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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Not at all what I expected! I think I sort of expected a "Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" clone but espousing Hinduism instead of Rational Anarchy. While I probably would have liked that also, this was really a very inventive myth retelling and I loved it for that.
CONTENT WARNING: (no actual spoilers, just a list of topics)
Things to love:
-The myth. Holy wow! I read a lot of myths and I adore them. But never before have I felt one that felt so...plausible. The powers were still superhuman, but the explanation of them in the context of the world was incredible. Very clever and something I will recall for a long time.
-Sam. He's great! It took me awhile to figure out why I cared, but then I did very much.
-The other characters. I actually became quite attached to all of them. I think this was a really well done way to describe characters quickly. He relied a bit on our cultural understanding of various gods, and a bit on our willingness to believe that over the centuries, humans would stop behaving terribly humanely. Well, I was sold.
-The dialogue. When the gods aren't thee-ing and thou-ing, they're hilarious. There were several lines that made me chuckle out loud.
-The descriptions. Everything felt at once surreal and concrete. You could feel what it would be like to have lived for an eon and how your age might change what parts of the past stood out.
Things that were annoying:
-The thee-ing and thou-ing. You could tell that even Zelazny got tired of it eventually. The book starts off very stiff and by the end has found its comfortable center. I thought I was going to lose my mind over the auxiliary verbs but luckily, they did peter out (;-) )
-The time jumps. The chapters don't do a great job helping you figure out where in Sam's narrative you are. I think this could have been tightened up to give more obvious clues so that you don't have to keep switching to previous chapters to figure out how they got from one city to another in a paragraph break.
-The naming. I get it. It's a myth, and part of the "fun" of oral traditions such as most myths is the litany of names. But with all the body hopping, the time jumping, and the use of various religious frameworks, trying to keep them all straight got a little tedious.
-Still dated. It's not as bad as many, but I did wince a few times at the casual misogyny and the transphobic comments. Please see the content warning for more.
Really, a delightful blend of myth retelling and new world exploration. I'd say you really need to enjoy myths to find this at all interesting. It feels much more fantastical than it does sci-fi, though I did really like how those elements were blended in. A great intro for me to this author!
CONTENT WARNING: (no actual spoilers, just a list of topics)
Spoiler
Transphobic comments/deadnaming, death of loved one, sexual assault (mild)Things to love:
-The myth. Holy wow! I read a lot of myths and I adore them. But never before have I felt one that felt so...plausible. The powers were still superhuman, but the explanation of them in the context of the world was incredible. Very clever and something I will recall for a long time.
-Sam. He's great! It took me awhile to figure out why I cared, but then I did very much.
-The other characters. I actually became quite attached to all of them. I think this was a really well done way to describe characters quickly. He relied a bit on our cultural understanding of various gods, and a bit on our willingness to believe that over the centuries, humans would stop behaving terribly humanely. Well, I was sold.
-The dialogue. When the gods aren't thee-ing and thou-ing, they're hilarious. There were several lines that made me chuckle out loud.
-The descriptions. Everything felt at once surreal and concrete. You could feel what it would be like to have lived for an eon and how your age might change what parts of the past stood out.
Things that were annoying:
-The thee-ing and thou-ing. You could tell that even Zelazny got tired of it eventually. The book starts off very stiff and by the end has found its comfortable center. I thought I was going to lose my mind over the auxiliary verbs but luckily, they did peter out (;-) )
-The time jumps. The chapters don't do a great job helping you figure out where in Sam's narrative you are. I think this could have been tightened up to give more obvious clues so that you don't have to keep switching to previous chapters to figure out how they got from one city to another in a paragraph break.
-The naming. I get it. It's a myth, and part of the "fun" of oral traditions such as most myths is the litany of names. But with all the body hopping, the time jumping, and the use of various religious frameworks, trying to keep them all straight got a little tedious.
-Still dated. It's not as bad as many, but I did wince a few times at the casual misogyny and the transphobic comments. Please see the content warning for more.
Really, a delightful blend of myth retelling and new world exploration. I'd say you really need to enjoy myths to find this at all interesting. It feels much more fantastical than it does sci-fi, though I did really like how those elements were blended in. A great intro for me to this author!
One of the wildest rides of imagination. It's a tale of fantasy with science fiction trappings wrapped up in the clash between blind faith and progress under the guise of Buddhism & Hinduism in a lost colony. I don't think my words can make justice to the book. You have to read it.
There's a dozen flavours of cultural appropriation here, but at least it's justified by the plot (the main characters being appropriators themselves). It's a clever book, it treats its reader seriously, gives very little backstory, often borrows language style from old religious texts. It's confusing at times, but surprisingly unusual for a SF story.
One of my all time favourites. The story revolves round Sam, also known as Mahasamatman, who may be a god or not. The setting is a planet colonised by emigrants from Earth - many of them Indian, with an Indian theological background. The colonists develop powers similar to Indian gods and goddesses, as well as the ability to transfer into a fresh body, via a machine, ensuring a kind of immortality. Political divisions develop in Heaven, some gods wanting to allow progress for the people, others opposed to this, and factions develop. Sam apparently picks the wrong side and is "banished" ( no spoiler) - but then comes back and starts a revolution, but by teachings similar to Buddhism. The second last sentence is evocative.
"Death and light are everywhere, always, and they begin, end, strive, attend into and upon the Dream of the Nameless that is the world, burning words within Samsara, perhaps to create a thing of beauty"
"Death and light are everywhere, always, and they begin, end, strive, attend into and upon the Dream of the Nameless that is the world, burning words within Samsara, perhaps to create a thing of beauty"
medium-paced
Not as good as I remembered it, but still a great, creative story. I miss my Indian life where these characters really mattered.
When humans with the power of transferring themselves into fresh bodies play at being gods, one can only expect disastrous levels of societal dysfunction and mass manipulation. This is skilfully written in the style of a religious text or myth. Sam, the Buddha, Binder of Demons, the Lord of Light, is a powerful antihero.
20% SF, 80% fantasy. Rolling tale, with too many characters and magical tech