HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

Creatures of Light and Darkness (1968)

by Roger Zelazny

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,2071816,100 (3.81)30
"To save his kingdom, Anubis, Lord of the Dead sends forth his servant on a mission of vengeance. At the same time, from The House of Life, Osiris sends forth his son, Horus, on the same mission to destroy utterly and forever The Prince Who Was a Thousand. But neither of these superhuman warriors is prepared for the strange and harrowing world of mortal life, and The Thing That Cries in the Night may well destroy not only their worlds, but all mankind"--Cover p. [4].… (more)
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 30 mentions

English (17)  Spanish (1)  All languages (18)
Showing 1-5 of 17 (next | show all)
Now this was a trippy, LSD-ish story.

I guess it goes with the territory because Zelazny was first and foremost a poet and this book is exactly that kind of weird poetry-become-prose fantasy story that will cause a lot of headaches for people who are more accustomed to standard structured approach to the story telling.

It will need concentration to go through it and figure it out - parts of it are almost movie-like, like first chapter where Lord of the Dead sends his henchman to kill the Immortals that are ruining the balance of dead-and-life-cycle or fight against the dragon (cobra? old man?) that destroys the entire continents, oceans and worlds. Parts of it just .... weird. Trippy.... did I say LSD-ish? You know with spirals and stuff.

Do note that Egyptian mythology given here is not exactly what you would expect - again, that poetic weirdness comes to surface, like copulation with the machine to gain knowledge (because machine works on sexual arousal and satisfaction - had me laughing there :)) or constant incestual father-son-who-is-father's-father relations (?? I know). I guess this comes with the territory (Jodorowsky is another creator that has this approach to art - do not just amaze, make the reader go what-the-.... and OMG and oh blimey because shock is the value - right? Well, not all the time in my opinion and to be honest Zelazny is much better writer and artist).

Story in it essence is pretty straight-forward fantasy story - our hero (who at times was like anything in the world that ever existed except maybe ball-pen) is fighting creature that threatens the very foundation of the world. Then he gets confronted by bunch of heroes on the quest to kill him because our hero is anomaly that is seen as threat to dead-life-cycle (because he is Immortal) but they'll finally decide to join the forces and fight the main danger.

All in all interesting story and I suggest you find the concentration to finish it. If you expect Lord of Light like story then you are looking at the wrong place - this is more like having several storytellers sitting around, taking drugs, re-telling known stories and going "Now it would be cool to have giant rooster attacking the shoe that can talk - because shoe, oh yeah, they are to be worshiped" :):) And yeah, shoes matter in this one, believe me :) ( )
  Zare | Jan 23, 2024 |
Not a lot of authors could pull this off but I think Zelazny did. The setting is some distant future where about 300 individuals from a multiworld, multicivilization section of the universe have attained godlike powers over matter, time, space, life and death. There is a power struggle among about a half dozen of these beings. The story is told in "heightened" poetic language but the characters are ordinary joes. There is humor and the writing is beautiful. You have to give it a chance though as it is not a run of the mill adventure novel. It is short, about 200 pages. The chapters are short also. This helps with tolerating the eccentricities. I enjoyed it in the end. ( )
  mgplavin | Oct 3, 2021 |
Of all the Zelazny books I have read - and they are quite a few - this one was probably my least favorite. I would qualify that by saying it is probably more my taste than anything else. Building perhaps on "Jack of Shadows" and perhaps also laying the groundwork for his Amber series, the concept is interesting as he combines some classical gods with a multiworld scenario as the representatives life and death battle across worlds and dimensions. It is imaginative and his characters are, as always, good. But note that I didn't say that I didn't like it - only that it was my least favorite of his. I think what bothered me about this one is that it didn't read as quickly as many of his do - I felt like the narrative got bogged down in spots. Still overall, it is a good story and has a lot to recommend it. If you are a Zelazny fan, and can find this, it is definitely worth the read. ( )
  Al-G | Jan 7, 2020 |
A huge favorite. ( )
  drsabs | Jun 30, 2017 |
Where to start.

OK. I liked this book. A lot. It's on my regular re-read list.

It features a universe where death and life are controlled by two poles, the House of the Dead, run by Anubis, and the House of Life, run Osiris. Anubis and Osiris cooperate and compete at the same time. Anubis has gotten ready an emissary, who he has been training for a thousand years, to kill his greatest enemy.

Without getting into spoilers, let's just say that things do not go as planned :)

Roger Zelazny wrote this book with an amazing stylistic touch. Many of the concepts he included were later picked up by other writers, like the various prayers spoken by Madrak, one of the major characters, of which 'The Possibly Proper Death Litany' is a fantastic example:

Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that you be forgiven for anything you may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Conversely, if not forgiveness but something else may be required to ensure any possible benefit for which you may be eligible after the destruction of your body, I ask that this, whatever it may be, be granted or withheld, as the case may be, in such a manner as to insure your receiving said benefit. I ask this in my capacity as your elected intermediary between yourself and that which may not be yourself, but which may have an interest in the matter of your receiving as much as it is possible for you to receive of this thing, and which may in some way be influenced by this ceremony. Amen.

It can be argued that this is one of the most influential Science Fiction books ever written. It certainly is one of the most beautifully written. ( )
1 vote wayneborean | Nov 14, 2014 |
Showing 1-5 of 17 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Generations pass away and others go on,
since the time of the ancestors.
They that build buildings,
their places are no more,
What has been done with them?

I have heard the words of Imhotep and Hardedef,
with whose sayings men speak so much,
What are their places now?

Their walls are crumbled,
their places are non-existent,
as if they had never been.

No one returns from there,
so that he might tell us their disposition,
that he might tell us how they are,
that he might still our hearts,
until we shall go to the place where they have gone.

Make holiday and weary not therein!
Behold, it is not given to a man
to take his property with him.
Behold, no one who goes can come back again.
--Harris 500, 6: 2-9
Comus enters with a Charming Rod in one hand, his Glass in the other; with him a rout of Monsters, headed like sundry sorts of wild Beasts. They come in making a riotous and unruly noise, with Torches in their hands.
--Milton
The Human Dress is forged Iron.
The Human Form a fiery Forge.
The Human Face a Furnace seal'd.
The Human Heart is hungry Gorge.
--Blake
Dedication
To Chip Delany, Just Because
First words
The man walks through his Thousandyear Eve in the House of the Dead.
Quotations
"Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that you be forgiven for anything you may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Conversely, if not forgiveness but something else may be required to ensure any possible benefit for which you may be eligible after the destruction of your body, I ask that this, whatever it may be, be granted or withheld, as the case may be, in such a manner as to insure your receiving said benefit. I ask this in my capacity as your elected intermediary between yourself and that which may not be yourself, but which may have an interest in the matter of your receiving as much as it is possible for you to receive of this thing, and which may in some way be influenced by this ceremony. Amen."
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

"To save his kingdom, Anubis, Lord of the Dead sends forth his servant on a mission of vengeance. At the same time, from The House of Life, Osiris sends forth his son, Horus, on the same mission to destroy utterly and forever The Prince Who Was a Thousand. But neither of these superhuman warriors is prepared for the strange and harrowing world of mortal life, and The Thing That Cries in the Night may well destroy not only their worlds, but all mankind"--Cover p. [4].

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.81)
0.5 1
1 4
1.5
2 12
2.5 9
3 55
3.5 19
4 66
4.5 6
5 68

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,226,376 books! | Top bar: Always visible