Favourite Zelazny novels and short stories

I have a kind of love/hate relationship with Dream Master -- love the writing, hate the protagonist. We had some discussion of this over on Jugular Josh's Zelazny blog. And Eye of Cat, too -- that's another one that provokes a divided reaction.
 
For some reason I think I've only read the one Zelazny novel - but it was Lord of Light, which I greatly enjoyed. Good to see it regarded well on this thread. :)
 
I think my favorite Zelazny books have to be the original trilogy of The Chronicles Of Amber (I have The Great Book Of Amber now but prefer the original trilogy), I enjoyed Changeling enough in my younger days to purchase it again and still enjoy it. Roadmarks is quirky but good. I just read To Die In Italbar and wasn't impressed. I need to pick up Lord Of Light, haven't read that yet...:eek: All in all, I enjoy Zelazny's creations! -kd5-
 
kd5 said:
...Roadmarks is quirky but good.... -kd5-
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Roadmarks didn't impress me at all when I first read it 30 years ago. Now, however, it's among my favorite Zelazny novels. It's quirky, yes, and dense, and the structure is knotted and twined like a DNA strand. It reveals more depths every time I reread it. There's a fair amount of poetry presented untranslated; the last time I reread the book I cobbled together translations of the poems, printed them out, and inserted them throughout the book so I could get some sense of how the poems relate to the text. Remarkable.

Not to mention the story and characters are just plain likeable. I think it's a neglected classic.

--Chris DeVito
 
J-Sun said:
I'm far less a fan of the novels than the stories in general. And specifically, in each case where I've read both ("He Who Shapes"/The Dream Master, "Damnation Alley"/Damnation Alley, maybe some other I'm forgetting) the short work is superior to the expansion.
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Connavar said:
Which version Zelazny prefered or which is the better version was what i was wondering.
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ckovacs said:
Zelazny preferred "He Who Shapes" over the expanded The Dream Master, and this is explained in the Notes that accompany the story. He also preferred the novella "Damnation Alley" to the expanded novel version, Damnation Alley.
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Just stumbled over Zelazny's own words available on the web (for those who don't have the books - dunno what they say), from a wikipedia link to something defunct in which Zelazny is being interviewed (I've inserted the "Q" and "A" to make it coherent):

Q: You've said you prefer He Who Shapes to the novel The Dream Master. Why?

A: ...to get it into a novel form frankly, I padded some of the scenes. Aesthetically I don't like that, but at the time there was a lot of money involved which I needed.... I showed it to Damon and he talked to the publisher who said that they didn't like it, the initial description was good, but the novel wasn't. Later on my agent sold it elsewhere...

I did get conned into a similar situation with Damnation Alley, I expanded it and I like the shorter version better. I didn't think much of the film, but I took their money.
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I like the way his taking their money is his getting conned. :D (Though he may be specifically separating that he got conned - by a publisher or agent or something, presumably - into expanding it and then took the movie folks' money when they adapted it.)

And, you can likely discount the fifth novel because it's "the most recent one" and every author's favorite books always include his "most recent one" but, from that interview, Zelazny's own four/five favorite novels are "This Immortal, Lord of Light, Doorways in the Sand, Eye of Cat, and my most recent one, A Night in Lonesome October."

Incidentally, Zelazny also said, when asked about novels vs. stories: "My favourite form is the short story."

Since I seem to mostly agree with his own takes on his own works, it makes me very curious about Doorways in the Sand, especially with it being dedicated to Isaac Asimov. Anyone know why he did that? Seems unlikely.
 
J-Sun said:
I like the way his taking their money is his getting conned. :D (Though he may be specifically separating that he got conned - by a publisher or agent or something, presumably - into expanding it and then took the movie folks' money when they adapted it.)
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Those are two separate things. He felt he was "conned" into expanding the 1967 novella into a novel in order to sell it as a book which Putnam published in 1969. He later quite happily took money from the movie producers when they turned it into a motion picture in 1977. This is all explained in the biography "...AND CALL ME ROGER: THE LITERARY LIFE OF ROGER ZELAZNY" which is published within THE COLLECTED STORIES OF ROGER ZELAZNY VOLS 1-6.

J-Sun said:
Since I seem to mostly agree with his own takes on his own works, it makes me very curious about Doorways in the Sand, especially with it being dedicated to Isaac Asimov. Anyone know why he did that? Seems unlikely.
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Why do you say it seems unlikely? Zelazny dedicated a hard science fiction novel to his friend (a master of hard science fiction) who'd helped him out during a difficult time. Seems the very likely and appropriate thing to do. Again, this is explained in the biography.
 
ckovacs said:
Those are two separate things. He felt he was "conned" into expanding the 1967 novella into a novel in order to sell it as a book which Putnam published in 1969. He later quite happily took money from the movie producers when they turned it into a motion picture in 1977. This is all explained in the biography "...AND CALL ME ROGER: THE LITERARY LIFE OF ROGER ZELAZNY" which is published within THE COLLECTED STORIES OF ROGER ZELAZNY VOLS 1-6.
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Forgot to reply.

I have not and likely will never read that biography. I noted the "con" as a humorous bit of equivocal language (granting a stretch for the effect) and described that likely intended interpretation.

Why do you say it seems unlikely? Zelazny dedicated a hard science fiction novel to his friend (a master of hard science fiction) who'd helped him out during a difficult time. Seems the very likely and appropriate thing to do. Again, this is explained in the biography.
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Again, I have not and likely will never read that biography. In the Asimov biography and stray biographical information I've read I don't recall Zelazny being mentioned so I didn't know they were friends and don't know how Asimov helped him nor out of what difficult time. It would be nice if you could tell me the details on this discussion board.

(Of course, my not remembering Asimov mentioning him counts for little. I recently came across another list of books I've read and it turns out I read Doorways in the Sand about 13 years ago but I have no recollection of it. :()
 
(Of course, my not remembering Asimov mentioning him counts for little. I recently came across another list of books I've read and it turns out I read Doorways in the Sand about 13 years ago but I have no recollection of it. )
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With apologies for thread cross-over, no doubt it got buried by the various and sundry goings-on at Valley Ranch. :p

Which would you swap? Mine do change over the years, as time goes by and rereadings bring out this or that.
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I wish mine only changed over the years. Alas, after "And Call me Conrad"/"This Immortal", mine change like the wind! :rolleyes:
 
From what I've read (in no particular order)

  • Creatures of Light and Darkness
  • The Last Defender of Camelot (anthology)
  • The Changing Land
  • Roadmarks
  • Changeling
  • Madwand
 
Under Novels
Damnation Alley
Jack of Shadows

Under Short stories

The Last Defender of Camelot This story was adapted for the 1980's version of The Twilight Zone.
 
If I had to name my favorite Zelazny books I believe they would be;
Lord Demon
A Night in Lonesome October (gets an annual re-read each October)
Changeling and its sequel Madwand
...not sure about Roadmarks (now scheduled for a re-read).

Enjoy!
 
Happy Joe said:
If I had to name my favorite Zelazny books I believe they would be;
Lord Demon
A Night in Lonesome October (gets an annual re-read each October)
Changeling and its sequel Madwand
...not sure about Roadmarks (now scheduled for a re-read).

Enjoy!
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Interesting to see Lord Demon on your list. I haven't read it. I read Donnerjack and after page 200 Zelazny's usual flair was gone. I also read L. October every year. Love it too.
 
Bigkcman said:
Interesting to see Lord Demon on your list. I haven't read it. I read Donnerjack and after page 200 Zelazny's usual flair was gone. I also read L. October every year. Love it too.
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Re Lonesome October, I'd been doing the annual thing (and read it to Grimlet the Younger night by night one year when she was old enough) as well, but haven't in a while; need to resume that tradition. Re Donnerjack, it's funny you mention that, Bigkcman; I haven't read it in more than a decade, but I also recall really liking it at first and then being ho-hum about the book as it went on. It's said that Jane Lindskold reorganized and re-distributed what Zelazny had written throughout the book, but if so I too think she succeeded in keeping his voice somewhat better early on than later in the book. Maybe I need to read it again?
 
My favorite Zelazny novel would be The Guns of Avalon, followed by A Night in the Lonesome October.

I will say that It's not an easy pick, as Lord of Light is a top read, and Creatures of Light and Darkness is definitely a fun read.
 
olc said:
I like them all, but if I had to pick the best of the best:

Lord of Light
This Immortal
Roadmarks
Doorways in the Sand
Isle of the Dead
Creatures of Light and Darkness
Madwand
Jack of Shadows
amber 1-5

The only book I did not really get into was The Dream Master.

If you have not read Zelazny I would not suggest that you start with Lord of Light (even though it is his best). Start with Amber or This Immortal, or Jack of Shadows.
I read The Changeling first way back in college.
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We agree on "Doorways in the Sand" being the best of the best, but we disagree on The Dream Master, which is my other Zelazny favorite.
 
Add me to the list of The Dream Master fans :) I was working in psychology at the time when I read it so there was an extra layer of interest.
 
Not me, though. The Dream Master is the one book from Zelazny I DNF. That was several decades ago, perhaps I should give it another try.
My Zelazny favorites:
This Immortal
Lord of Light
A Night in the Lonesome October
Doorways in the Sand
Amber
 
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