Sunday, September 22, 2002

Lord of Light Roger Zelazny

I have been re-reading, for probably the first time in 15-20 years, Roger Zelazny's classic Lord of Light. I enjoy Zelazny in general and also recently re-read his 10 Amber novels (conventiently re-printed into a single volume). But it is as if by a different author altogether -- Lord of Light is a masterful novel where the Amber books are just a fun read. Beautiful language, compelling plot line -- the book describes a world where a colonizing ship's crew has used technology to become the gods of the Hindu pantheon and rule over the passengers that they had brought to colonize the planet. Well worth reading just for Zelazny's use of language.

By the way, if you are an Amber fan, I recommend the new Dawn of Amber novel by John Gregory Betancourt. Written with the permission of the Zelazny estate, this is a prequel which trace the origins of Amber itself. Sadly only the first of this new trilogy is available and it is a bit of a cliff-hanger.

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