'Lord of Light' review

[Anthony G Williams]

I first (and last) read this some 35 years ago, and recently dug out my dusty old paperback to refresh my memory in order to participate in the discussion of it held in the Classic SF forum. Zelazny was one of my favourite authors then, and I was curious to see how this unusual tale stood up to the test of time.

Lord of Light is set in the far future on another planet, with Earth an almost forgotten memory. The planet has been settled by the crew and passengers of a colony ship from Earth, but society has developed in a strange way. The crew have commandeered all of the technical resources and keep the descendents of the passengers at a medieval level of existence. To reinforce this, the crew have adopted the identities of Hindu gods, and live in "Heaven"; a perfect city situated at one of the poles, with a vast transparent dome protecting the area.

There are two other unusual features. The more powerful of the "gods" have developed mutant powers, reinforced by technology, which match the attributes of the mythical gods. And technology has made the transmigration of souls from one body to another a routine matter. Some of the original crew members have survived in this way, transferring as they age to new bodies specially grown for the purpose. This is also on offer to the general population, but they have to earn it, or risk being reborn as an animal – a powerful coercive tool.

Not all of the original crew are happy about this situation, and the story is all about the rebellion led by one of them, the 'Lord of Light' of the title, who wishes to destroy Heaven and bring the benefits of advanced technology to all. As a part of his campaign, he reintroduces Buddhism, and becomes regarded as a great religious teacher.

The structure of the story is rather disconcerting, as only the first and last chapters are set in the "present day", the majority of the book reverting to an account of the Lord of Light's previous, failed, attempt at rebellion. As the characters are gradually fleshed out in later chapters, I found myself flipping back to the first chapter to remind myself of who was who.

The writing style is quite leisurely, the author being happy to let his characters enjoy long conversations and intellectual debates, resulting in a certain lack of tension. He also plays with words, setting up some good jokes (one of the few things I remembered from my first reading of the book was the way in which he managed to work up to the punch-line: "then the fit hit the Shan"!). While the hero is a likeable character, there are few insights into his background or the motivation for his determined resistance. Despite these reservations, the intelligence and quality of the writing held my attention to the end. Unusual indeed, but well worth the time to re-read.

(An extract from my SFF blog)

[AE35Unit]

Sounds good! I just got a copy of this(SF Masterworks) but the blurb sounds quite different!

[Fried Egg]

I read this story a few months back and quite enjoyed it. Zelazny quite cleverly combines aspects of religion, SF and fantasy in an unsual way. As you say, it is also quiet funny and profound in places too.

[yngvi]

When I was a teenager Lord of Light was very highly rated (winning the Hugo and Nebula awards) and I did enjoy it, and I remain a fan of Zelazny. However, I think the 'Creatures of Light and Darkness', which covers similar ground but with gods of the Egyptian pantheon is a more mature, rounded, poetic and satisfying read.

Any comments?

[Anthony G Williams]

I still have my 1972 copy of Creatures of Light and Darkness but I haven't read it since then so I can't comment.

[Cotton Tail]

Originally Posted by yngvi

When I was a teenager Lord of Light was very highly rated (winning the Hugo and Nebula awards) and I did enjoy it, and I remain a fan of Zelazny. However, I think the 'Creatures of Light and Darkness', which covers similar ground but with gods of the Egyptian pantheon is a more mature, rounded, poetic and satisfying read.

Any comments?

I've finally managed to track down a second hand copy of 'Creatures of Light and Darkness' and I've been waiting to read it for so long that I find myself reluctant to start it...it's like eating the last luxury item in a post apocalyptic world - once it's gone, that's it...no more

Anyway, another RZ pantheon based story I enjoyed was Eye of Cat...maybe less involved than Lord of Light, but I enjoyed the mythology.

CT.

[ebusinesstutor]

I loved Lord of Light, but just couldn't get into Creatures of Light and Darkness.

[imhotep]

good review, LOL had plenty of tension though...twists and turns galore.

[VideoChrist]

All the novels mentioned in this thread -- Lord of Light, Creatures of Light and Darkness, Eye of Cat -- are great. Here's my list of best Zelazny novels (in chronological order):

This Immortal
The Dream Master
Lord of Light
Damnation Alley
Creatures of Light and Darkness
Isle of the Dead
Nine Princes in Amber
Jack of Shadows
Doorways in the Sand
Roadmarks
Eye of Cat
A Night in the Lonesome October (with illustrations by Gahan Wilson)
Wilderness (with Gerald Hausman)

[JoanDrake]

My father read me the entirety of Lord of Light as a bedtime story, over about two months. I sometimes dream of the Hindu gods to this day. My mother finally stopped it though, when he started to read me To Die in Italbar and I got nightmares.

[Moggle]

The Lord of Light doesn't sound like a good book.

[The Judge]

On the contrary, it's a very good book but it does require a degree of concentration to read and appreciate. In my copy the foreword makes it clear that chapter 2 jumps back in time, and thereafter we're shown the events which led up to chapter 1 -- without that I can imagine it would be rather confusing on first read. I also had a bit of difficulty with the names as I knew nothing of the Hindu deities, but it's intelligent and deals with the issues of religion and technological progress well. Give it a try.

[Moggle]

Originally Posted by The Judge

On the contrary, it's a very good book but it does require a degree of concentration to read and appreciate. In my copy the foreword makes it clear that chapter 2 jumps back in time, and thereafter we're shown the events which led up to chapter 1 -- without that I can imagine it would be rather confusing on first read. I also had a bit of difficulty with the names as I knew nothing of the Hindu deities, but it's intelligent and deals with the issues of religion and technological progress well. Give it a try.

It already sounds bad just from what you're describing.

[kshRox]

Originally Posted by Fried Egg

I read this story a few months back and quite enjoyed it. Zelazny quite cleverly combines aspects of religion, SF and fantasy in an unsual way. As you say, it is also quiet funny and profound in places too.

You've not read much Zelazny have you?
He tends to weave philosophy, religion, social commentary and acton seamlessly into his SF/Fantasy writings.

Come on Sacred Seven!

[Bugg]

Originally Posted by The Judge

On the contrary, it's a very good book but it does require a degree of concentration to read and appreciate. In my copy the foreword makes it clear that chapter 2 jumps back in time, and thereafter we're shown the events which led up to chapter 1 -- without that I can imagine it would be rather confusing on first read. I also had a bit of difficulty with the names as I knew nothing of the Hindu deities, but it's intelligent and deals with the issues of religion and technological progress well. Give it a try.

I didn't read the foreword in my copy, just jumped straight into the story, and you're right, the first chapter was a bit confusing. I remember thinking chapter two was fantastic, though, and from that point on I was hooked. Brilliant book

My copy is the SF Masterworks edition, and I tend not to read their forewords as I have found that they can sometimes be quite spoilery. I've just read their edition of Arthur C. Clarke's 'Childhood's End' and found, when reading it after finishing the book, that the foreword spoiled almost everything in the story!