Lord of Light - Roger Zelazney
Created | Updated Feb 7, 2007
Roger Zelazney’s novel Lord of Light was first published in 1968, so you may not be familiar with it. That aside, this science fiction epic should is well worth reading.
Overview
“Lord of Light” is the story of Sam, who seeks to oppose the gods and bring down the Celestial City of Heaven. He taught the Way of the Eightfold Path, preaching to all that came to him thereby gaining many followers. He was variously known as; The Enlightened One, Mahsamatam, Siddhartha, Lord of Light, Kalkin Tathagatha, Manjusri, Budda and Sam.
The story is set long after the end of the Earth and begins with a colonizing spaceship made up of crew and colonists. Once a suitable planet was found, the crew kept secret the current technology from the colonists and took control of it for their own purposes. They created the Celestial City soley for themselves where they now live in all-concievable luxury. They rule over the colonists as gods of the Hindu pantheon, each with his or her own Attribute of godlike power. A final battle of religious ideals will take place, which will determine the fate of the Order that has been set up.
Content
This book mixes a blend of sci-fi and fantasy in an insightful manner. There’s heaps of different stuff in this book that works well together to produce something like a cross between Lord of the Rings, Kingdom of Heaven and Samurai Jack (little known pop-culture reference).
On one hand there is the futuristic element. This involves high-powered gadgetry, giving rise to the godlike powers. This parallels very well with the notion of divine magic. Then at the same time the common people live in the age of the Reinaissance. This paints a vibrant picture of cities with bustling markets and old harbours. Some nice touches are the pray-o-mats and the demon repellent, which add to the whole quazi-futuristic feel.
There is a strong religious aspect to the story where the religion of ordinary people follows that of contemporary Hinduism. The story universe seemlessly ties the religious beliefs with the technology. For instance when it is time for someone to receive a new body (reincarnation), his karmic record determines the caste of his next body. The lowest caste would be an animal and the highest is a god. This process is ascribed a divine nature by the ordinary people so that they are hiden from the true workings of the technology. The book is littered with quotes from Hindu and Buddist texts such as the lyrical Upanishads. The Bible even gets a mention. This all adds to the profound style of writing.
Finally, the fantasy element is made evident by the presence of flying spirits called the Rakasha (originate from Hindu texts). Furthermore, some of the powers of the “gods” seem unaccountable by technology such as Yama’s death stare and Sam’s capability of “electrodirection”.
Summary
This book is persuasive in its religious doctrines and ideology, making it hard to draw a line between what is true and what is not. Above all the characters have an ineffiable cool about them, as they are neither lofty nor single-minded.
So you have to read this you see. After all, what more could you ask for than Buddist monks, old sea captains, sleek aircraft, flying spirits, a fire wand and an army of zombies all in the same book!
Overview
“Lord of Light” is the story of Sam, who seeks to oppose the gods and bring down the Celestial City of Heaven. He taught the Way of the Eightfold Path, preaching to all that came to him thereby gaining many followers. He was variously known as; The Enlightened One, Mahsamatam, Siddhartha, Lord of Light, Kalkin Tathagatha, Manjusri, Budda and Sam.
The story is set long after the end of the Earth and begins with a colonizing spaceship made up of crew and colonists. Once a suitable planet was found, the crew kept secret the current technology from the colonists and took control of it for their own purposes. They created the Celestial City soley for themselves where they now live in all-concievable luxury. They rule over the colonists as gods of the Hindu pantheon, each with his or her own Attribute of godlike power. A final battle of religious ideals will take place, which will determine the fate of the Order that has been set up.
Content
This book mixes a blend of sci-fi and fantasy in an insightful manner. There’s heaps of different stuff in this book that works well together to produce something like a cross between Lord of the Rings, Kingdom of Heaven and Samurai Jack (little known pop-culture reference).
On one hand there is the futuristic element. This involves high-powered gadgetry, giving rise to the godlike powers. This parallels very well with the notion of divine magic. Then at the same time the common people live in the age of the Reinaissance. This paints a vibrant picture of cities with bustling markets and old harbours. Some nice touches are the pray-o-mats and the demon repellent, which add to the whole quazi-futuristic feel.
There is a strong religious aspect to the story where the religion of ordinary people follows that of contemporary Hinduism. The story universe seemlessly ties the religious beliefs with the technology. For instance when it is time for someone to receive a new body (reincarnation), his karmic record determines the caste of his next body. The lowest caste would be an animal and the highest is a god. This process is ascribed a divine nature by the ordinary people so that they are hiden from the true workings of the technology. The book is littered with quotes from Hindu and Buddist texts such as the lyrical Upanishads. The Bible even gets a mention. This all adds to the profound style of writing.
Finally, the fantasy element is made evident by the presence of flying spirits called the Rakasha (originate from Hindu texts). Furthermore, some of the powers of the “gods” seem unaccountable by technology such as Yama’s death stare and Sam’s capability of “electrodirection”.
Summary
This book is persuasive in its religious doctrines and ideology, making it hard to draw a line between what is true and what is not. Above all the characters have an ineffiable cool about them, as they are neither lofty nor single-minded.
So you have to read this you see. After all, what more could you ask for than Buddist monks, old sea captains, sleek aircraft, flying spirits, a fire wand and an army of zombies all in the same book!
