Roger Zelazny

Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 - June 14, 1995) was a United States 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: Lord of Light (1968) and ...And Call Me Conrad (1966) (which was later published as This Immortal).

Zelazny was born in Euclid, Ohio, an only child of Josephine Sweet and Joseph Frank Zelazny (Żelazny). His father had emigrated from Poland when he was a young man and met Josephine Sweet in Chicago. 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. A frequent theme is gods or people who become gods. His novels and short stories often involved characters from classical myth, depicted in the modern world.

He was a prolific writer and, with the exception of the Amber novels (and the related pairs Changeling/Madwand, Isle of the Dead/To Die in Italbar, and Dilvish the Damned/The Changing Land), created a completely new setting for each book.

Contents

1 Amber novels 2 Other significant books 3 Collections 4 External links

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; the second series is widely perceived as being of markedly lesser quality than the first.

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

• 1970 Nine Princes in Amber
• 1972 The Guns of Avalon
• 1975 Sign of the Unicorn
• 1976 The Hand of Oberon
• 1978 The Courts of Chaos

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

• 1985 Trumps of Doom
• 1986 Blood of Amber
• 1987 Sign of Chaos
• 1989 Knight of Shadows
• 1991 Prince of Chaos

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 players ignore or alter any rule as they see fit.

Other significant books

• The Dream Master (an expansion of the novella He Who Shapes) (1966)
• Lord of Light (1967) (Hugo Award winner, 1968)
• Creatures of Light and Darkness (1969)
• Isle of the Dead (1969)
• Damnation Alley (1969) (also a film)
• Jack of Shadows (1971)
• Doorways in the Sand (1976)
• Deus Irae (1976) (with Philip K. Dick)
• Roadmarks (1979)
• Changeling (1981)
• Madwand (1981)
• The Changing Land (1981)
• 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 Millennium 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)

Eye of Cat was arguably the last of his best work, though A Night in the Lonesome October has many admirers. Later collaborative works appear to be primarily the work of the other author. Two books were published as collaborations with his companion, novelist Jane Lindskold, after Zelazny's death:

• Donnerjack (1997)
• Lord Demon (1999)

Collections

• Dilvish the Damned
• The Last Defender of Camelot (1980)
• Frost & Fire (1989)
• The Doors of His Face, The Lamp of HIs Mouth, and Other Stories (1971)
• Unicorn Variations (1983)
• Four for Tomorrow (1967)
• My Name is Legion (1976)
• Manna From Heaven (2004)
• The Illustrated Roger Zelazny

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, many of them sequels to his works.

External links

• Phage Press (http://www.phagepress.com/)
• Roger Zelazny Page (http://zelazny.corrupt.net)
• Zelazny & Amber (http://www.roger-zelazny.com)
• Template:Isfdb namebg:Роджър Зелазни

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