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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
Hmm.. Not my favorite Zelazny. Not much of a plot, llthough parts of the story were very good. The mythology mainly.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Anlatmak istediği şeyi de anlatsaymış, tam olacakmış. Hani ne bileyim, dövüş betimlemelerini 5-6 sayfa değil de 1-2 paragraf yapsaydın be Roger Abi :/
This was my first introduction to Zelazny. The blending of the mythical with dystopian science fiction was well executed and the adventure was entertaining. The plot was interesting enough- Conrad, of radioactively-induced immortality, must lead a ragtag band of Earth bureaucrats (and one assassin) and an alien through ancient earth attractions. The catch is that the earth has been long-ravaged by nuclear winter, most humans live on alien worlds as a manual labour caste, aliens have expressed interest in buying and gentrifying earth, and a terrorist organization plans to assassinate his alien guest. All good and fun.
My main issue was that the story resolved very quickly. Although there were some genuine terrifying and tension-filled scences (the vampire and the capture by the mutant tribesmen), the story ended abruptly and rather bluntly. The writing is beautiful and lyrical by science fiction standards, and even outside those standards, but the pacing did not muster more than a total of 3/5 stars. I would recommend it in terms of originality and style.
My main issue was that the story resolved very quickly. Although there were some genuine terrifying and tension-filled scences (the vampire and the capture by the mutant tribesmen), the story ended abruptly and rather bluntly. The writing is beautiful and lyrical by science fiction standards, and even outside those standards, but the pacing did not muster more than a total of 3/5 stars. I would recommend it in terms of originality and style.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is the first novel by Zelazny and for such it was quite successful – it won (tie-in with [b:Dune|39776179|Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1)|Frank Herbert|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1523123959s/39776179.jpg|3634639]) Hugo in 1966. It was read as part of Earth Day Challenge by Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels Group.
The mankind almost killed itself in a nuclear war and now remnants of population work for advanced alien civilization that made a tourist attraction and museum out of Earth. Our protagonist is the Commissioner of Arts, Monuments and Archives for the planet Earth, a sinecure he himself created. He is full of secrets, for once he is much older than his documents show and he isn’t entirely human. An alien request him for a tour. A journey of a strange company across places of ancient civilizations, where new strange beings emerged, follows.
While his style hasn’t settle yet, it is easy to see his future themes, both fantasy ([b:Nine Princes in Amber|92121|Nine Princes in Amber (The Chronicles of Amber #1)|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1416090973s/92121.jpg|1383240]) and SF ([b:Lord of Light|13821|Lord of Light|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1330127327s/13821.jpg|1011388]) in this work. A classic example of what was called a New Wave in SF. Recommended.
“What are they doing?” asked Myshtigo. It was the first time I had seen him genuinely surprised.
“Why, they’re dismantling the great pyramid of Cheops,” I said.
After a time Red Wig asked it.
“Why?”
“Well now,” I told her, “they’re kind of short on building materials hereabouts, the stuff from Old Cairo being radioactive—so they’re obtaining it by knocking apart that old piece of solid geometry out there.”
“They are desecrating a monument to the past glories of the human race!” she exclaimed.
“Nothing is cheaper than past glories,” I observed. “It’s the present that we’re concerned with, and they need building materials now.”
The mankind almost killed itself in a nuclear war and now remnants of population work for advanced alien civilization that made a tourist attraction and museum out of Earth. Our protagonist is the Commissioner of Arts, Monuments and Archives for the planet Earth, a sinecure he himself created. He is full of secrets, for once he is much older than his documents show and he isn’t entirely human. An alien request him for a tour. A journey of a strange company across places of ancient civilizations, where new strange beings emerged, follows.
While his style hasn’t settle yet, it is easy to see his future themes, both fantasy ([b:Nine Princes in Amber|92121|Nine Princes in Amber (The Chronicles of Amber #1)|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1416090973s/92121.jpg|1383240]) and SF ([b:Lord of Light|13821|Lord of Light|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1330127327s/13821.jpg|1011388]) in this work. A classic example of what was called a New Wave in SF. Recommended.
“What are they doing?” asked Myshtigo. It was the first time I had seen him genuinely surprised.
“Why, they’re dismantling the great pyramid of Cheops,” I said.
After a time Red Wig asked it.
“Why?”
“Well now,” I told her, “they’re kind of short on building materials hereabouts, the stuff from Old Cairo being radioactive—so they’re obtaining it by knocking apart that old piece of solid geometry out there.”
“They are desecrating a monument to the past glories of the human race!” she exclaimed.
“Nothing is cheaper than past glories,” I observed. “It’s the present that we’re concerned with, and they need building materials now.”
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1250823.html[return][return]Zelazny's first novel, and one of his great ones, set on a devastated future planet earth with a Greek immortal lapsed terrorist as the protagonist. He was almost at the peak of his powers: in his late he hit levels of quality he had difficulty in reaching again in later, more comfortable times. The familiar Zelazny themes of death and fatherhood are already here. Conrad/Konstantin loses his wife (apparently, in an earthquake) and two other sympathetic characters die of natural causes; and his son (like himself immortal, but without his own eternal youth) recurs to utter prophecies and help at a crucial moment.[return][return]Two things make the book. The first is the fascinating character of the narrator, whose hard-boiled but occasionally lyrical voice becomes familiar (perhaps too familiar) in later Zelazny but must have been fresh in 1965. His past as a former fighter against the alien Vegans and quisling humans who have taken over the devastated earth, combined with his present as a chief administrator collaborating (at least superficially) with the administrationn makes us never quite sure what he is up to himself but eager to find out. He is a hero who is trying to keep his heroic identity under wraps. He does things like dismantling the Great Pyramid for laughs. And there are the little touches like dropping in on his friend's daughter's seventh birthday party.[return][return]The other thing is just the writing: first, the setting up and description of the bizarre blasted landscapes of the future Greece, the voodoo celebration in Haiti, the shift in perspective as he fights the golem, the Athens hotel room covered with plaques commemorating Conrad's life as Konstantin ('I was really afraid to go into the bathroom'). And second, of course, the humour - the skill Zelazny had in combining the contrasting styles of demotic with epic and making it funny rather than just cheap.[return][return]The book is not without flaws. The plot (both the sequence of events in the story, and the conspiracy among several of the characters) has a lot of holes in it. Conrad appears to have married Cassandra without telling her how old he is; she in her turn surprisingly survives apparent death and then doesn't contact him for weeks, showing up just in the nick of time to save them all from the Black Beast of Thessaly. (No apologies for spoilers - the book has been a classic for forty years.) The invisibilty of Conrad's immortality to the administrative system is rather less credibly established than that of the protagonist of Zelazny's later My Name Is Legion. [return][return]But I loved rereading it, and am wondering if I might make the complete works of Zelazny into one of my future reading projects. (I should add that I got the idea of setting myself reading projects in the first place after discovering from a biography that Zelazny planned his own leisure reading fairly meticulously.)
Much better airport reading than [b:Touched with Fire Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament|36434|Touched with Fire Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament|Kay Redfield Jamison|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168716790s/36434.jpg|36344]