Written by: Roger Zelazny
First line: It is said that fifty-three years after his
liberation, he returned from the golden cloud to take up once again the
gauntlet of heaven, to oppose the Order of Life and the gods who ordained it
so.
Why you should read this book: This Hugo winner from the
1960s more or less stands the test of time, telling the story of Sam, an
unassuming but determined figure who places himself in opposition to Heaven itself. In
the distant future, on a distant planet, human technology has advanced to the
point that some people claim for themselves not on the powers, but also the
identities of gods: the gods of the Hindu pantheon, to be specific. With
devices so advanced as to be indistinguishable from magic, they rule over their
world, until Sam rises again to offer men and woman another way, and to wage
war against those who would hold back progress from the masses.
Why you shouldn’t read this book: As with much of Zelazny’s
work, some of his experimental writing techniques can make the story difficult
to follow; characters constantly change names, bodies, and genders; scenes begin in media res
with minimal identifiers to situate the reader; and a foundation in Vedic
mythology is necessary to tease out Zelazny’s source from his invention, little
of which is explicitly defined in the text.
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