The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth

Rating:
Summary: Early Zelazny at his best
Review: From his career's inception, Zelazny had a distinctive style:
fast, poetic, allusive and dense sometimes to the point of being
a trifle obscure. Characterization was one of his strengths. He
also had a deft way with mythological reference: he wove it into
his stories, either symbolically (e.g., in "He Who Shapes") or
by science fictional means, as in his novel _This Immortal_.
Early and late, the story rather than the novel seems to have
been his true metier.

In this collection of early stories, we see a nice harvest from
the first 5 years of Zelazny's career. A goodly number of the
best stories he wrote between 1962 and 1968 are included.

The whole book makes for pleasant reading, but I'd single out
the following stories as being particularly worthy: "The Man Who
Loved the Faoli," "This Mortal Mountain," and "This Moment of
the Storm," the classic "A Rose for Ecclesiastes," and of
course, the title story.

One of the mild peculiarities of Zelazny's collections is that
stories he wrote at the beginning of his career are spread
across a number of books, where they may in many cases be found
side-by-side with later work. A reader wishing to explore his
early short stories can't go to a single book.

The early stories span 4 collections: this book, and _Four for
Tomorrow_, _The Last Defender of Camelot_, and at least one
story ("But Not the Herald") in the book _Unicorn Variations_.
A reader taken with Zelazny's early work should search out these
collections for that reason alone.

(Note that a number of later stories are also worthy.)

Of the early work excluded from this volume, I'd single out
"He Who Shapes," "The Graveyard Heart," "The Furies," and
"And For a Breath I Tarry" as the stories worth a look.

Although Zelazny's work has become widely available, there is a
need for a _Collected Stories_. Such a compendium could put his
work into historical context, as well as provide access to some
stories not widely available or in some cases never reprinted.

Until such a publishing event occurs (knock on wood), we've got
the story collections he published himself, for which we should
feel gratitude.

(4.5 stars. "He Who Shapes" and "And For a Breath I Tarry" would
have made it 5.)

Rating:
Summary: Great stories, terrible editing
Review: I'm thrilled that ibooks is releasing a series of Roger Zelazny's works, but if this volume is any indication they need to do a much better job of editing. Among the many typographical errors in these exceptional SF stories is this gem from the Bible as quoted in Zelazny's classic short story, A Rose for Ecclesiastes: "...vanity of vanities; all IF vanity" (page 132). I almost lost my suspension of disbelief! Please, ibooks, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.

Rating:
Summary: A Rose By Any Other Name
Review: If I am not mistaken, then this collection contains the most excellent and wonderful, 'Rose for Ecclesiastes' in addition to a wonderful assortment of other gems. These short stories, along with other collections by Mr. Zelazny, have profoundly affected my whole outlook on literature and life. Enjoy the metaphors if you can!!!

Rating:
Summary: A Rose By Any Other Name
Review: If I am not mistaken, then this collection contains the most excellent and wonderful, 'Rose for Ecclesiastes' in addition to a wonderful assortment of other gems. These short stories, along with other collections by Mr. Zelazny, have profoundly affected my whole outlook on literature and life. Enjoy the metaphors if you can!!!

Rating:
Summary: nice collection of stories from a great writer
Review: no doubt that zelzny was one of the best writers in SF and fantasy, but mostly he was excellent in writing fantasy books. this collection of stories, from his best period as a writer (and if i may say from the bset period of SF writing), show as a different zelazny from the zelazny, that was known for writing the "great book of amber", zelazny that wrote sience fiction and mistery stories. in any case the writing style is still the same. most of the stories are very entertaing, and fascinating, except for the last one that i didn't much liked. this book is most recomended for zelezny fans, and also for those who red amber books, but were dissapointed from is late books.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Single-Author Collection
Review: This collection of stories by Roger Zelazny is the finest single-author collection I've read. From the award-winning "Rose For Ecclesiastes" and the title story through the deeply moving "Keys to December" and the "Man Who Loved the Faoli," and the rest of the stories, the reader is exposed to a man of passion and intelligence at the peak of his form.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Single-Author Collection
Review: This collection of stories by Roger Zelazny is the finest single-author collection I've read. From the award-winning "Rose For Ecclesiastes" and the title story through the deeply moving "Keys to December" and the "Man Who Loved the Faoli," and the rest of the stories, the reader is exposed to a man of passion and intelligence at the peak of his form.

Rating:
Summary: Strange, beautiful - and sort of realistic.
Review: This is a collection of "classic" short stories from the 60s, when Zelazny possesed that ability to dazzle the entire sf-world (I wasn't around then, but that's what they say). It is a wonderful book, and I know I will return to it more than once before I die.

The great thing about Zelazny is, he had both an extremely vivid imagination and was enough of a good stylist to make his visions credible. Though the stories take place in different times, on planets far away, both beautiful and strange, the surroundings seem just as natural as any other place here on Earth. The main character - not seldom of the type the-tragic-and-lonesome-hero - frequently talks in a street-wise, realistic way, so that you never feel alienated to the strange surrounding he is moving through. (Exept when the "hero" feels alienated too, which, when I come to think of it, is most of the time. Still, that is not the point - the point is that though perhaps alienated, you feel like your there.)

But anyway - since you see the world through the eyes of the main character, coloured by his mood and his problems, the stories revolves mainly around the human mind, and deals with problems that might just as well be observed in the people next door. There's a beautiful example of this human-centered way of storytelling from the book: The story "Divine Madness", where a man suddenly discovers that his perception of time for no explicable reason has changed, and time is moving bakwards. Instead of trying to figure out the science of this phenomenon, like any other sf-author, Zelazny concentrates on how the man painfully watches yesterday come closer, fearing the moment he has to relive his last, fatal quarell with his partner.

Rating:
Summary: Almost all the Zelazny U'll ever need....
Review: This is the best single-author collection ever. From "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" to "This Mortal Mountain," "This Moment of the Storm," "The Man Who Loved the Faoli," & "Lucifer," this is Zelazny at his absolute BEST. If only "For a Breath I Tarry," "Permafrost" & "He Who Shapes" were here, U wouldn't need NE other Zelazny books. This stuff puts his AMBER novels totally out 2 pasture. This guy was brilliant, & if U haven't read his stuff, U've got some catching up 2 do. Start anywhere, U won't B sorry....

Rating:
Summary: Almost all the Zelazny U'll ever need....
Review: This is the best single-author collection ever. From "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" to "This Mortal Mountain," "This Moment of the Storm," "The Man Who Loved the Faoli," & "Lucifer," this is Zelazny at his absolute BEST. If only "For a Breath I Tarry," "Permafrost" & "He Who Shapes" were here, U wouldn't need NE other Zelazny books. This stuff puts his AMBER novels totally out 2 pasture. This guy was brilliant, & if U haven't read his stuff, U've got some catching up 2 do. Start anywhere, U won't B sorry....