"Lord of Light"

Lord of Light (Roger Zelazny)

I thought this book was great - imaginative, overflowing with ideas, and reading as strikingly modern for a book that came out in 1967. The basic plot is... you know, this is one of those books you might want to just read; Zelazny introduces a lush setting that sounds kind of silly compressed to a paragraph, but here goes:
The book's story is a conflict between a group of colonists from Earth who have anointed themselves gods and rule over a planet with advanced technology indistinguishable from magic, and our hero Sam, who struggles against them in the guise of the Buddha. I can't really say more except that this is a wonderful read. My only caveat is that the book's structure is a little strange - the book kicks off with Sam being summoned down from a radiation belt, which is actually almost the endpoint of the story told in the book. After one flashback it goes into a linear narrative that barely goes past this beginning point before the story is over, which did leave me a little confused (although I more chalk that up to reading this while being sick and in a daze). All in all, this book is a gem, and you shouldn't miss it.

Grade: A