That’s enough mucking around in the preface. On to the review!
I just finished reading Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light, what George R. R. Martin called one of the five best SF novels ever written.
Now, barring the good old Star Wars Expanded Universe books before Disney froze them in carbonite, I haven’t read a lot of classic sci-fi. Fantasy has always been my thing. But while Lord of Light is a sci-fi story, it’s also layered with fantasy elements and tropes to the point where the boundaries blur. To use the proper term, this is science fantasy.
The premise is this: humans have colonized an alien world completely, having conquered or destroyed the native denizens. They have achieved effective immortality through body-swapping, superhuman abilities born of mutation and enhanced with technology. Their power is, dare I say it, godlike.
Unfortunately, they don’t want to share.
The first colonists have set themselves up as gods and goddesses of Hindu mythology and rule the world through religion. In Heaven they live unending lives of hedonism while the world below churns through ages of feudal peasantry. The one soon to be titled Mahasamatman returns from the provinces and sees how his fellow First enforce their divinity, actively suppressing modern advances. Sam is one of the last proponents of Accelerationism, the belief that their technology should be shared with all. Thus he names himself the Buddha and begins a revolution.
How’s that for original.
I’ve yet to read any of Zelazny’s other work. But his writing here is excellent, though hardly straightforward. Much is spoken through metaphor or otherwise implied. Anachronisms abound, clashing with the more lyrical text in unexpected ways. From a device that sends high-frequency prayers into the atmosphere to a goddess describing her Palace of Kama (I don’t need to name the reference here, do I?) as a place of rest, pleasure, holiness and much of her revenue; the setting is unique, but it’s the quality of writing that kept me turning pages. That and the author’s sense of humour. I shan’t ruin any of the puns.
My only complaints are that the introduction of a new character all the way into the third act seems abrupt; and the ending feels rather like the book is walking off into the distance, leaving you behind. There is a very real sense that there are more stories out there, just waiting to be unearthed, if only there were more words on the page.
But I suppose that’s on par for a book that draws so much from myths and legends. Many times throughout his career, Zelazny was offered incentives to write a sequel. He refused them all. He’d told the story he wanted to tell.
Lord of Light is unlike anything else I’ve ever read. It weaves a fantastical, high-tech tale of rebellion, reincarnation and warring gods who aren’t really gods. It’s also colourful, confusing and occasionally hilarious.
The premise is this: humans have colonized an alien world completely, having conquered or destroyed the native denizens. They have achieved effective immortality through body-swapping, superhuman abilities born of mutation and enhanced with technology. Their power is, dare I say it, godlike.
Unfortunately, they don’t want to share.
The first colonists have set themselves up as gods and goddesses of Hindu mythology and rule the world through religion. In Heaven they live unending lives of hedonism while the world below churns through ages of feudal peasantry. The one soon to be titled Mahasamatman returns from the provinces and sees how his fellow First enforce their divinity, actively suppressing modern advances. Sam is one of the last proponents of Accelerationism, the belief that their technology should be shared with all. Thus he names himself the Buddha and begins a revolution.
How’s that for original.
I’ve yet to read any of Zelazny’s other work. But his writing here is excellent, though hardly straightforward. Much is spoken through metaphor or otherwise implied. Anachronisms abound, clashing with the more lyrical text in unexpected ways. From a device that sends high-frequency prayers into the atmosphere to a goddess describing her Palace of Kama (I don’t need to name the reference here, do I?) as a place of rest, pleasure, holiness and much of her revenue; the setting is unique, but it’s the quality of writing that kept me turning pages. That and the author’s sense of humour. I shan’t ruin any of the puns.
My only complaints are that the introduction of a new character all the way into the third act seems abrupt; and the ending feels rather like the book is walking off into the distance, leaving you behind. There is a very real sense that there are more stories out there, just waiting to be unearthed, if only there were more words on the page.
But I suppose that’s on par for a book that draws so much from myths and legends. Many times throughout his career, Zelazny was offered incentives to write a sequel. He refused them all. He’d told the story he wanted to tell.
Lord of Light is unlike anything else I’ve ever read. It weaves a fantastical, high-tech tale of rebellion, reincarnation and warring gods who aren’t really gods. It’s also colourful, confusing and occasionally hilarious.
What else can I say? The book is great. Go read it.
