Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
I'll be honest, I had no idea what was going on most of the time, but here's what I gleaned:
In the future, a select group of individuals make themselves powerful enough to become gods, primarily taking on the roles of various Hindu deities. They do what pantheons of gods always do - fight and disagree and love and act ultimately pretty human.
Zelazny wrote this in a way that feels similar to some of the old religious epics - vignette-style stories, with a smattering of philosophical prose. References to Epic People and Epic Events that we may or may not hear about, etc. It's not my favorite style, and I felt my lack of knowledge of Hindu writings, in particular, while trying to understand this.
It's an interesting idea, though.
In the future, a select group of individuals make themselves powerful enough to become gods, primarily taking on the roles of various Hindu deities. They do what pantheons of gods always do - fight and disagree and love and act ultimately pretty human.
Zelazny wrote this in a way that feels similar to some of the old religious epics - vignette-style stories, with a smattering of philosophical prose. References to Epic People and Epic Events that we may or may not hear about, etc. It's not my favorite style, and I felt my lack of knowledge of Hindu writings, in particular, while trying to understand this.
It's an interesting idea, though.
medium-paced
Has an interesting setting that carries it for most of the book but I just found the main character to be boring. I do understand why the book is extremely influential though.
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wouldn't call this a Science Fiction novel, not sure what to call it, actually, but I still thought it was an interesting novel which made interesting points.
I say that because I tried audiobooks for the first time and chose "Lord of Light" to be the first sacrifice. Yeah, that was a bad idea lol. But it might have been fine for me cause I wasn't reading this book for the prose, but rather for the world-building and plot and it did the job.
The only problem is, every time I spaced out, either Buddha died or we're fucking Kali or something.
It was a weird book about the future of Buddhism and Hinduism and men taking over technology to the point where they are treated like gods. Heaven is artificial. Karma is used to getting into a new body which is not the goal of Buddhism originally (I dunno about Hinduism though)
I feel like the things I learned from this is that if we forget for a second that these are humans pretending to be god, it is a little interesting to see Sam wanting to retire as a god after all that shit with the war against gods and using Rakshas as cannon fodder, even though they were the OG inhabitants of this world. This was a reluctant hero type of book which I guess it was fine for 70s era when this book came out but not in the modern day as it has been overdone to death.
Sam sees things simply for what they are and disregards all the pomp that the "gods" add to their culture and language and kinda yeets it outta the window. It's like your average Joe turned into a wish fulfillment sorta novel.
I can't say I enjoyed the book but I feel like reading this book audio style was probably for the best as I don't like Sci Fi usually and forced myself to read a different genre. That being said, it's a solid 3 stars if I paid attention and that's not the book's fault, that's just my undiagnosed ADHD.
And that I will conclude not to audiobook books I actually care about lol
3/5
Oops, falling behind on my reviews!
I enjoyed the ideas and world-building in Lord of Light, but wasn't a big fan of the writing or pacing. I'm not sure the novel has really aged well.
I enjoyed the ideas and world-building in Lord of Light, but wasn't a big fan of the writing or pacing. I'm not sure the novel has really aged well.
This is the second Zelazny book I've picked up at the recommendation of a friend. I finished the first one ("Roadmarks") and thought it was okay, but just could not get through this one.
In both of his books that I've tried, Zelazny takes a very slow pace, and doesn't give his readers a lot of context in which to understand -- or care for -- his protagonists. In this book, Sam could have been an intriguing character, but I felt I was kept at arms length from both him and the situation in which he was reincarnated.
In both of his books that I've tried, Zelazny takes a very slow pace, and doesn't give his readers a lot of context in which to understand -- or care for -- his protagonists. In this book, Sam could have been an intriguing character, but I felt I was kept at arms length from both him and the situation in which he was reincarnated.
Interesting application of Buddhist and Hindu mythology to a sci-fi story.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes