Comprehensive information and links about Roger Zelazny

Roger Zelazny (May 13, 1937 - June 14, 1995) was a 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:

Biography

Zelazny was born in Euclid, Ohio, an only child of Josephine Sweet and Joseph Frank Zelazny (). His father had emigrated from Poland when he was a young man and met Irish-American Josephine Sweet in Chicago, Illinois. 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 deions 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. His novels and short stories often involved characters from myth, depicted in the modern world.

Zelazny was considered one of the leading lights of the "New Wave" movement in science fiction, which changed the face of the genre in the 1960s. He incorporated elements from literary novels of the mainstream into his fiction, and experimented with allusion, lyricism, and mythic imagery. The mythological traditions his fiction borrowed from include:

Additionally, elements from Norse mythology, Japanese mythology and history, and numerous other traditions appear in works such as and "24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai".

A frequent theme is gods or people who become gods. Another recurrent theme is the "absent father" (or father-figure). This occurs most notably in the Amber novels, in the first series of which Corwin searches for his absent, god-like father Oberon, while in the second series it is Corwin himself who is the absent father. However, the theme also recurs in (in the latter, the main character's parents are dead but his uncle fills the role of the "absent father").

He was a prolific writer and, with the exception of the Amber novels (and the related pairs ), created a completely new setting for each book.

He was also a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), a loose-knit group Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's

While his earlier works won greater critical acclaim, Zelazny is probably best known for the Amber novels. These fall into two distinct series of novels, together with a set of short stories.

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

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

John Betancourt has written a series of novels set in the Amber multiverse. Betancourt's series tells the story of Corwin's father Oberon, a wizard and shapeshifter. It is set several centuries before . That the Zelazny estate authorized the series has caused some controversy; see The Chronicles of Amber for more details.

An interactive fiction computer game based on , published by Phage Press. The game is distinctive in that it suggests that storytellers ignore or alter any rule as they see fit.

Two books were published as collaborations with his companion, novelist Jane Lindskold, after Zelazny's death:

(developed by DreamForge Intertainment, published by IntraCorp in 1996) was designed by Zelazny and Jane Lindskold (who also finished it after his death).

Experimental novels and unpublished sketches

Zelazny was in the habit of writing novels purely as experiments in form. This category includes , both of which use unconventional narratives. He also tended to write a short fragment, not intended for publication, as a kind of backstory for a major character, as a way of giving that character life independent of the particular novel being worked on.

The novel practices a flashback technique, in which most chapters open with a scene not implied by the end of the previous chapter, typically involving peril. Once the scene is established, the narrator backtracks to the events leading up to it, then follows through to the end of the chapter, whereupon the next chapter jumps ahead to another dramatic , the central theme is time travel using a highway that links all times and all possible histories. The narrator, Red Dorakeen, runs guns to the Greeks at Marathon, trying to secure their victory over the Persians, which in his timeline did not occur. He is featured in chapters all titled "One". Other chapters, all titled "Two", feature secondary characters. These are Red's natural son Randy, newly introduced to the Road; a bevy of would-be assassins attempting to kill Red, some of whom are comic references to pulp heroes like Doc Savage, or real people, including Adolf Hitler; and Leila, a woman whose fate is bound to Red's in mysterious ways. The "One" storyline is fairly linear, but the "Two" storyline jumps around in time and sequence, first bringing in Randy and Leila without introduction, then later showing Randy's introduction to the Road and meeting with Leila, who has just abandoned Red following an incident in the "One" timeline. All comes clear in the final chapter, however.

At least one "fragment" was published, as the short story "Dismal Light". It was originally a backstory for the character Francis Sandow, who actually figures very little in it, the main character being his son who is delaying his escape from an unstable star system in order to force his distant father to come in and ask him personally. Sandow's main story, Isle of the Dead, has him living a life of irresponsible luxury as an escape from his personal demons. "Dismal Light" anchors his character as one who will face up to his responsibilites, however reluctantly, which is echoed in the development of Isle of the Dead.

Zelazny was also a contributor to the Wild Cards shared world anthology series, following the exploits of his character Croyd Crenson, the Sleeper.

was released, which featured stories inspired by Zelazny, and personal recollections by contributors such as Robert Silverberg, Walter Jon Williams, Gregory Benford and many others.