Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny – Spoiler-free Review

A sci-fi/fantasy classic, by a master of both genres, Roger Zelazny. I wasn't sure what to expect from Lord of Light, but I was oh so pleasantly surprised.

Lord of Light on Wikipedia (for AFTER you've read it!)

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00:00 Intro
00:31 What's it got?
00:58 Context
02:07 Sidebar of complete weirdness
05:21 The story
10:47 The structure
12:12 The themes
19:07 The cover

#booktube #scifi #fantasybooks

[trentzelazny]

Very much enjoyed your review. Thanks!

Best,
Trent Zelazny

[proudwhitesettler]

I first read this book around 1970. I had just graduated from high school and was working and living on the family ranch. One afternoon my older brother and I set out on horseback to do something or another with some cattle several miles from home. I stuck this book in my jacket pocket and while we were riding toward our destination pulled it out and began reading. I was hooked from the beginning. My brother thought I was nuts. I hadn't thought about that for years, probably decades. Your review brought those memories flooding back. Thank you.

[jeantesc]

I re read this novel every 5-10 yrs of so and it get something new from it each time. Thank you for your thoughtful review I look forward to watching your other videos.

[PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

This one sounds totally groooovy, man! Thanks for bringing Lord of Light to my attention, Matt. The sidebar of weirdness is indeed . . . weird. I saw the movie Argo and still didn't realize the connection to Lord of Light, so I learned something cool here. Also, it's awesome that you're a Buddhist! If I ever decided to follow a philosophy (not a religion), it would be philosophical Buddhism. I'd love to read some Zelazny, and this might just be my starting point.

[NeoComicus]

It's always been my favorite Zelazny book, even more than the first Amber series. I still have the paperback, though it's showing its age!

[MrVvulf]

One of my favorite books.
Many people don't notice Zelazny's impish sense of humor where he takes 4 pages to set up a joke all built around the saying "When the shit hits the fan".
The twist that hides the joke is that in the story, the line used is "And that's when the fit hit the Shan."

Edit: Regarding the "religious" parts of the book...a couple favorites are 1. Were Zelazny substituted Yama in the single combat versus Mara where traditionally you'd find Siddhartha. 2. The sermon immediately following that battle, and specifically where Sam talks about the "essence" of reality, and how you can't adequately explain fire to someone who's never seen fire.

[jameshannagan]

I think one thing people often forget is how beautifully written it is the prose is fantastic and at times quite moving. The amount of information imparted is simply amazing because it's not really a very long novel. I don't forsee most people not having their minds blown by this it's like nothing else I can think of.

[OldtimerOfSweden]

I found a Swedish translation of Jack of Shadows in my father's bookshelf when I was a teenager (in the early seventies) and just fell in love with Zelazny's writing. Since that was the only translated book, I started bying English paperbacks where ever I could find them. Soon I got to Lord of Light and I was just blown away. I have re-read that book more than any other book I own.

When my children were young I read them books every night, but I, of course, had to choose books translated into Swedish. I longed to be able to read Lord of Light to them, but I knew I had to wait a long time for them to understand it in English. But I couldn't wait, so I sat down and translated the whole novel into Swedish for them. So you can say that I know that work very well. 😄

It's a pity I can't get it published in Swedish, but I wouldn't know where to start with such an endeavour. But at least my children got to enjoy it.

[JosephReadsBooks]

Great review!

I discovered this book this year and I loved it.

As I was reading I kept trying to figure out why I had never heard of it before this year.

It won all the awards you can win and even won against Dune!

I don't understand how Zelazny isn't more popular. His writing is amazing.

I finished it a few months ago and I'm going to read it again very soon.

[swdge]

Wow, did not expect the places this video went. Thanks for sharing!

[Johanna_reads]

So excited to have my mind blown! I'm super curious about how he writes about people becoming enlightened, and I always love an interesting structure. I also agree with what you said about Star Wars and Dune–the lines between much sci-fi and fantasy are easily blurred. 🙂

[shawnbergeson]

Great video! Really enjoyed the structure of this video and your descriptions. Very interesting. I've purchased this book and am looking forward to it!

[diyanosaur]

Great review! The sidebar of weirdness was very interesting, I had no idea about it. I might give the book a shot sometime, the premise sounds intriguing

[Paromita_M]

Which other SF Masterworks would you recommend to a reader who has a difficult time with hard SF e.g. I loved Flowers for Algernon, The Left Hand of Darkness and enjoyed Ubik, A Canticle for Leibowitz but other classics like Dune, Hyperion, Foundation, Rendezvous With Rama didn't work at all for me.

[ThunderhawkVeronicaLazerwolf]

I completely agree with your sci fi vs fantasy opinion

[brianlee]

Zelazny was the best! Got to meet him briefly....low key guy. My all time favorite...nine princes in amber.

[donkorte]

I’m a big fan of zelazny… discovered him in a series of stories in analog which comprised a somewhat reduced version of Sign of the unicorn… given that it was the forth book in the series my mind was completely blown… also found A rose for eclesiasties.. great short story… ultimately pick up Lord of light in a huge used book store… absolutely great, much better than creatures of light and darkness…Zelazny shines when his characters are down to earth but quirky…I also love the story where the main character was a 13 year college student who absorbed an alien into his body during a night of heavy drinking… I can’t remember the title and I’m to lazy to look it up…

[vaughnroycroft]

Well, this is about as fascinating as a book review can get. Seriously, the associated elements run the gamut--philosophy, world religion, the hippy movement... the CIA! lol. As old as I am (I was 7 when it was pubbed), I was unaware of the book. Thanks for the thoroughness and insight. You've definitely made me intrigued.

[safinan]

Hi 👋 like the way you go in depth of a book review.. have a wonderful Christmas 🎄☃️❄️

[jorgerapalo]

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I read it back in the 80s and it made me a Zelazny fan. It is a fantastic meld of spirituality and cynicism, of fantasy and Science Fiction, of humor and gravitas, and it may also be, in its own particular way, the best superhero novel ever written.