a Thousand, is the god of this particular universe or galaxy. His "angels" or subordinate gods, Anubis (jackal headed) rules the House of the dead, and Osiris rules the House of Life. There is also a House of Fire, etc. These subordinate gods rebelled against Thoth while he was weakened while fighting an evil being called the "Thing that Cries in the Night" which came into this universe to destroy.
Anubis sends forth his servant Wakim, a superhuman warrior, who forgot who he was in life to destroy Thoth while Osiris sends forth his son Horus on the same mission. The goal is to take over the Middle worlds ruled by Thoth.
There is also an interesting character called the Steel General who in alternate lives wears a human body of flesh with a steel ring (from his previous metal body)or a metal body with a ring of flesh (from his previous body of flesh). The Steel General rides a mechanical horse named Bronze who has eight legs. The Steel General is the embodiment of rebellion. He can be defeated but never destroyed.
Wakim we find out is actually Set the son and the father of Thoth (I told you this can get convoluted). Both Set, the Steel General, Horus, etc are experts in a martial art called Temporal Fugue. While in a battle they can see the future of what move their opponent will make and counter it. They can do this numerous times so in the end we might see 130 variations of each opponent. Of course this plays havoc with the space time continuum and can destroy entire worlds in the process.
I don't want to give any more away. It's vastly entertaining and as convoluted as it may sound it is a quick read. I loved it! (less)

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Oct 21, 2007 Nicholas Whyte added it · review of another edition

http://nhw.livejournal.com/490626.html[return][return]Returning to an early favourite for me here. The plot, to be honest, doesn't hold much water: far in the future, the Egyptian deities have returned (or some godlike beings have set themselves up as such) and are in charge of the universe. Various other mythical and cyborg beings drop in on proceedings. But really the book is a delight for the language and the impassioned present tense narrative, which sweeps you along so effectively that you...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Jaime rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, le-fantastique

I think this one gets unfairly overshadowed by LORD OF LIGHT. I almost rate it over LORD... if only because Zelazny goes full-on 'I never explain anything' a la Mary Poppins so I had no choice but to just hang on and take the brain- and eyeball-kicks as they came fast and furious. The book's short, too - so the experience is closer to a dose of ketamine (or what I imagine K to be like) than lighting up a j (the usefulness of this metaphor varies with the reader, obvs).

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Sep 06, 2012 Razael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Interesting experimental /and one of the first Zelazny works/ sci-fi, that is using egyptian /and a little of greek/ mythology names for super humans /gods/ that rule the galaxy /like Toth who is the Prince With the Thousand Names/. This book was surreal, epic on moments and metaphorical in many ways /everyone can make his own interpretation after he reads the book/. In other way it was poorly written. The author does not goes into much detail of the stuff he impliments into the plot like the ma...more

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Mar 29, 2011 Roy Berkowitz added it · review of another edition

I think this was the first Zelazny book I ever read. On a summer vacation with my parents, bored out of my teen head. Either this or Lord of Light. Either way, it has stuck with me all these years. I mean literally. I have the 40 year old paper back edition still with me after moving cross country three or four times. maybe not my favorite of his. That would be Lord of Light and Jack of Shadows but definitely a great one.

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Dec 21, 2010 Craig rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was one of Zelazny's earlier novels, and I was surprised to find how well it holds up; better, in fact, than than LORD OF LIGHT and the Amber sequence, in my opinion. He mixes mythology (Egyptian) with some of the common themes of science fiction and fantasy in a dream-like style very characteristic of what was known as New Wave back in the day. His mix of techniques comes off very well, and produces a short and beatiful story.

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Aug 04, 2010 William rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked the book a lot, mainly because of the writing. There was some wonderful lyrical prose in it, in terms of the quality of the writing I'd say it is the best out of the Zelazny books I've read, even if the plot wasn't as interesting as Lord of Light.

This isn't really a book to be read for the plot or characters, since it is fairly fragmented and the plot largely consists of assorted confrontations between various demi-gods. The characters tended to be archetypes, not necessarily with a hug...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Garyjn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Short chapters jumping from one stage to another, along with under deveolped protagonists,
made it difficult for me to get into this book. Still, every now and then you are gifted with
a paragraph or page which shines of Zelazny off the wall brilliance, making it worth the read.
Unfortunately, it is not in the same class as Lord of Light, the first 5 Amber books, or even
Changeling.

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Aug 24, 2012 Daniel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of the most entertaining sci-fi fantasy books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. The language has a weight to it that gives the story a strange and epic tone; it verges on poetry. Yet, there's a great deal of humor in these pages. If you're a fan of mythology at all, particularly Egyptian, then I highly recommend this one.

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Dec 16, 2011 Mark Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another fabulous book, and as I have a chacne to review my literary path I realize how much I enjoy the intersection of mythos and the classic pantheons. Reading these stories back in probably the 70's and finding newer counter parts in Gaiman's "American Gods" and Card's stories to be of the Mither Mages (indo european pantheons) - love it!

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Dec 29, 2012 Jan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Člověk odloží knihu a přemýšlí nad tím, co to teď vlastně sakra dočetl a co tím chtěl autor říct. Nebudu tvrdit, že mě Tvorové zaujali jako jiná Zelaznyho díla, ale jako mindfuck oddechovka s přehledem postačí.

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Jan 30, 2011 Eveningstar2 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Zelazny experiments with perspective. Insidious and intricate, but very much a Zelazny book, with its powerful, rebellious male protagonist, emphasis on mythology, dry sense of humor and interesting combat scenes.

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About Roger Zelazny

Roger Zelazny made his name with a group of novellas which demonstrated just how intense an emotional charge could be generated by the stock imagery of sf; the most famous of these is 'A Rose for Ecclesiastes' in which a poet struggles to convince dying and sterile Martians that life is worth continuing. Zelazny continued to write excellent short stories throughout his career, which share the inve...more

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Books by Roger Zelazny

Nine Princes in Amber (Amber Chronicles, #1)

The Great Book of Amber (Chronicles of Amber, #1-10)

The Courts of Chaos (Amber Chronicles, #5)

The Guns of Avalon (Amber Chronicles, #2)

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“A totally nondenominational prayer: Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that I be forgiven for anything I may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Conversely, if not forgiveness but something else may be required to insure any possible benefit for which I may be eligible after the destruction of my body, I ask that this, whatever it may be, be granted or withheld, as the case may be, in such a manner as to insure said benefit. I ask this in my capacity as your elected intermediary between yourself and that which may not be yourself, but which may have an interest in the matter of your receiving as much as it is possible for you to receive of this thing, and which may in some way be influenced by this ceremony. Amen.” — 42 people liked it

“If you ever loved anything in your life, try to remember it. If you ever betrayed anything, pretend for a moment that you have been forgiven. If you ever feared anything, pretend for an instant that those days are gone and will never return. Buy the lie and hold to it for as long as you can. Press your familiar, whatever its name, to your breast and stroke it till it purrs.” — 2 people liked it

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