Theo Logos's Reviews > Lord of Light

”His followers called him Mahasamatman, and said he was a god. He preferred to drop the Maha and the atman, however, and called himself Sam.
He never claimed to be a god, but then, he never claimed not to be a god. Circumstances being what they were, neither admission could be of any benefit.”

”Sam was the greatest charlatan in the memory of god or man.”

Sam is a typical Zelazny character — clever, resourceful, and erudite, and a bit of an antiestablishment smart ass. What isn’t so typical is the complex, layered, and lyrical book of which he’s the hero. Zelazny is one of those authors whom I’ve always enjoyed, but who usually left me feeling a bit cheated. His ideas and characters were always fascinating, but too often it felt like he just half-assed the writing of the book just to get it out to the market without taking the time to polish his ideas into the genius that they seemed to promise. Lord of Light is the exception. Not only is it Zelazny’s masterpiece, it should be considered one of the all time masterpieces of the science fiction genre.

Zelazny opens the book by throwing his readers into the deep end and letting them swim for it. Chapter One introduces us to Hindu gods using some kind of super advanced technology to draw the Buddha back from a strange, physical Nirvana to re-embody him as an ally in a war against heaven. Oh, and there’s a talking ape who used to be a man. As we readers struggle to find our depth, we learn that we are not on Earth, and that these gods are actually humans with fabulous technology that has been transplanted to a distant planet. It just keeps getting weirder from there.

Zelazny accomplished multiple impressive feats in Lord of Light. He retold and reshaped Hindu and Buddhist mythology within a striking SciFi adventure tale. He peopled this tale with complex and fascinating characters, and he allowed us to slowly discover their backstory, how they came to be here and became what they are, while wisely leaving sufficient details in shadow as to cast an aura of age and mystery across it. Within this fascinating tale, he also managed to tell a compelling story of how myth and religion is utilized within power politics to control the masses. And he accomplished all this with lyrical writing, bursts of satirical humor, great characterization, and near constant, ongoing action adventure. If you are a sci-fi fan, Lord of Light is an absolute must read book.


In Memoriam
David, my awkward, clever, brilliant friend — near on 40 years ago you introduced me to Alan Watts, to H.L. Mencken, to this book and so much more. You were in my thoughts as I reread it. Miss you, buddy.