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latepaul 's review for:
Lord of Light
by Roger Zelazny
3.5 stars
I've read books and stories before where the conceit is to present a fantasy trope and then show that it's actually technology that has implemented the apparent supernatural or magic. And whilst that is technically the case here it doesn't feel the same because for 90% of the novel the story simply follows the characters as if they were Gods, demigods, demons etc. It never really delves into the technology except to say it exists.
Also a key part of world is the ability to transfer one's consciousness to a new body, which is how we get re-incarnation and immortality. But it's also how certain characters escape death or get resurrected. Add to this a lot of bloodthirsty battles where lots of ordinary humans die but the focus is on the God characters we've been following, and I felt emotionally uninvolved. The characters felt like people wearing super-hero costumes who occasionally pull down the mask and wink at the audience.
The structure of the book is interesting. There are seven sections. These are too long to be called chapters and they each encapsulate a continuous set of events, but between them there are gaps of time. So it's like we see a series of discrete stories, vignettes showing parts of the overall narrative.
I think it probably helps if you are familiar with Hindu mythology, especially the names. Most of the Gods have several names, and then there's the parts where one takes over another's identity, so it can be confusing and Zelazny, to his credit I suppose, expects you to just keep up.
I don't know the original myths and so I don't know if this is a version of existing stories, and if so how close it follows the source. I was going to say that you could just tell the mythic story parts and dispense with the its-really-tech part, but there is a theme of the Gods declining and the rise of human knowledge and ability, science and tech, and it feeds into that I suppose, though it's not developed very deeply.
All this comes with the caveat that in its day, it would have been quite innovative I suppose. But for better or worse I read it in 2018, and my score reflects only my impressions and reactions, which is all it can do really.
I've read books and stories before where the conceit is to present a fantasy trope and then show that it's actually technology that has implemented the apparent supernatural or magic. And whilst that is technically the case here it doesn't feel the same because for 90% of the novel the story simply follows the characters as if they were Gods, demigods, demons etc. It never really delves into the technology except to say it exists.
Also a key part of world is the ability to transfer one's consciousness to a new body, which is how we get re-incarnation and immortality. But it's also how certain characters escape death or get resurrected. Add to this a lot of bloodthirsty battles where lots of ordinary humans die but the focus is on the God characters we've been following, and I felt emotionally uninvolved. The characters felt like people wearing super-hero costumes who occasionally pull down the mask and wink at the audience.
The structure of the book is interesting. There are seven sections. These are too long to be called chapters and they each encapsulate a continuous set of events, but between them there are gaps of time. So it's like we see a series of discrete stories, vignettes showing parts of the overall narrative.
I think it probably helps if you are familiar with Hindu mythology, especially the names. Most of the Gods have several names, and then there's the parts where one takes over another's identity, so it can be confusing and Zelazny, to his credit I suppose, expects you to just keep up.
I don't know the original myths and so I don't know if this is a version of existing stories, and if so how close it follows the source. I was going to say that you could just tell the mythic story parts and dispense with the its-really-tech part, but there is a theme of the Gods declining and the rise of human knowledge and ability, science and tech, and it feeds into that I suppose, though it's not developed very deeply.
All this comes with the caveat that in its day, it would have been quite innovative I suppose. But for better or worse I read it in 2018, and my score reflects only my impressions and reactions, which is all it can do really.