Lord of Light is a weird allegorical fantasy which sets out to demonstrate how self-destructive is the human compulsion to create gods and demons. In a mistily realized future world, heaven and earth are ruled over by Hindu gods…. It sounds, and is, far-fetched. Much of the writing is reminiscent of those awful jokes, mercifully no longer fashionable, where scato-logical content was meant to provide comic contrast with a mock biblical style. There are occasional "poetic" bits of description: "Morning's pink parasol opened above the tangled hair of the clouds …" and there is often a strong feeling that Mr. Zelazny must be parodying something—though one is never sure what.
"Other New Novels: 'Lord of Light'," in The Times Literary Supplement (© Times Newspapers Ltd. (London) 1968; reproduced from The Times Literary Supplement by permission), No. 3444, February 29, 1968, p. 213.
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