SF & Fantasy short stories, several of which won awards. As always, he's a great read. The title story is his take on the Arthurian Legend & is, as always, unique. Other stories take fantasy into SF & vice versa in strange ways with a deft touch. He's one of the few authors that was a master of both the novel & short story. ( )

The back cover describes them as strange and beautiful stories and that's what they are. Some of the best of the best are here but let me vote for "The Engine at Heartspring's Center" a story about a cyborg that you will never forget and "For a Breath I Tarry" a story that will change the way you think about computers. The more well-known story "The Stainless Steel Leech" is a must for vampire-fiction lovers. ( )

This is for the version from the 1980s, and whenever else it was reprinted.

A quite good collection here by Zelazny, a 3.44 average, with 4 particularly good stories to be found.

Another bonus is that the author gives introductions to each story as to when, where and why he wrote it, in general, for those that like that sort of thing.

Last Defender of Camelot : Passion Play - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Horseman! - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : The Stainless Steel Leech - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : A Thing of Terrible Beauty - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : He Who Shapes - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Comes Now the Power - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Auto-da-Fé - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : For a Breath I Tarry - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : The Engine at Heartspring’s Center - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : The Game of Blood and Dust - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : No Award - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Is There a Demon Lover in the House? - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : The Last Defender of Camelot - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Stand Pat Ruby Stone - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Halfjack - Roger Zelazny

Car death and rebirth.

3.5 out of 5

Prefer Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny to this apocalyptic bunch.

4 out of 5

Monsterbots.

3.5 out of 5

Personal gate-crasher atomic audience.

3 out of 5

Psychiatric seeing rather stupid.

3.5 out of 5

Mind block.

3 out of 5

Careodor.

4 out of 5

A post-apocalyptic action story. A criminal is given the standard two choices, really bad things now, or very very possible really bad things later, and, of course, takes the later.

The later in this case is a trip across the country to deliver vital medical supplies. He has a few more problems than the standard cracked by snow and ice cheapish US highways though. In this world, they don't call it Damnation Alley for nothing.

3 out of 5

Big machine needs a hobby.

3.5 out of 5

Bork Bork borked.

3 out of 5

Two opponents duel using past history as their gameboard.

3.5 out of 5

Killer telepathic brain split plan.

3.5 out of 5

Knifejack.

2.5 out of 5

Lancelot, the Wandering Frenchy is still around when he runs into Le Fay fortunetelling, and Merlin's arrival 1000 years later. That's about enough of the Arthurian stuff for most of them.

4 out of 5

Reproductive ritual end.

3.5 out of 5

Cyborg bodyglove = get no love.

4 out of 5


http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/11... ( )

A collection that just about gets a 4 out of 5, and would bet 3.75 if such a thing existed, rounding up, however a few ordinary stories here.

Apparently there is a collection some 20 years or so earlier with the same title, with mostly different stories, too, just to be confusing.

This is for the 21st century Ibooks edition, which happily includes the fantastic Home Is the Hangman

Last Defender of Camelot : Comes Now the Power - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : For a Breath I Tarry - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : The Engine at Heartspring's Center - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Halfjack - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Home Is the Hangman - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Permafrost - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Loki 7281 - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Mana from Heaven - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : 24 Views of Mt. Fuji by Hokusai - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Come Back to the Killing Ground Alice My Love - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : The Last Defender of Camelot - Roger Zelazny

Mind block.

3 out of 5

Big machine needs a hobby.

3.5 out of 5

Bork Bork borked.

3 out of 5

Cyborg bodyglove = get no love.

4 out of 5

Telepresence party prank has terrible results, robot killer wrongly represented afterwards, but does his duty despite detective.

5 out of 5

Leopard stiff story.

3 out of 5

AI assistance plot.

3.5 out of 5

Power shortage.

3.5 out of 5

Japanese introspection ending.

2.5 out of 5

"All the death-traps in the galaxy, and she has to walk into mine."

4 out of 5

Lancelot, the Wandering Frenchy is still around when he runs into Le Fay fortunetelling, and Merlin's arrival 1000 years later. That's about enough of the Arthurian stuff for most of them.

4 out of 5

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/11... ( )

Zelazny has a gift, and that gift is an interesting narrative voice. Each of the stories in this collection has a very different style, from the biblico-mythologic "For a Breath I Tarry" to the meditative and very Japanese "24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai". The style of his writing sets you in a different world and it almost doesn't matter where he then takes you. Zelazny also has some supernatural ability to provide lots of expository dialogue without making the narrative heavy. "Home is the Hangman" was a wonderful story and yet almost all of it is description of an AI, the process of creating it and the repercussions. It could have simply been an exploratory essay, but it made a great story, too.

"For a Breath I Tarry" was also one of my favorites. It is a sort of genesis tale involving machines and the mythos of humans. The topic of the story (machines trying to be human) has been done over and over and over again, but the voice he achieves here and the way he deals with the subject makes it a very balanced, very good story. (The characters who fill the role of deities kept reminding me of Archibald MacLeish's J.B.)

Another story (whose title I sadly forget) was a remarkably warm love story set in a euthenasia clinic. A man has to be a great writer to pull that one off!

This book renewed my joy in short stories and my faith in the writing ability of sci-fi/fantasy writers. Joy!