Lord of Light

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and thought-provoking
Review: In brief: Science fiction meets Hinduism in one of the most surprising, intriguing and enjoyable books I've come across in a while. Highly recommended.

The story centres on an off-Earth colony which has come to be utterly dominated by its founders, who rule with the names, personalities and even the attributes of Hindu gods. With the injection of SF technology, social and political control pivot upon Hindu tenets with a futuristic twist. Reincarnation functions through personality-storage and cloning, allowing effective immortality for the gods, and some very bad karma for any who oppose them. The populace is held in a permanent low-tech state to ensure it continues to need its gods; innovations that might benefit mortals, such as the printing press, are swiftly eradicated.

Stylistically, too, it is brilliant. The whole thing takes the form of a Hindu epic, in terms of both language and structure. The hero, Sam, rebels against the gods by (literally and figuratively) taking on the Buddha role, preaching against the priesthood and the oppressive rituals and strictures which bind society. And through this, Zelazny brings out some of the most interesting implications of his blend of SF and myth, exploring how the 'gods' have merged with their masks to truly _become_ their mythic roles.

Finally, and importantly, _Lord of Light_ also contrives to be a truly entertaining read. Deservedly a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Lord Of Write
Review: Lord Of Light was first published in 1967. It proceeded to win the Hugo award as best novel. In this book Zelazny demonstates his amazing gift of character creation and writing stylization that make this novel seem at times to be almost one long poetic dream on par with "Xanadu". His writing style combined with the imagery set forth in this masterwork to create a totally believable tale, for it deals with the struggle of man to ovrcome his baser self as well as his opressive fellow man. As a personal note I must say that this is by far my favorite single novel by Mr. Zelazney. It's blending of hard SF with the Hindu religion is seamlessly done, and of course it was an inspired choice to set the Buddha in the role of prime antagonist, allied with Death Himself. The rich scene settings only add to the over all depth of this amazing story. This is truly one of the milestones of SF writing, a must read for anyone interested in the genre.

Rating:
Summary: Can't say I've read anything better in my entire life
Review: Lord of Light is without a doubt, one of the best things I've read (and I've read a LOT, believe me).

I highly recommend this great masterpiece to every serious Sci-Fi/Fantasy fan out there, along with Gibson's Neuromancer, Orwell's 1984, Herbert's Dune (1-6), Harrison's The Hammer and The Cross trilogy - ones of the best novels ever written.

Rating:
Summary: Difficult but incredibly rewarding classic
Review: This Hugo award-winning science fiction classic turns the usual technological approach to the genre on its head. "Lord of Light" reads much more like fantasy than science fiction, and like Frank Herbert's classic "Dune," it's a rare example of a science-fiction novel deeply concerned with spirituality and metaphysics.

It is also a difficult novel. Readers more interested in adventure or hard science fiction will find Zelazny's dense, intricate style tricky to maneuver or concentrate on. The cast is huge, and most characters either go by multiple names, or switch names and bodies as they are reincarnated. This is the sort of novel that requires focus and attention to appreciate. Those who give it the time it deserves will discover a true classic, and a strange experience unique among science-fiction books-even for Zelazny, who lead the field of the new-wave authors of the 1960s.

The story follows the inhabitants of an Earth-colonized planet long after Earth has ceased to exist. The colonial leaders have developed the technology to turn themselves into god-like figures, based on Hinduism, and rule the lesser people in a metaphysical tyranny. The hero, Sam (only one of his many names, such a Buddah) returns from banishment to lead the struggle to free the people and spread technology to make everyone "gods." He finds strange allies along the road, including the original alien inhabitants of the planet, known as Rakashas (demons) in the pseudo-religion invented by the rulers. In a short space, a great deal happens and Sam wages both war and peace against the "gods."

"Lord of Light" is definitely a trip...and milestone in science fiction, but it isn't for the casual fan. People interested in religion and veteran science-fiction readers will get the most out of it, and should definitely get themselves a copy. For somewhat more accessible Zelazny books to start with, try "Damnation Alley" or his large fantasy series, "The Books of Amber"-but you'll need to visit "Lord of Light" eventually; it's his best novel.

Rating:
Summary: Zelazny's greatest achievement.
Review: Easily my favorite Zelazny book (I've read them all) and one of my favorite books EVER by ANYBODY, Lord of Light is one of those rare books that gets better after multiple readings. Zelazny begins with a fairly standard far future society setting, and incorporates elements of Hindu mythology. The story revolves about a group of settlers on a world that have established themselves as "gods" above their descendants, who live in a techologically regressed state. One of these characters seeks to break the stagnation that the population is being held in by the other original settlers, each of whom has taken on the personality and aspects of a Hindu god or goddess. A rousing action story is interspersed with Eastern philosophy and religion. The story timeline is non-linear, making re-reads exceptionally satisfying

Rating:
Summary: Lord of the Fantastic
Review: Zelasny walked the thin line between Fantasy and SF probably better that any one. This book shows this like no other.

I cant believe i spent all this years and never read his master piece.

Rating:
Summary: deep science fiction
Review: Humanity defeats the native "energy" beings that populated the orb and establishes a colony on the planet with a Hindu like societal order. Using advanced technology, the crew of the ship transfers their minds into a new body when theirs is near death. They also develop other advances that enable them to form a pantheon with god-like powers. Beneath them are the colonists and even further below in this pyramid of power are the natives. No one bucks the leadership as not only can they technology reincarnate they can convert others into animals.

One of these techno-Gods, preferring to be called Sam rather than Mahasamatman, feels that the mistreatment of others is morally wrong. He thinks that he and his peers should share their technology with the lower strata. His peers insist those beneath them are incapable of dealing with godlike powers and need their hand to guide them. Sam never claimed the mantle and though he hates what he feels he must do, this "fallen angel" leads a revolt against his ruling brothers and sisters as he wants to establish a different world order.

This is a deep science fiction novel with religious and social overtones. The story line is loaded with action, but also takes its time to defend critical arguments set forth by author Roger Zelazny. The cast fosters the concepts of the plot so that development is targeted more towards an idea than a character. Still with all that this is a cerebral tale that will have readers pondering a host of subjects from comparative religions to white man's burden to fostering American style democracy in Iraq, etc. in a clever novel that will require concentration or one will miss a point.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Hi re-read value
Review: The other reviewers pretty much said it all about this book, which justly deserves its 5 out of 5 stars.

The one small contribution I can make to the collection of rave reviews of this book is:

You know how some books are pretty good but they lose their appeal after the first read? This book has an extremely high re-read value. It's like Neuromancer: I must have read this book 4 or 5 times over the past 15 years, and it remains as good today as it did the first time. The book is so complex and the characters are so rich, that it'll keep your interest on the 2nd reading and beyond.

Rating:
Summary: A Fading Echo
Review: This turned out to be Zelazny's masterpiece. It wasn't supposed to be that way--Zelazny was the '60s version of the guy who was going to hoist SF into the artistic empyrean. That didn't happen. (It never does--see Varley, John, and Gibson, William.) But he did leave behind "Lord of Light", and a few other works that serve as glowing examples of what can be done within an all-too-often infantile form.

The premise is that an interstellar colony has, so long ago that the events are no more than legend, been turned into an effectively eternal dictatorship by the starship crew, who with the aid of advanced tech have acquired the aspects of the Hindu pantheon to lord it over the poor peasantry. (There's also a dour Calvinist theocracy elsewhere on the planet, but that's another story.) The protagonist is Mahatsamatman, known as "Sam", a man who is not, in fact, the Enlightened One, (though everyone insists otherwise) but is close enough. He decides to overthrow the whole miserable structure, and that's the story in a nutshell. Battles, conspiracies, encounters with alien, and not very advanced, energy beings, betrayals, disasters, and all else follow, in the style of the great Hindu epic the Mahabharata, along with plenty of 20th-century wise-guy prose. (Zelazny was also a student of Chandler.) This is a great roaring monster of a book, of a kind that would have a very hard time getting published today. (It's also *structured* like the Mahabharata, with vast chunks of out-of-sequence narrative--the first chapters occur *after* the ensuing two-hundred-odd pages--which would be guaranteed to drive the current generation of editors out of their minds.)

"Lord of Light" is one of the few novels to take on a basic, and all but ignored, SF thesis--if technology does have the power to make us godlike, then we'd better damn well be ready for the role. Zelaxny shows us the negative aspect--what happens when the process fails. The positive side--which Sam perhaps reaches, and perhaps doesn't--is only hinted at. But it's good to see the concept handled at all by anybody apart from James Blish. Everyone else simply runs away from it in terror.

A final point: this is very much a novel of the '60s, and one of the few reflections of the *real* '60s, the one that didn't make it into the books or documentaries. The major feature of that lost time was, very simply, joy. That's what everyone recalls, and everyone mistakes for something else. After long, bleak decades, the possibilites opened up. For one brief instant, a renaissance beckoned, only to be killed by Nam, and dope, and dirty left-wing politics. The period is truly reflected in very few things--Dylan's pre-accident albums, the Beatles, and in this book, which is suffused by joy, and humor, and hope, on damn near every page. Read it to learn what you missed, and what could still, with luck, come again. I'm sure that Zelazny didn't intend it that way--he was in real life a career bureaucrat for the Social Security administration. But that's how it came out. And that's no bad thing.

Rating:
Summary: Dense but Fascinating Exploration of Power
Review: Zelazny successfully weaves a tale of the far-future in which a form of quasi-immortality is achieved by transferring one's mind to new bodies. The ruling elite utilizes a mindreading technology to review the quality of one's life, and this is used to reward or punish a person with either a better or worse form. In effect, science has discovered the means to mirror the Hindu concepts of karma and reincarnation.

These technologies are used to solidify the power of the Deicrats, the ruling elite of the planet. Morality is secondary to how well one supports their grip on power. Those who oppose the structure are destroyed. Those who are in power, the ones who hoped to style themselves after gods, are driven by the same dark emotions that have powered mankind through history: ambition, jealosy and greed. This story is about Sam, a man forced to choose between joining with this system of power, or rebelling against it.

While this is a relatively short book (by modern science-fiction standards), it is also dense reading. Slogging through the first chapter and a half is necessary before things really start to click along.

This is a novel that is rich with ideas. It demonstrates the harm that can be caused by caste systems borne out technological haves and have-nots. It portrays the classic theme of "absolute power corrupts absolutely," but also shows that goodness exists within a few humans to oppose corruption. It does both of these against a unique, Hindu-inspired backdrop supported by the necessary science.

Your enjoyment of this book will probably be driven by the type of science-fiction reader you are. If you want something heavy on ideas and milieu, you will probably love this. If you want something that is more character-driven, this may not satisfy you as much. Despite its shortness, you may find yourself downshifting your reading-gears: dialogues often consist of a dozen or more lines of unattributed text--and characters don't speak in particularly unique voices. Some characters are known by multiple names, which I found initially confusing. Despite this, I can't imagine that anyone interested in speculative fiction could be fluent in the genre without exposure to this fascinating tale.