This Immortal by Roger Zelazny The Earth has been mostly depopulated as humans have discovered more sophisticated and comfortable cultures elsewhere in the universe. Much of its infrastructure was destroyed during “The Three Days,” and most of the mainland areas are still “hot.” Genetic mutations have caused the birth of creatures previously thought to be […]
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He Who Shapes by Roger Zelazny In the mid to late ‘60s, the sci-fi world was Roger Zelazny’s oyster. Possessing an abundance of fresh ideas delivered with a deft hand, the author took the genre by storm — This Immortal, Lord of Light, and Creatures of Light and Darkness gained notable attention and won awards. […]
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Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny The scholar Brian Attebery in his book Strategies of Fantasy writes that works of science fantasy can be divided into two categories: the beautiful and the damned. No middle ground to be had, technology and the supernatural remain relative to the era, and combining them is disastrous to the […]
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Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny In the early part of his career, and in an indirect sense throughout it, Roger Zelazny combed Earth’s cultures, religions, and legends for story material. His brilliant Lord of Light and This Immortal riffing off Hindu/Buddhist and Greek mythology respectively, he established himself as a writer who […]
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Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny “I’d get what I needed and take what I wanted and I’d remember those who helped me and step on the rest. For this, I knew, was the law by which our family lived, and I was a true son of my father.” When Corwin wakes up in […]
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The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny Warning, from me: If you haven’t read Nine Princes in Amber yet, don’t read this review. Another warning, from Corwin: “Never trust a relative. It is far worse than trusting strangers.” Corwin has escaped from his brother’s prison and he’s ready for revenge. He doesn’t have the manpower […]
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Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny The usual warning: Review contains spoilers for previous book. Sign of the Unicorn is the third novel in Roger Zelazny’s CHRONICLES OF AMBER. At the end of the previous novel, The Guns of Avalon, Corwin finally got what he wanted: Eric off the throne. Corwin is now the […]
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The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny The Hand of Oberon, the fourth book in Roger Zelazny’s CHRONICLES OF AMBER, continues exactly where the previous book, Sign of the Unicorn, left off. The story was originally serialized in Galaxy Science Fiction and later printed in approximately 180-page installments. Each, therefore, is short and ends at […]
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The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny The Courts of Chaos is the very short last installment of the CORWIN CYCLE of THE CHRONICLES OF AMBER and the fifth volume of the entire series. If you haven’t read the previous books, you’ve got no business here — go away. I don’t want to ruin it […]
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Trumps of Doom by Roger Zelazny Trumps of Doom (1985) is the sixth novel in Roger Zelazny’s immensely popular AMBER CHRONICLES. It does not stand alone. You need to read the previous books first, starting with Nine Princes in Amber, and you’ll need to read the rest of the series if you want to get […]
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Blood of Amber by Roger Zelazny It’s at this point in Roger Zelazny’s AMBER CHRONICLES that things start going downhill. Don’t even try to pick this up if you haven’t read the previous six books. It will make no sense. Expect spoilers for those earlier books in this review. Blood of Amber (1986), the seventh […]
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Sign of Chaos by Roger Zelazny Note: You must read the previous seven AMBER CHRONICLES before picking this one up. Expect spoilers for those previous books in this review. Sign of Chaos (1987) is book eight in Roger Zelazny’s ten-book AMBER CHRONICLES. It starts right where book seven, Blood of Amber, ended: with Merlin and […]
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Knight of Shadows by Roger Zelazny The usual spoiler warning: This review will contain spoilers for the previous novels. This penultimate novel in Roger Zelazny’s famous AMBER CHRONICLES is a mercifully short continuation of the lackluster drama that this series has become since the POV changed from Corwin to his son Merlin. The story opens […]
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Prince of Chaos by Roger Zelazny Prince of Chaos is the final (hooray) novel in Roger Zelazny’s AMBER CHRONICLES. I really liked the first five AMBER books. These are often referred to as the Corwin Cycle because they detail events that happened to Corwin, one of the nine princes in the “real” world of Amber […]
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The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth: And Other Stories by Roger Zelazny My experience with Roger Zelazny has been hit or miss, and while I consider The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Moutha miss, it’s not terrible. The main fault of these fifteen stories is that characterization remains […]
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Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny In 1971, Roger Zelazny penned a wonderful mix of fantasy and science fiction that I think rivals his AMBER books for sheer imagination and exciting action. Jack of Shadows is set on an imaginary world, similar in some respects to our Earth, vastly different in others. One side of […]
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Deus Irae by Philip K. Dick Of the 36 science fiction novels, nine mainstream novels, one children’s book and over 120 short stories that cult author Philip K. Dick produced before his premature death at age 53, in 1982, only two creations were done in collaboration with another author. The first was 1966’s The Ganymede […]
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Roadmarks by Roger Zelazny Roadmarks (1979) is a fragmented, experimental type of novel, tied together by a Road (with a capital R) that leads to all times and places and alternative timestreams in our world’s history, for those who know how to navigate it (a certain German named Adolph briefly pops up in an early […]
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A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny During the entire month of October, in the late 1800s, in a year when the full moon falls on Halloween, strange forces gather in a village outside of London. Various iconic characters ― who will be familiar to fans of Victorian literature and classic horror movies ― […]
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Our weekly exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve read that we wanted you to know about. “A Rose for Ecclesiastes” by Roger Zelazny (1963, text and audio free on EscapePod, originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction). 1964 Hugo nominee (short fiction) In […]
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The Best of Analog edited by Ben Bova The Best of Analog is filled with high-caliber stories by all-star writers: Alfred Bester, Roger Zelazny, George R.R. Martin, Vonda McIntyre, Gene Wolfe, and more. Published in 1978, this anthology contains three novellas, ten shorts, and one poem — pieces that have by and large stood the test of time on […]
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Wild Cards edited by George R.R. Martin Sept 15, 1946: Wild Card Day. When aliens from the planet Takis wanted to test their newly developed virus on a species that is similar to them, naturally, they brought it to Earth. Though they were thwarted by one of their own princes, a foppish alien who has […]
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Aces High edited by George R.R. Martin Aces High is the second volume of George R.R. Martin’s long-running WILD CARDS anthology. In the first volume, Wild Cards, we learned how aliens from the planet Takis decided to test their new virus by using humans as their guinea pigs. In the 1960s, they let loose what has […]
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Down and Dirty edited by George R.R. Martin Jube: Hear who won the Miss Jokertown Beauty Pageant last week? Croyd: Who? Jube: Nobody. I continue to listen to the new audiobook version of the WILD CARDS books as they are released by Random House Audio. Down and Dirty, the fifth volume, was published a few […]
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Black Thorn, White Rose edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling Black Thorn, White Rose is the second in Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling‘s series of adult fairy-tale anthologies. I’d have to say that this is my favorite of the bunch; most of the volumes are good, but this one has so many wonderful stories that […]
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The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology by Gordon Van Gelder (ed.) The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology is an excellent collection of 23 stories picked from the treasure trove of short fiction that’s been published in the eponymous magazine over the past 60 years. Editor […]
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Wings of Fire edited by Jonathan Strahan & Marianne S. Jablon I don’t like dragons. This is probably not the first sentence you’d expect to find in a review of Wings of Fire, an anthology devoted exclusively to dragon stories, but I thought it best to get it out of the way right from the […]
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Francis Sandow — (1969-1973) Publisher: Human Francis Sandow is amused when the alien Pei’ans mistake him for Shimbo Darktree, God of Thunder, but the Shimbo’s enemy, Belion — a true supreme being — arrives for a showdown. Changeling Saga — (1980-1981) Publisher: Two stories by the Hugo and Nebula Award winning author Roger Zelazny following […]
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Donnerjack — (1997) Roger Zelazny and Jane Lindskold. Publisher: This “new” Roger Zelazny work was finished posthumously with the help of his coauthor and friend, Jane Lindskold. Unlike some after-the-fact “collaborations,” this one has Zelazny written all over it. It’s a typical tale from one of science fiction’s greats, a world-spanning story that deals heavily with mythology […]
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Coils — (1982) Publisher: A new entity is being born. Its cells are microprocessors, its soul lives in data banks from Wall Street to Red Square. It is neither good nor evil. But it is very dangerous. The Angra Oil Corporation thinks it is just another resource to be used up…. Coils: The story of a man […]
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