Imagine a distant world where gods walk as men, but wield vast and hidden powers. Here they have made the stage on which they build a subtle pattern of alliance, love, and deadly enmity. Are they truly immortal? Who are these gods who rule the destiny of a teeming world? Their names include Brahma, Kali, Krishna and also he who was called Buddha, the Lord of Light, but who now prefers to be known simply as Sam. The gradual unfolding of the story -- how the colonization of another planet became a re-enactment of Eastern mythology -- is one of the great imaginative feats of modern science fiction.
--This text refers to an alternate
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In the 1960s, Roger Zelazny dazzled the SF world with what seemed to be inexhaustible talent and inventiveness. Lord of Light, his third novel, is his finest book: a science fantasy in which the intricate, colorful mechanisms of Hindu religion, capricious gods, and repeated reincarnations are wittily underpinned by technology. "For six days he had offered many kilowatts of prayer, but the static kept him from being heard On High." The gods are a starship crew who subdued a colony world; developed godlike--though often machine-enhanced--powers during successive lifetimes of mind transfer to new, cloned bodies; and now lord it over descendants of the ship's mere passengers. Their tyranny is opposed by retired god Sam, who mocks the Celestial City, introduces Buddhism to subvert Hindu dogma, allies himself with the planet's native "demons" against Heaven, fights pyrotechnic battles with bizarre troops and weapons, plays dirty with politics and poison, and dies horribly but won't stay dead. It's a huge, lumbering, magical story, told largely in flashback, full of wonderfully ornate language (and one unforgivable pun) that builds up the luminous myth of trickster Sam, Lord of Light. Essential SF reading. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
Earth is long since dead. On a colony planet, a band of men has gained control of technology, made themselves immortal, and now rules their world as the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Only one dares oppose them: he who was once Siddhartha and is now Mahasamatman. Binder of Demons. Lord of Light.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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HIS FOLLOWERS CALLED HIM MAHASAMATMAN and said he was a god. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By Mark Latour
Format:Paperback
This story is one of my favourites from way long ago when it first came out and I was a hipppie college student who had graduated after doping out dropping acid and flashing back.
It holds up astonishingly well.
I read it again with great pleasure as various people inhabiting the aspects and powers of ancient Hindu gods struggle in a revolution against Heaven.
And Heaven ain't all that heavenly either.
Build up your Karma account and read this one, O you of the 99 percent.
Then revolt against this version of the far future that just might become possible.
Good Karma, this book.
It holds up astonishingly well.
I read it again with great pleasure as various people inhabiting the aspects and powers of ancient Hindu gods struggle in a revolution against Heaven.
And Heaven ain't all that heavenly either.
Build up your Karma account and read this one, O you of the 99 percent.
Then revolt against this version of the far future that just might become possible.
Good Karma, this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Harriet Klausner
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
Humanity defeats the native "energy" beings that populated the orb and establishes a colony on the planet with a Hindu like societal order. Using advanced technology, the crew of the ship transfers their minds into a new body when theirs is near death. They also develop other advances that enable them to form a pantheon with god-like powers. Beneath them are the colonists and even further below in this pyramid of power are the natives. No one bucks the leadership as not only can they technology reincarnate they can convert others into animals.
One of these techno-Gods, preferring to be called Sam rather than Mahasamatman, feels that the mistreatment of others is morally wrong. He thinks that he and his peers should share their technology with the lower strata. His peers insist those beneath them are incapable of dealing with godlike powers and need their hand to guide them. Sam never claimed the mantle and though he hates what he feels he must do, this "fallen angel" leads a revolt against his ruling brothers and sisters as he wants to establish a different world order.
This is a deep science fiction novel with religious and social overtones. The story line is loaded with action, but also takes its time to defend critical arguments set forth by author Roger Zelazny. The cast fosters the concepts of the plot so that development is targeted more towards an idea than a character. Still with all that this is a cerebral tale that will have readers pondering a host of subjects from comparative religions to white man's burden to fostering American style democracy in Iraq, etc. in a clever novel that will require concentration or one will miss a point.
Harriet Klausner
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Kibosh
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Lord of Light is without a doubt, one of the best things I've read (and I've read a LOT, believe me).
I highly recommend this great masterpiece to every serious Sci-Fi/Fantasy fan out there, along with Gibson's Neuromancer, Orwell's 1984, Herbert's Dune (1-6), Harrison's The Hammer and The Cross trilogy - ones of the best novels ever written.
I highly recommend this great masterpiece to every serious Sci-Fi/Fantasy fan out there, along with Gibson's Neuromancer, Orwell's 1984, Herbert's Dune (1-6), Harrison's The Hammer and The Cross trilogy - ones of the best novels ever written.
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4.7 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Psychedelicized Gita
Sorry but I just can't quite jump on the bandwagon behind this novel. I know I shouldn't be second-guessing a "classic" - and this book does deserve this consideration... Read more
Published on Jun 15 2004 by doomsdayer520
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lord of the Fantastic
Zelasny walked the thin line between Fantasy and SF probably better that any one. This book shows this like no other. Read more
Published on May 29 2004 by Angel Rapallo
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hi re-read value
The other reviewers pretty much said it all about this book, which justly deserves its 5 out of 5 stars. Read more
Published on April 11 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fading Echo
This turned out to be Zelazny's masterpiece. It wasn't supposed to be that way--Zelazny was the '60s version of the guy who was going to hoist SF into the artistic empyrean. Read more
Published on April 4 2004 by JR Dunn
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dense but Fascinating Exploration of Power
Zelazny successfully weaves a tale of the far-future in which a form of quasi-immortality is achieved by transferring one's mind to new bodies. Read more
Published on Mar 25 2004 by "jradoff"
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sam, the eternal rebel
I've always considered "Lord of Light" (1967) one of the hardest of Zelazny's SF novels to follow. The story line weaves and doubles back upon itself. Read more
Published on Mar 8 2004 by E. A. Lovitt
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not to be contrary, but...
This book didn't grab me as much as I had expected. The description I got was of a thought-provoking look at religion from the perspective of technology; gods being simply highly... Read more
Published on Feb 16 2004 by Casual reader
5.0 out of 5 stars
Difficult but incredibly rewarding classic
This Hugo award-winning science fiction classic turns the usual technological approach to the genre on its head. Read more
Published on Feb 2 2004 by Claude Avary
2.0 out of 5 stars
poorly written and confusing
This book has an interesting premise. People have become Hindu gods. They can re-incarnate themselves. Read more
Published on Jan 25 2004 by Anne B.
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Amazing Work of Science Fiction
This book is the finest example of what Roger Zelazny did best: synthesize fantasy and reality into something truly breathtaking in scope. Read more
Published on Jan 21 2004 by M. S. MAYFIELD
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