This Immortal [Paperback]

If I were to pick a single science fiction author who was the essence of speculative fiction in the 1960's it would be Roger Zelazny. And while he continued to produce quality work, it was this period when both his quality and his intensity were at a peak that few authors ever reach. This Immortal (AKA Call Me Conrad) is his first novel (closely tied with The Dream Master). It remains a masterpiece four decades after winning a Hugo award and in many ways it defined the themes that haunted Zelazny's writing for years to come.

Zelazny is fascinated with a certain form of divinity - not the kind that 'is and has always been,' but with intelligent creatures that somehow 'graduate' from a more normal, mundane state. In this novel the hero is Conrad Nimikos, a Greek, born on Christmas Eve, one leg shorter than the other, and altogether too much hair. In Greek terms, he was one of the kallikanzaroi, mischievous satyrs who exist to irritate both the human and the divine. Zelazny never tells us how old Nimikos is, but he has lived long enough to have had several names and seen the Earth suffer a nuclear war and start to pick up the pieces.

We were saved by the intervention of the Vegans who helped relocate the remnants of Earth's population throughout space and saw to the survival of those who chose to remain. This was a mixed blessing, since the Vegans seems to want to turn Earth into a resort. Nimikos fought that eventuality (under another name) but has merged into the current social framework as the caretaker of the world's antiquities and treasures. Recently married, he is called from semi-retirement to be the guide for a Vegan journalist who might be writing a book, or looking for better places to put a resort, or something equally nefarious. This will be an ill-starred journey, with many wishing Cort Myshtigo (the Vegan) a quick and unpleasant end, as they travel over a world both barren and beautiful, where danger can take epic proportions.

And that's the trick of this particular book. Nimikos no sooner leaves his beloved Cassandra when we realize that this is an Odyssey we have been invited on, and everywhere we look Greek legends will appear just in time to cause unexpected torments and provide opportunities for Herculean efforts. Even though this is a story told in wry fashion, Zelazny manages to use it to explore the meaning of grief. Sorrow for lost friends, loved ones, and an abiding sense of loss for an Earth that at the time of its writing was only showing faint glimmerings of it's future challenges. This is a poignant book where Zelazny manages an exquisite balance between attitude and affection.

Small wonder that the book has been in print since its writing. Or that a host of other writers will confess to having been influenced by it. The layering of action, myth, and symbol that became a Zelazny hallmark began with this story. And it is hardly an insult to say while many of his books are as good there are none that are clearly better (well, I do have a soft spot for Isle of the Dead).

Humans have reason to hate themselves even more than they hate the Vegans. The Vegans are basically tourists, lingering among the ruins of the last non-radioactive territories on Earth. The historical Three Days of War occurred between human and human, or rather between dirty bomb and dirty bomb. The back cover of "This Immortal" ironically states "Welcome to Earth (Pop. 60,000)." (Later in the text, we learn that Earth's population is more like four million).

"This Immortal" (1966) was Zelazny's first SF novel, and it shared the Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel of the Year with Frank Herbert's "Dune," so it is no lightweight post-Apocalypse adventure story. In fact, I think the best way to understand "This Immortal" is to read Lawrence Durrell's chronicles of the Greek Isles, most especially "Prospero's Cell" and "Reflections on a Marine Venus"---or better yet, read Percy Shelley's "Prometheus Unbound," which is referred to more than once in this novel.

Like Shelley's Prometheus, Zelazny's hero, Conrad Nimikos is mankind's potential savior. Like Prometheus, he suffers and almost self-destructs in trying to save his chosen people (the humans who remained on Earth). Instead of stealing fire from the gods, he sets out to steal back Earth from the Vegans.

At an earlier stage in his career (nobody knows quite how old he might be), Nimikos was a terrorist. Now he has lost some of his destructive impulse (his hubris), and sets out to protect the Vegan, Cort Myshtigo in order to discover the alien's true purpose in touring Earth's remaining monuments.

The real mystery of "This Immortal" is not so much the Vegans' intentions toward Earth as it is the true identity of Conrad Nomikos. His mistress, Cassandra playfully refers to him as a 'kallikanzaros' (this is where I had to refer to my Durrell), which a Greek term for a little cloven-hooved satyr, who causes mischief of every kind. Conrad is a huge man, superhumanly strong, but he is also incredibly ugly and walks with a limp.

Did he at one time have a cloven hoof?

Like the kallikanzaros, Conrad is a trickster, and deceives Vegans and humans alike into thinking his previous incarnation, the terrorist leader 'Karaghiosis,' has died in a boating accident.

Once more turning to Durrell, we learn that 'Karaghiosis' is a stock character in Greek drama--in fact, "the embodiment of Greek character...based on the idea of the impoverished and downtrodden little man getting the better of the world around him by sheer cunning. Add to this the salt of a self-deprecating humour and you have the immortal Greek."

So Nomikos-Karaghiosis-Prometheus is the embodiment of 'the immortal Greek,' who might or might not be--according to a hint at novel's end, plus references to the kallikanzaros--the Great God, Pan.

Conrad himself refers to "Prometheus Unbound" as "Percy B's dud epic," but then, all of Zelazny's heroes tend to be self-deprecating.

Zelazny has succeeded in capturing the spirit of a people and place in "This Immortal." I think his Hugo was well-deserved.

This Immortal is a novel set on post-apocalyptic Earth sometime well into the future. The Earth's total population is around 4 million souls-an apt term as a sizable portion of those left are "mutants" of on sort or another. Conrad Nomikos, the protagonist of the novel has a particularly interesting mutation-he's several hundred years old and, insofar as he can tell, an immortal.

The bulk of the population wasn't killed off in the war-they've emigrated to other planets. What few choice locations are left on earth are owned by an alien race-the Vegans-much despised by those left on the planet.

Nomikos "leads" a movement called the Returnist's-folks who want people to move back so that earthlings can reclaim their planet from the Vegans. "Leads" is in quotes as Conrad would rather be sailing and, while he actually sympathizes with Returnist goals in general, he nevertheless has very ambivalent feeling about the Vegans in general.

Pressed into service as a guide for a very influential Vegan touring the planet, Conrad is buffeted by several forces pulling at him in different directions. Not sure what's going on, he set's out to try to keep the Vegan alive while he tries to get at what he's up to. Needless to say, from here on out the stuff is pretty much always hitting the fan, so to speak.

This was Zelazny's first major novel. It is a truly great concept and the overall execution is well done-but it is a first effort. The characterizations are uneven. The story rambles a bit in places, the ending's a bit weak. Nevertheless, the genius that would later dominate the sci-fi world is clearly in evidence here, and my opinion is that to truly appreciate Zelazny's place in sci-fi history, you absolutely need to start here. It wont be his best work you'll read, but it is an essential work. And, on the whole, it's still a classic and a very good story.

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