Roger Zelazny

Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels. He won the Nebula award three times and the Hugo award six times, including twice for novels: the novella ...And Call Me Conrad (1966), subsequently published as the novel This Immortal, and the novel Lord of Light (1968).

Biography

Zelazny was born in Euclid, Ohio, the only child of Polish immigrant Joseph Frank Zelazny (Żelazny) and Irish-American Josephine Sweet. In high school, Roger Zelazny was the editor of the school newspaper and joined the Creative Writing Club. In the fall of 1955, he began attending Western Reserve University and graduated with a B.A. in English in 1959. He was accepted to Columbia University in New York and specialized in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, graduating with a M.A. in 1962.

Zelazny had a rare gift for conceiving and portraying worlds with plausible magic systems, powers, and supernatural beings. His captivating descriptions of the nuts and bolts of magical workings in his imagined worlds set his fantasy writing apart from otherwise similar authors. His science fiction was highly influenced by mythology, poetry, including the French, British, and American classics of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and by wisecracking detective fiction. His novels and short stories often involved characters from myth, depicted in the modern world.

Zelazny was considered one of the leading lights of the "New Wave" movement in science fiction, which changed the face of the genre in the 1960s. He incorporated elements from literary novels of the mainstream into his fiction, and experimented with allusion, lyricism, and mythic imagery. The mythological traditions his fiction borrowed from include:

Classical Greek mythology, in This Immortal
Native American mythology, in Eye of Cat
Hindu mythology, in Lord of Light
Egyptian mythology, in Creatures of Light and Darkness
and even (on a more humourous note) Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos in A Night in the Lonesome October

Additionally, elements from Norse mythology, Japanese mythology and history, and numerous other traditions appear in works such as The Chronicles of Amber and "24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai".

A frequent theme is gods or people who become gods. Another recurrent theme is the "absent father" (or father-figure). This occurs most notably in the Amber novels, in the first series of which Corwin searches for his absent, god-like father Oberon, while in the second series it is Corwin himself who is the absent father. The theme also recurs in Roadmarks and Doorways in the Sand (in the latter, the main character's parents are dead but his uncle fills the role of the "absent father").

He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), a loose-knit group Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies.

Zelazny died in 1995 of complications due to cancer.

Experimental novels and unpublished sketches

Zelazny often experimented with form in his novels. The novel Doorways in the Sand practices a flashback technique in which most chapters open with a scene, typically involving peril, not implied by the end of the previous chapter. Once the scene is established, the narrator backtracks to the events leading up to it, then follows through to the end of the chapter, whereupon the next chapter jumps ahead to another dramatic non-sequitur.

In Roadmarks, a novel about a highway that links all times and possible histories, the chapters that feature the narrator are all titled "One". Other chapters, titled "Two", feature secondary characters, including original characters, pulp heroes, and real people. The "One" storyline is fairly linear, but the "Two" storyline jumps around in time and sequence.

He also tended to write a short fragment, not intended for publication, as a kind of backstory for a major character, as a way of giving that character a life independent of the particular novel being worked on. At least one "fragment" was published, the short story "Dismal Light", originally a backstory for Isle of the Dead's Francis Sandow. Sandow himself figures little in "Dismal Light", the main character being his son, who is delaying his escape from an unstable star system in order to force his distant father to come in and ask him personally. While Isle of the Dead has Sandow living a life of irresponsible luxury as an escape from his personal demons, "Dismal Light" anchors his character as one who will face up to his responsibilites, however reluctantly.

Bibliography

Amber novels

While his earlier works won greater critical acclaim, Zelazny is probably best known for the Amber novels. These fall into two distinct series of novels, together with a set of short stories.

The first five books describe the adventures of Prince Corwin of Amber:

The second series tells the story of Corwin's son Merlin (Merle), a wizard and computer expert. These volumes are:

Zelazny also wrote several short stories set in the Amber multiverse. These include:

1993 "Prologue to Trumps of Doom"
1994 "The Salesman's Tale"
1994 "The Shroudling and The Guisel"
1995 "Coming to a Cord"
1995 "Blue Horse, Dancing Mountains"
1996 "Hall of Mirrors"

All except the first of these short stories form one tale, taking place after Prince of Chaos.

John Betancourt has written a series of novels set in the Amber multiverse. Betancourt's series tells the story of Corwin's father Oberon, a wizard and shapeshifter. It is set several centuries before Nine Princes in Amber. That the Zelazny estate authorized the series has caused some controversy; see The Chronicles of Amber for more details.

An interactive fiction computer game based on Nine Princes in Amber was released by Telarium in 1987. The Amber novels also inspired a role-playing game, Amber Diceless Roleplaying, published by Phage Press. The game is distinctive in that it suggests that storytellers ignore or alter any rule as they see fit.

Other books

The Dream Master (1966) (an expansion of the novella He Who Shapes (1965) which was reprinted in Science Fiction Origins (1980), ISBN 0-445-04626-0)
Lord of Light (1967) (Hugo Award winner, 1968)
...And Call Me Conrad (also known as This Immortal) (1968) (Hugo Award winner, 1966)
Creatures of Light and Darkness (1969)
Isle of the Dead (1969)
Damnation Alley (1969) (also a film)
Jack of Shadows (1971)
Today We Choose Faces (1973)
To Die in Italbar (1973) (a sequel to Isle of the Dead)
Doorways in the Sand (1976)
Bridge of Ashes (1976)
Deus Irae (1976) (with Philip K. Dick)
Roadmarks (1979)
Changeling (1981)
Madwand (1981) (a sequel to Changeling)
The Changing Land (1981)
Dilvish, the Damned (1982) (a story collection with the same main character as The Changing Land)
Eye of Cat (1982)
The Black Throne (1990) (with Fred Saberhagen)
A Night in the Lonesome October (1993) (illustrated by Gahan Wilson)
The Mask of Loki (with Thomas T. Thomas).
The Millennial Contest series (with Robert Sheckley):
- Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming (1991)
- If at Faust You Don't Succeed (1993)
- A Farce to Be Reckoned With (1995)
Flare (1992) (with Thomas Timoux Thomas)

Two books were published as collaborations with his companion, novelist Jane Lindskold, after Zelazny's death:

Donnerjack (1997)
Lord Demon (1999)

Also, the adventure game Chronomaster (developed by DreamForge Intertainment, published by IntraCorp in 1996) was designed by Zelazny and Jane Lindskold (who also finished it after his death).

Collections

Four for Tomorrow (1967, 1991)
The Doors of His Face, The Lamp of His Mouth, and Other Stories (1971, 1974, 2005)
My Name is Legion (1976)
The Illustrated Roger Zelazny (1979)
The Last Defender of Camelot (1980, 1983, 1988, 2002, 2005)
Dilvish, the Damned (1982, 1986, 1993)
Unicorn Variations (1983)
Frost & Fire (1989)
Manna from Heaven (2004)

Zelazny was also a contributor to the Wild Cards shared world anthology series, following the exploits of his character Croyd Crenson, the Sleeper.

Following Zelazny's death, a tribute anthology entitled Lord of the Fantastic was released, which featured stories inspired by Zelazny, and personal recollections by contributors such as Robert Silverberg, Walter Jon Williams, Gregory Benford and many others.

Trivia

The ostracod Sclerocypris zelaznyi was named after him.
His book Nine Princes in Amber was used as a major inspiration for the classic computer game Torment developed by Black Isle Studios.

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Roger Zelazny