Rating: 
Summary: I liked it.
Review: ...I like long books, so it's length didn't trouble me. The voice of two people haunted by death are clear to hear in the pages, I had no quarrel with its emotional authenticity. I liked the combination of science fiction and myth and the humor exposed in many of the characters. If I quarreled with it, I quarreled with some of the more dream-like sections-- things went by too fast, or were explained too little. There was too thin of a line between fascination and irritation in that respect.Most of the time I don't like posthumous completions. This time I did. High recommend. I'm only sorry that one of the authors isn't around to make a series out of it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Crying Shame
Review: Donnerjack is best described as a crying shame-first because I was practically crying reading the beginning third of the book that was so obviously Zelazny-fast, witty, engaging, unique-full of weird characters and a new computer type of mythology which is so Zelazny-ish! It was great to be reading Zelazny again years after he had died! The shame part of the book is after the first third (ended as part one) we enter part two which is obviously not Zelazny! Wordy to the extreme-boring, stupid, stupid humor (if I read "he or she or it CHUCKLED one more time I was gonna scream!) and chocked full of explanations which is one thing Roger once stated in an interview--He hated explanations!!! No wonder the book took so long to come out--it took Jane years to write the next 400 pages! As another reviewer pointed out, read the first third of the book and then stop, you'll be glad you did--Or else do as I do and read it with a handy magic-marker, its great for blacking out all the unnecessary wordiness!
Rating:
Summary: Shades of the Great Zelazny
Review: For the first 300 pages of Donnerjack I was in heaven. The Zelazny of "Lord of Light", "Jack of Shadows", and the original "Amber" series was evident. Strange places, myriad characters doing what they do, and why is up to, well, whatever you can deduce as the action goes on.
The concepts of "Virtu" (the cyberworld) and "Verite" (consensual mundane reality) are pure Zelazny. The mystery surrounding the interaction of the two is pure Zelazny. The characters are pure Zelazny. Sometime around the middle third of the book the style underwent a significant change. The concepts were still fabulous, the characters still outrageous, but the style seemd very UNzelazny. The Zelazny of "Lord of Light", and indeed the first third of this book, does not reveal WHY the characters think and feel as they do. Enough background is supplied to allow the reader to deduce/intuit/project personal patterns and motivations. After the middle of Donnerjack, however, motives, attitudes and foibles are handily supplied in a pleasant, expository manner.
The STORY does not suffer particularly from the stylistic change, although towards the last third of the book I found myself skipping pages of stuff.
I've read several Zelazny collaborations that didn't work for me at all. This book, not a collaboration exactly, worked for me in all the important ways.
However, I must say that the stylistic inconsistancy of the prose kept me from TOTAL and COMPLETE ecstacy in the presence of the master.
Rating:
Summary: Good for the first half, but fizzles.
Review: I agree wholeheartedly with the review here by Phil Thwing. Essentially, the book starts out in classic Zelaznyish fashion but suddenly shifts over to something else about half way through. Very disappointing. The first half is full of depth and then the second half turns shallow. About the only good thing you can say about the ending is that it seems to tie up all the threads. But, there's no satisfaction to it. I wish people would stop trying top publish a dead man's unfinished works. It just degrades his real legacy.
Rating:
Summary: Good for the first half, but fizzles.
Review: I agree wholeheartedly with the review here by Phil Thwing. Essentially, the book starts out in classic Zelaznyish fashion but suddenly shifts over to something else about half way through. Very disappointing. The first half is full of depth and then the second half turns shallow. About the only good thing you can say about the ending is that it seems to tie up all the threads. But, there's no satisfaction to it. I wish people would stop trying top publish a dead man's unfinished works. It just degrades his real legacy.
Rating:
Summary: Quintessential Zelazny
Review: I approached "Donnerjack", as a posthumously published novel, with some trepidation. Would there be anything of Roger Zelazny in this book beyond his name on the cover? The answer is, there is everything of Zelazny in "Donnerjack". Themes common to his best work - shadow worlds, shifting identities, ancient gods, children of two universes, Death personified, and artificial beings - resonate strongly throughout this book. Readers of "Lord of Light", "Creatures of Light and Darkness", "Jack of Shadows", the Amber novels, and his greatest short fiction will find much in "Donnerjack" to recall those earlier works, yet nowhere before did Zelazny take those themes to such a level of complexity. At 500 pages, the book is far longer than any of his previous novels, and the larger scale is put to good use in weaving an intricate tapestry out of those familiar colors and shapes, creating a picture full of quintessential Zelazny characters and images. What portion of the book belongs to Jane Lindskold and which to her friend and companion I cannot pretend to guess, but I would say that there is nothing in "Donnerjack" which falls outside of the expected range of the Zelazny universe. I read the book with great pleasure, tinged with sorrow from the knowledge that there will be no more works from Roger Zelazny. This final novel reminds us of his imagination and artistry and of what we have lost with his death.
Rating: 
Summary: Two master writers confront Death
Review: I read Zelazny as a teen, but never kept up with his stuff. A few years ago I got hooked on Jane Lindskold's SF and fantasies (I've now read all of her books), and I loved Lord Demon, her first collaboration with Zelazny. Inevitably I picked up Donnerjack, and what a great story! It's long, but it's never boring or slow. A hero confronts Death to regain a love from his realm, in exchange for their firstborn. Donnerjack weaves together tales of computer programs and ancient prototypical gods, legends and 22nd century Americans, and manages to tie them all together with a satisfyingly pretty bow. It balances an incredibly dark subject matter (trying to beat Death and eventually to let go when one cannot - bear in mind that after a long illness Zelazny actually died before the book was finished) with great stories that inexorably twine together as the plot moves forward. While exciting, it manages to catch creepy on a really visceral level - I couldn't just blast through this book like my usual reads, but had to take it in bits. Part of why Donnerjack is so distressing is that the subject of death touches us all, and the authors capture its horror in delicate ways as when a character's gradual deterioration necessitates the amputation of his leg. The authors present this in such an unapologetic and off-handed way that it feels uncomfortably personal - if this didn't come from life it certainly felt like it. This must have been a very painful book to write. The result is just wonderful, though. Because of the authors' real-life situation, the evolution of the book's presentation of Death from being a horrific chaotic factor to a necessary (and even well-meaning) part of the lawful order of things is particularly evocative. Because of the masterful storytelling, Donnerjack's plot unravels like a mystery. I genuinely did not know what to expect from one chapter to the next. Perhaps because of the personal stuggles of the authors with death, this "scientific fantasy" is also a novel of horror. As the tale draws on, a force more sinister than Death is gradually revealed, the horror building as the reader considers the implications of this evil. Lindskold and Zelazny do this artfully; Donnerjack reminds me of Lovecraft, with a little less Poe and a lot more storytelling and character development. It's a riveting, wonderful book. I'm going to have to make sure I read all the Zelazny I've missed over the years.
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to snuff!
Review: I really wanted to like this book. I was a big fan of the Amber series and thoroughly enjoyed his writing. Donnerjack had huge potential but never seemed to get were you wanted it to go. I was bored through the first third of the book but because of the writer stuck in out knowing that he'd tie it all up in the end and make it really work for us. In brief, I barely enjoyed reading this and wish I would have made another choice for my 6 bucks! However, Roger Zelaznys passing has definately left a gaping hole in a genre that has consistenly failed to grab me like it did in the old days! Maybe it's just me getting old!
Rating: 
Summary: Not really Rodger
Review: I think I have everything he ever wrote in my collection, and my copy of Lord of Light is getting worn out from my re-reading it, but this is not him - not after the beginning. Forget it. Re-read Jack of Shadows or Creatures of Light and Darkness. This is just a might-have-been.
Rating:
Summary: Not really Rodger
Review: I think I have everything he ever wrote in my collection, and my copy of Lord of Light is getting worn out from my re-reading it, but this is not him - not after the beginning. Forget it. Re-read Jack of Shadows or Creatures of Light and Darkness. This is just a might-have-been.
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