Scan barcode
flaweddimension's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Brilliant, winding, staggeringly creative
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation
econsidine's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I don't know how to give this one a rating, because I really don't know what to make of it. I enjoyed parts of it, but it was also tricky and a lot of work to get through, and most of my enjoyment comes from meta-knowledge about the author and his influence so I'm not sure I would have liked it as much if I hadn't already had a connection to his work. Roger Zelazny was a SFF writer from the 60s and 70s, I read some of his other books growing up (Nine Princes in Amber and A Night in the Lonesome October, both excellent). He was hugely influential to a lot of big-name SFF writers like Neil Gaiman, George R. R. Martin, and Andrzej Sapkowski, and there's a lot in here that, having read and enjoyed their work, is kind of cool to see the preceding threads of. I think it's a coincidence, but this plot is actually weirdly similar to the backstory of The Locked Tomb trilogy, just written 50+ years earlier, and I'm curious if Tamsyn Muir has read this.
Taken on its own, however, this book is hard to connect with since it's vague and written from a removed third person omniscient POV (like you're reading a retold legend) rather than from a particular character's POV, unlike his other books. It's about a group of people from Earth who have figured out immortality via reincarnation, colonized another planet, deliberately withheld knowledge of technology from the masses to maintain power, and stylized themselves as Hindu gods. If you don't know that info going in (it's written on the back cover), it takes a remarkably long time to understand that's what's going on. I didn't realize until 50 pages from the end that the book was almost entirely a flashback after the first chapter, and that's not even supposed to be a twist. A lot of characters have multiple names and titles used interchangeably with little explanation. "Earth" is never mentioned (only ~3 times is there reference to an "Urath") and all tech is similarly referred to as if it is magic even though it isn't (transmitters, plumbing, radios, etc). The actual backstory behind the characters' relationships with each other is almost entirely unexplained. Many of the most interesting characters have only a couple pages of actual lines.
This amount of restraint in providing context (and trusting that the reader can figure it out) is not new to Zelazny's books, but I'd argue it works less well here than in his other stories. Characters like Corwin (an amnesiac, NPiA) and Snuff (a dog, ANitLO) have particular reasons for not understanding everything that is happening, and writing from their POVs makes you, as the reader, join them in the tension of figuring out what's going on--that tension is the plot. When there is a seemingly omniscient, reflective POV, like here, it gets frustrating because you feel like you should get what's going on but don't. His dialogue is still wonderfully deceptive--he is fantastic at making conversations feel like intense action--but any actions scenes are hard to follow, and there are a lot of them here. There are also a lot of themes that feel important but are discussed in such a removed/veiled sense (colonization, theocracy & technocracy, the way that rhetoric shapes political power), it feels like the thoughts Zelazny is trying to put forth get muddled.
Again, I still loved a lot of this book. There's gender fuckery. There's love triangles. There's really dry humor. There's a ton of Hindu mythology. There's a guy excitedly inventing the toilet. If you're up for a challenge and want to read a major predecessor to today's big SFF books, Lord of Light might be for you.
Taken on its own, however, this book is hard to connect with since it's vague and written from a removed third person omniscient POV (like you're reading a retold legend) rather than from a particular character's POV, unlike his other books. It's about a group of people from Earth who have figured out immortality via reincarnation, colonized another planet, deliberately withheld knowledge of technology from the masses to maintain power, and stylized themselves as Hindu gods. If you don't know that info going in (it's written on the back cover), it takes a remarkably long time to understand that's what's going on. I didn't realize until 50 pages from the end that the book was almost entirely a flashback after the first chapter, and that's not even supposed to be a twist. A lot of characters have multiple names and titles used interchangeably with little explanation. "Earth" is never mentioned (only ~3 times is there reference to an "Urath") and all tech is similarly referred to as if it is magic even though it isn't (transmitters, plumbing, radios, etc). The actual backstory behind the characters' relationships with each other is almost entirely unexplained. Many of the most interesting characters have only a couple pages of actual lines.
This amount of restraint in providing context (and trusting that the reader can figure it out) is not new to Zelazny's books, but I'd argue it works less well here than in his other stories. Characters like Corwin (an amnesiac, NPiA) and Snuff (a dog, ANitLO) have particular reasons for not understanding everything that is happening, and writing from their POVs makes you, as the reader, join them in the tension of figuring out what's going on--that tension is the plot. When there is a seemingly omniscient, reflective POV, like here, it gets frustrating because you feel like you should get what's going on but don't. His dialogue is still wonderfully deceptive--he is fantastic at making conversations feel like intense action--but any actions scenes are hard to follow, and there are a lot of them here. There are also a lot of themes that feel important but are discussed in such a removed/veiled sense (colonization, theocracy & technocracy, the way that rhetoric shapes political power), it feels like the thoughts Zelazny is trying to put forth get muddled.
Again, I still loved a lot of this book. There's gender fuckery. There's love triangles. There's really dry humor. There's a ton of Hindu mythology. There's a guy excitedly inventing the toilet. If you're up for a challenge and want to read a major predecessor to today's big SFF books, Lord of Light might be for you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Violence, Excrement, Animal death, Ableism, and War
surdiablo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Alright, as an atheist who used to be a Hindu and is rather well-acquainted with Hindu mythology, this was somewhat disappointing. It's one of those books that showed a lot of potential at the beginning, then fizzled out eventually by the end, excluding some flashes of brilliance that ultimately went nowhere. If you are a devout Hindu, chances are you won't like this book due to the inclusion of religion and the way it's used, but with that being said, lemme express my personal gripes which will include marked spoilers.
So this is not exactly a retelling of myths from Hinduism,it's about a group of colonists conquering a planet and living there, establishing a caste system and adopting personas of Hindu gods, which is never directly expressed, just hinted. Most of it may seem pretty creative and it's definitely well-written, and the author has certainly done some good research on his part, including some obscure gods and art forms and such which might seem completely alien and unique to someone who's not a Hindu. I personally have no qualms about religion being used this way and I was rather excited at the beginning to read it, as I thought I would get most of the references. The first chapter starts rather strong as well with the resurrection of Sam/Buddha and him slowly acclimatizing to everything that was happening, preparing himself for the war against Heaven.
However, then the author decided to proceed withexplaining events that happened prior to the resurrection of Buddha, his actions and their consequences which led to the present, for 5 out of 7 total chapters implicitly. Now don't get me wrong, the chapters themselves weren't exactly bad per se, some of them had rather intriguing, even epic moments. However, regardless of the author's research and attention to detail and such, ultimately the whole use of religion is just window-dressing, with bare-bones characters ( excluding the protagonist and another major character ) that could have been so much more, besides the basic attributes mentioned about them which may appear as novelty to most people, but not to those who already know their origin. When that's over, it all comes down to one chapter to wrap-up everything, which was painfully rushed and ends in such an unsatisfying manner as well, especially considering the fate of characters. When I look at the story as a whole, it's nothing special, just needlessly bemusing for the most part. I feel like me being aware of mythologies was only detrimental to my experience as well unfortunately, not an enhancement.
Don't let my review discourage you from picking it up however, especially if you are a 'journey over destination' kind of person and want to try something different. It definitely gets weird and trippy in a good way during certain chapters and I can see why this book received so much acclaim, it just wasn't a satisfying experience for me personally is all.
So this is not exactly a retelling of myths from Hinduism,
However, then the author decided to proceed with
Don't let my review discourage you from picking it up however, especially if you are a 'journey over destination' kind of person and want to try something different. It definitely gets weird and trippy in a good way during certain chapters and I can see why this book received so much acclaim, it just wasn't a satisfying experience for me personally is all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Sexism, and Body horror
jessthanthree's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation
Minor: War, Transphobia, Death, and Violence
itsnicholaslashay's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Dysphoria, Sexism, Body horror, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Transphobia, and Deadnaming
More...