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SFReader Forums > Authors > G. W. Thomas > GW's Pick of the Day - Dec 12 - Roger Zelazny

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gwthomas21
Forum Moderator

Date Joined Sep 2004
Total Posts : 941

Posted 12/12/2007 11:08 PM (GMT -4)

I'm currently re-reading the second Fuzzy novel by H. Beam Piper and DILVISH THE DAMNED (1982) at the same time. Roger Zelazny's early Sword & Sorcery is an uneven but thoroughly enjoyable book. Tales like "The Bells of Shoredan" and "Passage to Dilfar" are classic while others like "The Knight of Merytha" and "A City Divided" seem like something from a high school notebook. I see the influence of Lord Dunsany in "Passage to Dilfar". Like reading early Joe R. Lansdale, I get this cool feeling like the Dilvish stories are something I might have written in another life.

GW

G. W. Thomas has appeared in over 350 different books, magazines and ezines including Writer's Digest, The Armchair Detective and Black October Magazine. He draws the web comic CHUCK THE PENGUIN. His website is www.gwthomas.org

Dragon Angel
Lord Dragon

Date Joined Sep 2004
Total Posts : 1066

Posted 12/13/2007 12:21 AM (GMT -4)

What's funny is, didn't he already have awards for his writing when he wrote those short stories?

read free fiction and poetry at http://www.geocities.com/davidolson22/index.html

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gwthomas21
Forum Moderator

Date Joined Sep 2004
Total Posts : 941

Posted 12/13/2007 1:03 AM (GMT -4)

I don't know. They feel like they were really early stuff. They might not have been published until he was bigger though.

GW

che2000
doc caliban

Date Joined Oct 2006
Total Posts : 436

Posted 12/13/2007 8:30 AM (GMT -4)

I love the Dilvish stories - they have a certain naive charm about them and Black is one of the great fantasy creations.

"It's Doctor Evil, I didn't spend six years in Evil Medical School to be called "mister," thank you very much."

JReynolds
Stablehand

Date Joined Apr 2007
Total Posts : 13

Posted 12/13/2007 6:13 PM (GMT -4)

Man, does that bring back memories. I still have a dog-eared old DILVISH paperback I picked up from some place. Very cool stories, though I've always regretted we never got a proper ending.

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gwthomas21
Forum Moderator

Date Joined Sep 2004
Total Posts : 941

Posted 12/13/2007 7:49 PM (GMT -4)

Isn't the ending in THE CHANGING LAND, the novel sequel?

GW

Dragon Angel
Lord Dragon

Date Joined Sep 2004
Total Posts : 1066

Posted 12/14/2007 12:39 PM (GMT -4)

That's what I recall. He does finally meet the dude who killed him.

read free fiction and poetry at http://www.geocities.com/davidolson22/index.html

Part dark, part light. And gooey in the middle.

MichaelEhart
Sage

Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 2315

Posted 12/14/2007 3:22 PM (GMT -4)

There is no other way for me to say this--- my favorite spec writer ever is Roger Zelazny. Heinlein hooked me, Vance opened my eyes to huge horizons, but Zelazny spoke directly to me. He could be light, dense, profound and thrilling in the same story. No flashy writer tricks, just clean, sharp, straight-forward prose and a wry outlook that still kept a sense of wonder stored away in the back to be trotted out at just the right moment. His concepts, characters, and pacing were immaculate.
The passing of a writer I have enjoyed (unless I know them) seldom moves me other than the selfish thought that I won't get to read any more of their stuff. The three exceptions were Heinlein, Patrick O'Brien, and Roger Zelazny. With Heinlein I knew I would miss his voice, with O'Brien it was knowing that I would never again see my old friends of decades, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. With Zelazny it was like losing part of the light in the room.
Dilvish was not my favorite, though he was certainly well-drawn and unusual. It might be time, though, to start back through Zelazny.

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The Servant of the Manthycore available Nov. 17th from DEP

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Read me in 2007!

"The View From the Shotglass Floor" Ray Gun Revival, Feb 2007

"Voice of the Spoiler" The Sword Review, June 2007

"Servant of the Manthycore" The Sword Review, July 2007

"Darkling I Listen; and for Many a Time" Fear and Trembling, coming soon!

"Weaving Spiders Come Not Here" The Sword Review, August 2007

"Six Zombies Doing That Mick Jagger Strut" Damned in Dixie, Summer 2007

"Nothing But Our Tears" The Sword Review, September 2007

"Night of Shadows, Night of Knives" Magic and Mechanica, Fall 2007

"The Scarlet Colored Beast" The Sword Review, October 2007

"The Stars by Law, Forbidden" Unparalleled Journeys II, November 2007

"Who Comes for the Mother's Fruit" Every Day Fiction, November 2007

"Stand, Stand, Shall They Cry" Flashing Swords, November 2007

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Dragon Angel
Lord Dragon

Date Joined Sep 2004
Total Posts : 1066

Posted 12/14/2007 4:53 PM (GMT -4)

I'm a big fan too, though every once in a while I felt like he was being lazy or got bored of the book.

read free fiction and poetry at http://www.geocities.com/davidolson22/index.html

Part dark, part light. And gooey in the middle.

che2000
doc caliban

Date Joined Oct 2006
Total Posts : 436

Posted 12/14/2007 5:20 PM (GMT -4)

A Rose for Ecclesiastes, The Engine At HeartSpring's Centre, The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth all rank among my favourite stories.

I was generally less enamoured of his novels, though, with the exception of Lord of Light, which is quite breathtaking and Damnation Alley which I regard as something of a guilty pleasure (right up there with Spinrad's magnificent The Men In The Jungle).

"It's Doctor Evil, I didn't spend six years in Evil Medical School to be called "mister," thank you very much."

Dragon Angel
Lord Dragon

Date Joined Sep 2004
Total Posts : 1066

Posted 12/16/2007 12:07 AM (GMT -4)

Is it better than the movie? That was not even a good B movie, in my opinion.

read free fiction and poetry at http://www.geocities.com/davidolson22/index.html

Part dark, part light. And gooey in the middle.

che2000
doc caliban

Date Joined Oct 2006
Total Posts : 436

Posted 12/16/2007 12:59 PM (GMT -4)

Damnation Alley is a fun read, miles above the abomination that is the Jan-Michael Vincent movie. It's probably true to say though that the novel is not typical Zelazny - lightweight popcorn stuff, but still great fun.

"It's Doctor Evil, I didn't spend six years in Evil Medical School to be called "mister," thank you very much."

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