Lord Demon

Rating:
Summary: An airless museum of Zelazny artifacts
Review: All of the right Zelazny stuff is wired into this book, but somehow "Lord Demon" comes across as a museum diorama rather than a living, breathing adventure fantasy.

It's got Zelazny's standard superhero, who resembles Sam in "Lord of Light." The minor difference here is that Kai Wren, Lord Demon is a god-slayer, whereas Sam was a god who slew the occasional demon.

Zelazny incorporated the Hindu pantheon into "Lord of Light." He used a mystical Chinese background for "Lord Demon."

"Lord of Light" is a fantasy classic, maybe Zelazny's best work. "Lord Demon" is---well, it's still Zelazny (plus Lindskold) which means it's well-researched and full of exotic, non-Western concepts. There are interesting creatures galore---good, bad, and scrub demons; a Chinese magician and his daughter; a few gods and godlets; dragons; Fu Dogs (actually lions in Chinese religious symbolism); even a stray Sidhe.

Kai Wren is a glassblower as well as a god-slayer, and his bottles can contain whole universes.

Unfortunately, the creators of Kai Wren's own universe forgot to add the oxygen.

Hardly anything breathes on its own in "Lord Demon," or reacts with the other elements of this book. The Fu Dogs are given long, overly-cute stretches of text that do little to move the plot forward. There are pointless visits to the 'Hanger Plane' and the 'Sock Drawer Plane' that do nothing but serve as poignant reminders of previous journeys with Zelazny through the Shadow worlds of Amber.

Hard-core Zelazny fans, go ahead and read "Lord Demon." An occasional paragraph may ignite that old feeling of nostalgia. I experienced a definite pang during Kai Wren's first encounter with the scrub demons.

New Zelazny readers, start with "This Immortal" or "Lord of Light" or "Creatures of Light and Darkness." The latter book, first published in 1969 was inspired by ancient Egyptian mythology, and in turn has inspired a horde of imitators but none as good.

"A Night in the Lonesome October" (1993) displays Zelazny's talent for the darkly comic. The book is narrated by a dog named Snuff and its hero is Jack the Ripper (really!)

If you'd like to read an excellent Chinese mythology-based fantasy (complete with Fu Dogs), try Barbara Hambly's, "Bride of the Rat God."

Rating:
Summary: Lord Demon - a great farewell
Review: To know Roger Zelazny is to love him.

Here is his final story. The story of a quiet artist trying to find beauty in a modern world.

Beauty in his works of glass art, beauty in his limited friends and hidden supernatural worlds. But danger arrives quickly and friends die.

His anger wakened, the protagonist sets out on a mystery to find who his hidden enemies are and why they have drawn him out of his peaceful life. The adventure is intriguing, the characters are well drawn.

Betrayal is a promise around almost every corner.

Zelazny's touch is evident in every page. Comparisons to other works are unavoidable (look at the other reviews for this.) This story shines.

And when it ends, you do not want to walk away from the characters. You want more. Fitting final tribute to an author who wrote characters designed to explore the universe and intrigue your heart.

Thanks to Jane Lindskold, a brave lady, a fine writer. You may wish to look into Lindskold's 'Athanor' books here on Amazon.

Rating:
Summary: Not his best
Review: While this book is certainly not a bad read, it did disapoint me a bit. I expected really good things from this book since I greatly enjoyed "Donnerjack", (another of the Zelazy, Lindskold "collaborations"), but it didn't deliver. Some of that Zelazy charm was there, but the characters just didn't jump of the pages like they do in "Donnerjack" or in other Zelazy's works. I guess everything can't be as good as the Amber books or "Lord of Light." So I guess I'd say, not bad, but not fantastic.