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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
This is one of my favorite works of Zelazny's.
RZ troubles the reader with a protagonist who not only isn't heroic, he's not particularly likable.
Jack, called Jack of Shadows and Shadowjack, is a night-sider. On a planet that turns so that one side always faces the sun, magic rules on the night side of the planet, and technology on the day side.
Jack is a thief without peer, and lord of shadows. Any time his name is spoken in shadow, he knows it. He can use them for travel and concealment. He has powerful enemies on both sides of the world.
Jack becomes the unwitting instrument of change in this novel. He uncovers the secrets of the planet's strange rotation, the nightsiders' multiple lives, and his own great horde of enemies.
RZ troubles the reader with a protagonist who not only isn't heroic, he's not particularly likable.
Jack, called Jack of Shadows and Shadowjack, is a night-sider. On a planet that turns so that one side always faces the sun, magic rules on the night side of the planet, and technology on the day side.
Jack is a thief without peer, and lord of shadows. Any time his name is spoken in shadow, he knows it. He can use them for travel and concealment. He has powerful enemies on both sides of the world.
Jack becomes the unwitting instrument of change in this novel. He uncovers the secrets of the planet's strange rotation, the nightsiders' multiple lives, and his own great horde of enemies.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Schattenjack stammt von der dunklen Seite der Erde. Seine besondere Verbindung zu den Schatten nutzt er für Diebereien bis er auf schmähliche Weise gefangen und eines seiner Leben beraubt wird. Auf dem Weg von den stinkenden Dunggruben des düsteren Westpols wird er von seinem Erzfeind, dem Fledermauslord gefangengenommen, der zu allem Überfluss auch die Frau bekommen hat, die Jack für sich beanspruchen wollte. Jack schwört bittere Rache an allen, die ihm Unrecht taten, und setzt sich über alle bislang gekannten Schranken hinweg, um sie zu bekommen.
Ich mausere mich zum veritablen Roger-Zelazny-Fan. Wahnsinn, wie gut seine Romane gealtert sind, die lesen sich überhaupt nicht so typisch altbacken, wie das oft bei älterer Fantasy der Fall ist, sondern sind nach wie vor monstermäßig spannend. Jack ist (vergleichbar mit Corwin aus den Amber-Chroniken) ein herrlich edgy Charakter voll dysterer Geheimnisse, der gern in Selbstmitleid badet - genau mein Ding.
Habe beim Lesen sehr oft an Vances Cugel denken müssen, der offenkundig Pate für Jack stand. Dennoch mochte ich die Erzählung um Jack lieber, insbesondere die Darstellung der Frauen, die mir bei Vance überaus negativ in Erinnerung geblieben ist. Obwohl Jack genauso schlecht mit Frauen umgeht wie Cugel (Vergewaltigung und Nötigung eingeschlossen), störte es mich hier weniger. Ich habe länger darüber nachgedacht, woran das liegt und bin zu dem Schluss gekommen, dass der Grund in der Art und Weise liegt, wie in den Geschichten mit diesen Inhalten umgegangen wird. Während Cugel Frauen wie den letzten Dreck behandelt, erfahren wir ausschließlich seine Sicht der Dinge (in der er sich natürlich absolut im Recht sieht).
Zelazny hingegen stellt den Taten entsprechende Reaktionen aus Jacks Umwelt gegenüber - Nebenfiguren, die ihn darauf hinweisen, dass es verwerflich ist, was er tut. Nicht zuletzt reagieren die Frauen selbst entsprechend abgestoßen. Sehr cool fand ich es auch, dass Jack schlussendlich bestimmte Taten bereut und sich entschuldigt - ihm die Annahme der Entschuldigung und somit die Entlastung von dem, was er tat, aber verwehrt bleibt.
Erwähnte ich, dass ich Zelazny-Fan bin?
Ich mausere mich zum veritablen Roger-Zelazny-Fan. Wahnsinn, wie gut seine Romane gealtert sind, die lesen sich überhaupt nicht so typisch altbacken, wie das oft bei älterer Fantasy der Fall ist, sondern sind nach wie vor monstermäßig spannend. Jack ist (vergleichbar mit Corwin aus den Amber-Chroniken) ein herrlich edgy Charakter voll dysterer Geheimnisse, der gern in Selbstmitleid badet - genau mein Ding.
Habe beim Lesen sehr oft an Vances Cugel denken müssen, der offenkundig Pate für Jack stand. Dennoch mochte ich die Erzählung um Jack lieber, insbesondere die Darstellung der Frauen, die mir bei Vance überaus negativ in Erinnerung geblieben ist. Obwohl Jack genauso schlecht mit Frauen umgeht wie Cugel (Vergewaltigung und Nötigung eingeschlossen), störte es mich hier weniger. Ich habe länger darüber nachgedacht, woran das liegt und bin zu dem Schluss gekommen, dass der Grund in der Art und Weise liegt, wie in den Geschichten mit diesen Inhalten umgegangen wird. Während Cugel Frauen wie den letzten Dreck behandelt, erfahren wir ausschließlich seine Sicht der Dinge (in der er sich natürlich absolut im Recht sieht).
Zelazny hingegen stellt den Taten entsprechende Reaktionen aus Jacks Umwelt gegenüber - Nebenfiguren, die ihn darauf hinweisen, dass es verwerflich ist, was er tut. Nicht zuletzt reagieren die Frauen selbst entsprechend abgestoßen. Sehr cool fand ich es auch, dass Jack schlussendlich bestimmte Taten bereut und sich entschuldigt - ihm die Annahme der Entschuldigung und somit die Entlastung von dem, was er tat, aber verwehrt bleibt.
Erwähnte ich, dass ich Zelazny-Fan bin?
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this in the mid 80's. I have never been able to connect with any Zelazny books so this one fell flat. I didn't relate to the character.I had read Moorcock's Elric, some Deryni, Robert Silverberg, Fritz Leiber, Tolkien, and the original Thomas Covenant by then and that was my comparison. This was one of the recommended books in Mr Gygax's rules books, the DM guide, if I recall. I do want to try again as I think it is more of a historical perspective. It certainly seems to lay groundwork for future Thief novels/stories Shadowspawn from the Sanctuary stories, Lies of Locke Lamora, TSR books, etc, and then the more recent flurry of assassin type characters.
I was disappointed. There were flashes of the power of "Lord of Light" and the Amber novels but ultimately it came up short. And cigarettes in a fantasy novel just bugs the hell out of me.
Jack of Shadows, or Shadowjack, is a wizard and rogue, the best thief of his age. His world doesn't rotate. Instead, the light side is ruled by science and the dark side by magic. Daysiders have souls, Darksiders are eternally reborn in the Dung Pits of Glyve. Jack gets decapitated in the opening chapter and seeks revenge upon waking in the aforementioned Dung Pits. On the way to his goal, he gets imprisioned by an old enemy, spends time as a professor at a university on the Dayside, and finds Kolwria, the Key That Was Lost. Once he gets his revenge, a whole slew of other issues pop up.
I found Jack of Shadows to be a very original work. Not a trace of the usual fantasy cliches. Philosophical questions like what it means to have a soul are raised. Jack reminded me of a magical version of the Rowan Atkinson Blackadder character. The ending is open for the reader to interpret.
I found Jack of Shadows to be a very original work. Not a trace of the usual fantasy cliches. Philosophical questions like what it means to have a soul are raised. Jack reminded me of a magical version of the Rowan Atkinson Blackadder character. The ending is open for the reader to interpret.
This was a book that mesmerized me as a teenager and was a pathway into fantasy and science fiction. Reading it now years later I find myself much more critical. Zelazny had an amazing imagination as he created a world where one side is in the dark and the other is in light with a twilight zone in-between. Magic rules on the dark side and science on the other. He focuses on Jack of Shadows as the main character which gains his power from shadow. Regardless, as a reader we follow the many adventures facing Jack as he moves through his world. My memory of the book was as one of the greatest fantasy books ever written. Today I cannot really agree with my teenage mind. The book feels somewhat rough and undeveloped with plenty of dead ends even though it is crammed with great ideas. His writing is also highly variable ranging from crude and simplistic to poetic and very descriptive. It is almost as if Zelazny moved through different frames of mind when he was writing the book. Still, a classic in the realm of fantasy books and well worth reading.
Wonderful, delightfully fantastic creation myth. Loved this!
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was kind of fun. Nice and short, not very similar to anything else I can immediately think of, and the the character seemed appropriately motivated to do what was done (half the books I read make me question why on earth characters would behave that way, outside of "the plot requires it.") It's also an elegantly-written, moody sort of a read, and while not particularly comic, it had a certain wry sensibility that can raise a smile from time-to-time.
Most of all it seemed old-fashioned (in the best possible way) and dreamlike, like an easier-to-read Worm Ouroboros, or a vastly shorter The Night Land, and is slightly episodic (somewhat like Anvil of the World). Hard to describe, worth the effort.
Most of all it seemed old-fashioned (in the best possible way) and dreamlike, like an easier-to-read Worm Ouroboros, or a vastly shorter The Night Land, and is slightly episodic (somewhat like Anvil of the World). Hard to describe, worth the effort.