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A review by flying_monkey
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
5.0
Occasionally a science-fiction book is written that reminds everyone why the genre is so important. A book so extraordinary, so inventive, so full of wit, imagination and intriguing possibility that it just shines out of every page.
Lord of Light is such a book.
Here in the UK, it has recently been one of the first books to be re-released in the 'SF Masterworks' series. Not only does it fully derve this title, it stands head and shoulders above most of the other titles on this list and indeed all of Zelazny's extensive back-catalogue.
Put as simply as possible, the story is one of the way in which ideological factions diverge and conflict over the human colonization of a distant planet,how over a long time the differences within the human society - and between humans and the indigenous inhabitants - become fossilized and reconstructed into a parody or recreation of Hindu myths, and finally how this decadent parody is challenged from within by one of the original colonists - Mahasamatman, or Sam, the Lord of Light - who takes on the form of the Buddha.
Around this central tale, Zelazny manages to weave so many themes. It is a sensitive and compassionate re-imagining of Hindu mytholology, yet aware of the shortcomings and the challenge posed to traditional Hinduism by Buddhist teachings. It is a tale of technologically-facilitated decadence and moral decline, of the way in which technical abilities can become more important than the purposes for which they were developed. It is a fable about how inequality and class division emerge, are structured, fossilized and challenged. It is story of memory and forgetting, of how history can be constantly rewritten -consciously and unconsciously - by the powerful, and lost to the weak. It is a classic tragedy, the oldest story of all: hubris, nemesis and catharsis.
Zelazny not only manages all these themes with seemingly effortless structural ability, but also produces lush and stylish prose entirely appropriate to the parodic Hindu world, which is a joy to read.
Everyone should read this whether you think you like sf or not. Lord of Light is a unique and extraordinary creation and I don't think I am exaggerating in describing it as one of the greatest and most original achievements in Twentieth Century literature.
Lord of Light is such a book.
Here in the UK, it has recently been one of the first books to be re-released in the 'SF Masterworks' series. Not only does it fully derve this title, it stands head and shoulders above most of the other titles on this list and indeed all of Zelazny's extensive back-catalogue.
Put as simply as possible, the story is one of the way in which ideological factions diverge and conflict over the human colonization of a distant planet,how over a long time the differences within the human society - and between humans and the indigenous inhabitants - become fossilized and reconstructed into a parody or recreation of Hindu myths, and finally how this decadent parody is challenged from within by one of the original colonists - Mahasamatman, or Sam, the Lord of Light - who takes on the form of the Buddha.
Around this central tale, Zelazny manages to weave so many themes. It is a sensitive and compassionate re-imagining of Hindu mytholology, yet aware of the shortcomings and the challenge posed to traditional Hinduism by Buddhist teachings. It is a tale of technologically-facilitated decadence and moral decline, of the way in which technical abilities can become more important than the purposes for which they were developed. It is a fable about how inequality and class division emerge, are structured, fossilized and challenged. It is story of memory and forgetting, of how history can be constantly rewritten -consciously and unconsciously - by the powerful, and lost to the weak. It is a classic tragedy, the oldest story of all: hubris, nemesis and catharsis.
Zelazny not only manages all these themes with seemingly effortless structural ability, but also produces lush and stylish prose entirely appropriate to the parodic Hindu world, which is a joy to read.
Everyone should read this whether you think you like sf or not. Lord of Light is a unique and extraordinary creation and I don't think I am exaggerating in describing it as one of the greatest and most original achievements in Twentieth Century literature.