Yet this is much more than a battle of theologies. In Lord of Light, you are only as strong as your technology, and each of the ruling deities has enough military hardware to take on an army single-handedly. They also occasionally enter into military pacts with an assortment of odd and disturbing characters, such as demons or zombies. In fact, if this book hadn’t been published in 1967 — winning a Hugo award the following year — you would swear that the author had grown up playing modern-day video games.
This whole affair could come across as rather corny, but Zelazny is a very deft writer, and takes just the right tone – fabulistic with only a touch of cynicism – to give his story wings. And he throws it surprising twists and turns, not typical of the sci-fi genre. Some 30 pages into the book he unleashes a lengthy spiritual discourse, from the mouth of Siddhartha, that works both on the level of ideological manipulation and religious philosophy. By this point, the reader knows that Lord of Light will not be restricted by the conventions of pulp fiction narratives. Zelazny also plays around with the chronology of his tale, and carefully withholds many key elements of the story until late in the game. These structural devices, along with a heavy dose of borrowings from Eastern mystical literature, uplift and transform a story that, in the hands of another writer, would be a fairly conventional action and adventure tale.
A writer of spy novels once shared with me an important rule of his genre: “when you have a fight scene, make sure it goes on for a long time.” I laughed when I first heard it, but I now recognize the wisdom of his advice. Certainly Zelazny has learned the lesson well. When our author needs fisticuffs, he delivers them in grand fashion. His battles are carefully choreographed, and unfold with both drama and elegance. A fight between Lord Yama and Rild in the first half of the book develops over eight pages, and stands out as one of the best descriptions of one-on-one combat I have read anywhere.
Article comments
1 - Glenn Contrarian
Ah, Roger Zelazny - one of my all-time favorites. The first of his books that I read was 'The Guns of Avalon, and I read everything of his that I could get my mitts on...but sadly, the writing I most remember (can't remember which book) was from a small section of the story.
It concerned a local magistrate called the 'Shan', and followed his progress from point A to point B. I followed each phrase, each word in rapt attention until "the fit hit the Shan".
I read the line two or three times again...and realized the whole chapter was just a shaggy-dog story...
...and because of him (and Asimov and Ellison), I've developed a taste for shaggy-dog stories. I recommend a short story by Asimov - "Shah Guido G.". It's the classic shaggy-dog story, but in it Asimov did something I didn't expect. Read the title again....
2 - Kristjan Wager
Glenn, the line you're talking about is from a scene in Lord of Light
3 - rmcy
thnk
4 - Stephen Patt
Hi Ted--a lovely review, and the only addition I would render is a nod to the Zelazny-naive reader, that all of Roger's work, slight or great, has the hallmarks of his zuperb intelligence, literary leanings, and brilliant imagination. He was truly a master of his craft, and is still sorely missed. My fondest memory of Roger is his pre-publication reading from Lord of Light at an East Coast science fiction convention, and yes, it was the section describing the hand-to-hand combat you referred to. The audience was mesmerised--Roger had a wonderful and commanding prescence as a speaker. Thanks again for a terrific article.