![]() ![]() Most of the main characters have several different names and titles, which are bandied about interchangeably– and that’s before you get into stuff like reincarnation and body-switching and so on. Describing the novel this way makes it sound straightforward, but Lord of Light is anything but. They’re basically the kind of demi-godlike beings that pop up on every third episode of Star Trek.Įnter Sam, one of the “First” colonists, who opposes the Gods and seeks to tear them down from Heaven, so that he can share the amazing technology they use with the rest of the planet. ![]() Zelazny really leans into the whole “science as magic” idea, as Lord of Light is set on a planet ruled by a cadre of people who have set themselves up as Hindu Gods, complete with reincarnation and names like Shiva, Kali, Ganesh, etc. Silence, though, could.Īs Clarke’s Law goes, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Lord of Light was actually written before Clarke came up with the pithy term, but it’s a sentiment that’s pervaded science fiction ever since the dawn of the genre. Neither admission could be of any benefit. ![]() But then, he never claimed not to be a god. He preferred to drop the Maha- and the -atman, however, and called himself Sam. His Followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god. The first paragraph of the first chapter sums up the plot and tone of the book pretty well. ![]() Lord of Light is a weird novel, in the best of ways. ![]()
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