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Summary: Characters you'll love, a plot that moves...
Review: This is one of the greatest Science Fiction books ever written. Most of the reviewers and I agree on that. I'd like to point out three areas that make this book special. 1. Characters--Zelazny gives us a range of characters that we can love, sympathize with, and suffer with. Sam, of course. For me, though, Sugata--the assassin turned enlightened one was even more real and powerful. Yama the deathgod was, in many ways, the real hero. Ever-faithful Tak. I could go on. The point is that each of these characters is fully developed and realized. This isn't a one dimensional book.(2) the plot. It's exciting yet complex. The use of flashbacks makes it hard to follow from time to time (you have to read this more than once), but it's big and it draws you in. You want Sam to win even when you know he can't. (3) the religion--the intellectual and moral battle (as well as the physical and magical battles) between Hinduism and Budhism are so compelling that I researched both religions after reading this. I just re-read LORD OF LIGHT (all right, I'm not sure what number it is any more) and it's every bit as powerful as it was when I first read it decades ago. Zelazny's best--and that's saying a lot.
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Summary: The best book I've ever read
Review: I first read this book as a sci fi obsessed teen. My mum, knowing my literary tastes, used to go to jumble sales and just buy me any books that had (In her opinion) weird covers. This was how I first came to acquire Lord of Light. On finishing it, I immediately turned straight to page one and started to read it again as I couldn't bear to leave the amazing world that Zelazny had created. I don't have that original copy any more, with the great (Peter Goodfellow?) cover illustration of an eye in a golden cloud as I lent it to a friend who lost it (How many people has that happened to?) but the friend bought me another copy that I still have and I've read it and reread it many times since. Some have said that this book is crying out for a sequel. I disagree. Zelazny's tale hints at an epic history leading up to the events in Lord of Light which if anything would necessitate a prequel. I regret that he will never write us one. One minor nag, There are a lot of glaring typos in the book which have never been corrected in any of the editions that I've read and could be confusing to the reader. Can't someone just proofread this book and sort this out once and for all? That's it. I'll leave it to others to summarise the plot, I'll just say this. You will never read a better sci fi book than this (even with typos). The story and characters will live on in your mind for ever.
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Summary: Zelazny's Masterpiece
Review: In addition to being a rip-roaring good story, this is an excellent primer on Hinduism and Buddhism. (Not for strictly accurate detail, but for the feel and genius of two fine religious traditions.) The heroes are Sam Kalkin, who becomes the Buddha, and the Death-god, Yama. The villains are Brahma and his crowd, whose god-like powers have gone to their heads, and Renfrew Nirriti, the proselytizer who is willing to ally himself with anyone, no matter how evil, to force his religious views on others. (Nirriti means "not right.") This is not merely Zelazny's best, but one of the best books of the twentieth century. It ranks with Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land," Panshin's "Rite of Passage," and Card's "Ender's Game"; and only slightly below Pangborn's "Davy."
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Summary: Subtle and nearly spiritual; classic scifi epic.
Review: While similar in premise to some of his other tales of worldshaking technological demigods, this book has some additional moral elements. Zelazny offers them plainly, evoking a feeling of religious historicism that makes some of the shinier platitudes more appropriate. He achieves this with decorous dialogue and a marvelous and nearly timeless portrayal of technological 'miracles' that are unfathomable to the hairy-knuckled masses. The sympathetic and chain-smoking antihero is also present, driving the archetypical story along a delineated route of demon-dealing and decadence. Zelazny's wordcraft is excellent, and this book should be well received by all but the most technophiliac of science fiction connoisseurs.
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Summary: An outburst of philosophy , heavy in sub-meanings.
Review: "Lord of light" is the story of a group of people in the far future , that for centuries have pretended to be gods (the weak-humans are their offsprings). Offcourse , all this is on another planet. this group was the first settlers , and the technolegy they posses allows them to act as they please. They take the form of the gods of the Hindu religion. To further complicate the situation , each of those "gods" (which is immortal , though by technological edge) has , over the centuries , developed a psi-power that fits the powers of the god he's supposed to be. The hero is Sam , in short for MahaSAMatman , the original Budha. Sam has , over the years , changed his mind about the way he and his peers rule the masses and the story is actually the story of Sam's rebellion in the gods. All written in the wonderfull proze of Zelazny with amazing insights into man's soul , but with Zelazny that's not really amazing since all of his works are infact pilosophical quaries of man's place in the world and such. "Lord of light" is one of the best soft sci-fi books ever written , I recommend it warmly to anyone at all and to those who are interested in sci-fi in particular.
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Summary: Highly entertaining
Review: I do not know much about Hinduism, and perhaps someone with a degree in comparative religion could find fault with this book (or perhaps appreciate it more). All I can say is that I found it highly entertaining and absolutely fascinating.
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Summary: enter the gods and goddessess....
Review: ...on a distant world, where tyrants in control of superior technologies have taken on the roles of the Hindu pantheon--until one among them resurrects Buddhists teachings to fight for independence. Marvelous, and philosophically provocative far beyond just a good sci fi read.
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Summary: If you only read one SF book in your life...
Review: ...read this one. I boxed up most of my SF books years ago (after 30+ years of reading SF, one finds a lot of repetition). This book I kept, and in a prominent place. Never. Never! have I read a novel that is as original as what Zelazny created with LOL. It feels like fantasy, but then a strong underpinning of "hard" SF emerges ... and then there is the story of humanity, with elites (the original crew) and the mortals (the colonists). I could bring up the context of the book (psychedelic 60's) but, as with all great books, I think the period influences on this book are irrelevant. Read it, and re-read it. A great book.
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Summary: Welcome Reissue of a True SF Classic
Review: Lord of Light is a wonderful novel, fully worthy of the praise it has garnered. It is set many centuries in the future, after "the death of Urath." On a colony planet, men have battled the previous inhabitants and won, and have established a society. This society is based on technological means of imitating the Hindu religion. Specifically, when the body nears death, it is possible to transfer the "mind" or "soul" to a new body, even the body of an animal. But some of the earliest colonists, including the "First," have additional powers, which give them the status of gods. They also have taken control of the means of reincarnation, and a faction among them is using that means in political ways: punishing their enemies with reincarnation as animals, or with the "true death." The result is a society of humans living in a world in which something resembling Hinduism is literally true. Furthermore, the leading faction of "gods" is using its powers to keep the technological level of human society low enough that their own position cannot be threatened. The novel tells of the hero, one of the "Gods", and his two attempts to free the people of this world. This is definitely worthy of its place among the standard-bearing works of science fiction. Not only does Zelazny pull off the intriguing feat of creating a scientifically plausible world (given some extremely advanced technology, and a fair bit of handwaving) in which a fairly close rendering of the Hindu system of gods, demons, and their powers -- and reincarnation -- is real; he makes that just a nice background to an honest and moving story of a believable man. And his story is grounded on a sound theme. And finally, all the clever background ends up as more than just background: it reinforces the central meaning of the book. Definitely recommended, and it's nice to see that new readers will be getting a chance to encounter this excellent work.
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Summary: Arguably the best SF book ever written
Review: Roger Zelazny's "Lord of Light" is one of a short list of works for which a very good case can be made that it is THE best piece of science fiction ever written. In scope, scale and originality, L.o.L. has few peers in the genre (Dune comes to mind), and vast themes, after all, are what SF is really all about. Zelazny's use of language is charmingly idiosyncratic - it soon becomes recognizable as his stylistic signature - and it succeeds in its ambitious program of combining a certain elevation of style with an abundant, dry wit. Above all else, however, Roger Zelazny's characters are believably very human, and at the same time compellingly larger-than-life. They are somehow archetypal, maybe eternal, but very modern in their outlook. They talk, all the time, the way you would if you could carefully craft all of your lines. And yet, they speak with a lovely and natural spontaneity that is never forced or artificial. Even his villains, who are thoroughly villainous, have considerable personal appeal. Of course, this book has some very minor flaws - the most important of which is that it is relatively short (about 300 pages). A rather endearing flaw is that the author has and displays an abundance of the arrogance of the brilliant young, and he doesn't mind clubbing you over the head with his considerable erudition. If you are still young yourself you will love him for it, and if not you will fondly remember the days when you were. In the end, I consider even L.o.L's few flaws to be an essential part of its fabric. Zelazny manages to dazzle you with his brilliance without ever being condescending, forced or phony, and its all great fun if you're quick enough to run with him. Lord of Light is one of a short list of books of ANY genre that I make a point of re-reading every few years - for about 30 years now - always with fresh enjoyment. It is a sad and lonesome thing that Zelazny is gone, and he will never give us another story like this one.
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