Lord of Light

Rating:
Summary: Don't let this be your first Zelazny book... or your last!
Review: This is a great book, but it is also a long and complex book. It is not a fast read. It would help if you knew something of the Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. I was suspicious at first that the author would write and write and write and then end the book without finishing it, if you know what I mean. I HATE it when a writer does that. Rest assured that Roger Zelazny finishes what he starts. If you want proof, then read his book This Immortal. It too, is a great book but way easier to read than Lord of Light. Zelazny is a fantastic writer. The images he creates in you might are nothing short of spectacular. When the book was written in 1967 motion picture special effects were not up to the task. Now though, in 2002, after Lord of the Rings, I wonder...

Rating:
Summary: The Cynical Enlightened Sam
Review: Zelazny was a very bright shooting star when he first appeared on the fantasy/SF radar some 35 years ago, a new writer of power, originality, insight, and depth. Lord of Light was his third novel, and it exemplifies all these qualities in grand style. Combining the Hindu/Buddhist mythos/religion with the science-fictional concepts of true re-incarnation via technology-enabled body swaps, set on world dominated by those who have access to the technology, and are thereby effectively real gods, this book is a powerful statement of character, philosophy, and morality.

Mahasamatman, or Sam as he prefers to be called, is our protagonist for this trip through heaven, hell, and meditation, one of the original colonizing crew who has, over the centuries, fallen out of favor with the ruling coterie, who now style themselves as actually being the Hindu deities. Sam, seeing the inequitable treatment of the colonist's descendents, the forcible holding back of their attempts at technological progress, the sometimes total denigration of these people as mere objects and the cynical attitude of the ruling group towards them, decides to become a one-man army to change the status-quo by preaching the heretical philosophies of Buddha. But he finds his preaching has some unlooked-for consequences: he attracts a fanatical following and he finds it near impossible to not actually become the modern incarnation of the ancient philosopher, even though he does not totally subscribe to Buddha's philosophical outlook himself. As we delve deeper into Sam's battle with Shiva, Kali, Brahma and the rest of ruling pantheon, we are given looks at the original battle to colonize the planet, when all the crew had to develop Attributes to fight the native denizens (almost literal demons) of the planet, Attributes now part of their chosen godly character. In seeing this early period (which is highlighted by some very powerful and exciting battle descriptions), we get to see that none of these people are either totally evil or saintly, but are very human, with engaging foibles and distinctive characteristics. This is one of the main strengths of this book, as we have a large set of fully realized characters, each with their own motivations and desires, whose interactions form a complex weave of happenstance and emotional intertwinings, that give the novel a unique order and flow, and are sure to evoke multiple responses in the reader.

The prose style is more than adequate to the task here, sometimes brilliantly, almost poetically descriptive, at other points understated, leaving items just slightly nebulous, ready for the reader's imagination to complete. And the religious statements will burrow into your mind, forcing little cracks of enlightenment and quiet meditation. The story is not told in linear order, which some may find a little confusing, but as each piece of the story is unfolded and wrapped into the whole, it forms a mosaic that layers in your mind, building a tightly interlocked edifice of strength and stature.

Zelazny here has managed to create an archetype, a legend for modern times, with real relevance to the reader's everyday life, with a great promotion of life philosophies without preaching. Sadly, Roger is no longer with us, there will be no more of these brilliant tour-de-forces, but this will stand as one of his finest gifts to the world. A gift that everyone can enjoy and appreciate.

Rating:
Summary: Lord of light RULES!!
Review: I am not usually given to hyperbole, BUT... Lord of Light is only one of the best books ever written. period. This is one of the books that elevates sci-fi into the realm of great literature. If you know somebody who denegrates sci-fi as pulp, escapist hack work, give them a copy of Lord of Light.
And if you only know Zelazny through Amber, wait til you get a load of this!!
While I still grieve for the loss of Roger Zelazny (He passed on a few years back), we can all still treasure these gems that he left for us.
Read it. Then read it again. Then maybe give it another read. Every time you pick up something new.
I love this book. (or couldn't you tell)

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant idea AND execution
Review: There are times when reading a book you see that genius has so utterly struck the writer that all you can do it sit back and awe and marvel at how effortless it all seems. Those books unfortunately don't come often enough. This is definitely one of them. Some novels have great ideas but don't do anything with them while others have beautiful and brilliant writing but doesn't have the plot and depth of charactization to back it up and launch it into the truly masterful. Lord of Light has both. In spades. No kidding. The concept is so intrinsically SF but at the same time so radically different that fans of fantasy, world literature and who knows what else can sit down and enjoy it. Like I said, the concept is a fairly simple one at its heart: a bunch of people colonize a planet and eventually use their technology to essentially act like gods. In this case they set themselves up as the Hindu pantheon and through science give themselves powers that sure as heck seem like magic and divine abilities, switch bodies (reincarnation of course) and basically lord over everyone over the centuries. Except for one person, the one called Buddha among other things but who mostly wants to be called Sam. His quest to lay the gods low makes up the center of the book but the story isn't linear at all, which is probably where most people get stuck. Most of the story is told in flashback and they tend to jump all around, with a few clues to give the reader any idea where they might be. Some people might find this annoying, those people probably don't like books that make them think. The joy of this novel is watching all the threads unfurl slowly like petals on a flower, telling bits of the story until just when you think everything is known, Zelazny ties it all up. Just about everything about this book is perfect, from the use of the gods, to the personalities, to the sometimes achingly beautiful descriptions that stop just short of being overdetailed, to the rousing battle scenes, this is a book lesser writers would have insisted on making a bombastic bloated trilogy but he packs all the power and pathos of the concept into barely three hundred pages. Almost universally recognized as a masterpiece you owe it to yourself to at least try and discover this book. Once you're inside the rewards never seem to stop coming.

Rating:
Summary: Call Him "Sam"
Review: I recently reread Lord of Light. It is even more incredible than I remembered. It left me wanting more though-- a book twice as long-- a sequel! There is so much left to be told-- that could have been told. I guess that's the mark of a great book. Everything that makes Zelazny great is in this book-the philosophy, the adventure, the fantasy, the science fiction, the gods and the humans evolving into higher states, corruption of power, Light and Death, and lots of engaging characters. I loved Sam of course, but Yama steals the show! Tak is great-- as is the wiley Ganesha. So many twists and turns and surprises await just when you think you see what's coming. After all the imitations, this book is still fresh and free and full of wonder.

I think this must be his greatest book

Rating:
Summary: Long Live Mahasamatman!
Review: The incomparably witty Zelazny strikes gold!

I'll match this classic against a Canticle for Liebowitz, Dune, The Time Machine, Voyage to Arcturus, Stranger in a Strange Land and raise you one Brahma and a couple of Vishnus . . .

With the possible exception of Dune no other S.F.classic has been this entertaining.

Reviewers have already commented on its depth, and rightly so, just wanted to let you know it's also a lot of fun.

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary
Review: 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 colonisation of a distant planet,how over a long time the differences within the human society - and between humans and the indigenous inhabitants - become fossilised 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 sci-fi 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 acheivements in Twentieth Century literature.

Rating:
Summary: "Indistinguishable from magic."
Review: Arthur C. Clarke once commented that any sufficiently advanced technology was indistinguishable from magic. That had to have been on Zelazny's mind when he wrote this classic SF novel, in which a bunch of former space travelers play the Hindu pantheon, lording over a pre-industrial planet. Zelazny's point seems to be that the myths have power unto themselves; events play out with the force of archetype and the human/gods lose some of their free will as the old stories play themselves out. (Remember H.G. Wells 'Men Like Gods'?) The story focuses mostly on Sam, an exile from the heavenly community, who incarnates himself (they've beaten death) as the Buddha and starts a spiritual movement against Heaven. A highly original and thought-provoking work of far-future SF!

Rating:
Summary: A Very Good, Right-Brain Book
Review: If you like your books to flow in a linear, logical fashion, this might not be the book for you. The story jumps around quite a bit, and can be very confusing at times.

Now that I have my one complaint out of the way, here goes the praise. In the same way that Charles de Lint has twisted and expanded fantasy by introducing the mythology and beliefs of Native Americans, so did Roger Zelazny twist and expand science fiction/fantasy by introducing Hindu and Buddhist philosophy and characters in "Lord of Light". The story is set on a colony world that is ruled by a set of "gods" who are actually members of the crew who helped settle the colony. Over the centuries, these "gods", who model themselves after the deities of the Hindu pantheon, have cloned themselves into pseudo-immortality, genetically enhanced themselves, and armed themselves with fancy technology in order to enhance their "godhood".

Except for Sam (Buddha). Sam opposes the belief, held by the "gods", that the general population should advance itself, with no help from the "gods" or the history and knowledge brought from their world of origin, and is thus labeled an Accelerationist. The "gods" hound Sam and try to punish and restrict him, while he defiantly tries to "enlighten" the populace toward modern civilization.

Zelazny's writing is poetic, metaphorical, loaded with imagery, and, as mentioned above, not bounded by linear logic. If you can handle that and be comfortable with it, this is an intriguing story with well-developed characters, interesting philosophical debates, and an exotic feel. Give it a try!

Rating:
Summary: not only vastly entertaining....
Review: ....but packed with tragicomical commentary on the relationship between power and religion.

If Sam, the book's hero, is not an entirely pure character (none of Zelazny's heroes are), neither is his world's most dangerous enemy, an ex-chaplain named Nirriti:

"Nirriti prayed until the perspiration covered his face like a mask of glass and light, and it ran down inside his prosthetic armor, which gave him the strength of many. Then he lifted up his face to the heavens, looked upon the Bridge of the Gods and said, 'Amen.' Then he turned and headed toward Khaipur, his army rising at his back."

In this book you also meet the ex-assassin Rild, who converts to Buddhism and in spite of three lifetimes of butchery attains what he seeks. Admitting that he himself is a fake (although he isn't), Sam says about Rild, "Many people are executioners who have been talked out of doing their jobs...and he was the only man I ever knew to really achieve enlightenment."