Creatures Of Light And Darkness (1970) - Plot & Excerpts
Zelazny’s stories often leave me scratching my MENTAL JUNK searching for a new means to describe his impressive creative chops. Well, after several brain limbering exercises, I came up with COSMICaweTASTIC SUPERBitude to describe this lesser known but amazing piece. I'm not sure exactly what it means but I think it's something positive. This is certainly one of Zelazny’s more creative works, which is really saying something given his penchant to WTF his reader with bizarre and unique imagery. As with other Zelazny works, he has created a rich, lush backdrop that infuses ancient myth with far-future technology all placed in a “dying earth” type setting peopled with unique characters of dubious morality. This myth/tech combo is probably as close as Zelazny gets to a “common theme” for his work as he has used similar components in many of his novels, most notably Lord of Light and This Immortal. However, what sets this book apart is the experimental style of the writing and his use of different techniques throughout the narrative. Before I get into my thoughts on the book, I do want to give a piece an unusual piece of “unsolicited” advice to those looking to read this. I would strongly recommend that you read the background description of the novel from Wikipedia before you read the novel. The description does not contain spoilers of the actual plot but provides a great description of the back story, setting and major players. Reading this before-hand allowed me to get a sense of “place” from the very beginning. The reason I think this is helpful is due to the “experimental” style of the prose (Zelazny was never afraid to take risks in his writing). While everything is eventually made clear, I found I was able to enjoy myself more by not having to struggle to piece together the back story and “figure out” what was going on. Of course, you are free to ignore this advice as it is not “necessary” to enjoying the story, but I might have become irritated or bored with the narrative had I not done so and so I pass it along to you for whatever it’s worth. With the above caution, this is a book that I highly recommend to fans of Zelazny or anyone looking for something a little different. For those of you interested in the “background” of the story, I have included the description from Wikipedia which I think is very good. Feel free to skip it if you don’t think it would be helpful: Begin Wikipedia BackgroundThe Universe was once ruled by the god Thoth, who administered the different forces in the Universe to keep things in balance. In time, he delegated this administration to his "Angels" (other god-like beings), who were each in charge of different "stations", or forces in the Universe. Such stations included the House of the Dead, the House of Life, the House of Fire, and so on.At some point, Thoth had awakened a dormant, malevolent force on a distant planet. This dark force, called the Thing That Cries In The Night, is so powerful and malevolent that it nearly obliterated Thoth's wife and threatens to consume the galaxy. Thoth works to contain and destroy the creature, and in so doing, neglects his duties in maintaining the Universe. The Angels become rebellious and use the power vacuum to fight amongst themselves for dominance Thoth's son Set, who through an anomaly in Time is also his father, fights the creature across a devastated planet. Just as Set is about to destroy the creature, he is attacked by the Angel Osiris, who unleashes the Hammer That Smashes Suns, a powerful weapon that nearly kills Set and the creature. Thoth's brother, Typhon, who was helping Set in the battle, vanishes without a trace and is presumed dead. Typhon appears as a black horse-shadow, without a horse to cast it. He contains within himself something called Skagganauk Abyss, which resembles a black hole, not a term in common use at the time.The Thing That Cries In The Night survived the blast, and so Thoth, who has meanwhile been utterly overthrown by his Angels, has no choice but to contain the dark force until he can find a way to destroy it. He also revives the personality of his wife and keeps her safe on a special world known only to him, where the seas are above the atmosphere, not below them. He also scatters Set's weapons and armor across the Universe for safe-keeping in the event that Set can ever be found. Having been overthrown, he is now dubbed The Prince Who Was A Thousand by all in the Universe.Some of the surviving Angels either hide among the peoples of the Universe as mysterious "immortals", but others— Osiris and Anubis—take over the House of Life and the House of Death, respectively. Other stations are abandoned, and Osiris and Anubis are the only two powers in the Universe now. Osiris cultivates life where he can, while Anubis works to destroy it. Plenty and famine, proliferation and plague, overpopulation and annihilation, alternate in the Worlds of Life between the two Stations, much to the detriment of those who inhabit them.End of Wikipedia background PLOT SUMMARYThe story takes place many years after the above background with Osiris and Anubis still maintaining a balance of power in the universe through their ability to destroy and create life. The main plot involves a “mysterious” emissary from Anubis sent on a mission to the “middle worlds.” The mystery of the real identity of the emissary is a fundamental part of the plot. During his mission, the emissary (known now as Wakim) meets many of the angels/immortals living in the middle world who help him to learn his true identity which culminates in the superb finale of the book. Thus, the book can be seen as a series of interesting encounters all tied in to the overall theme of a power struggle among the gods. Zelazny’s prose is poetic, the characters are terrific and very memorable (the Steel General is probably among my favorite Zelazny characters) and the world-building is simply genius. In summary, a very unique offering from one of the most “original” authors of speculative fiction writers from the 60’s. I would place this third on my list of favorite Zelazny books, behind Lord of Lightand This Immortal but ahead of the Amber books (at least those I have read so far). 4.5 to 5.0 stars. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
Nutshell: standard Z mess with immortals & incomprehensible occurrences.Volume is sealed by a dedication to Delany, and the text is reminiscent of The Einstein Intersection.Concerned with the Heliopolitan Ennead: Isis, Osiris & their son Horus; Set & Nephthys; Anubis (offspring of Osiris & Nephthys), and Thoth (son of Set in some variants). Greek Typhon shows up; in Kemetic, Typhon is equated to Seth, but here Typhon is Apophis, possessing qualities of the Abyss (155). Some other immortals show up, but I can’t place them in the mythology, including a lovecraftian Thing that Should Not Be (or something like that). (Norns appear, as well as Cerberus, so it’s a mix of all comers paganism.)Form is unstable: verse, prose, play script. Mode is unstable: some items are horatian satire, some high mythic, some realism. Narrative opens with Anubis placing Set (who has retrograde amnesia) into a “body-cutting machine” (18) to replace his limbs and whatnot in what is a scene of extremely effective visceral horror. Revealed that Set is a master of “temporal fugue,” and can “make time follow the mind” (26). Steel General, rides Sleipnir (42), has a metal body, is “a kind of negative Orpheus and men follow him to Hell,” and “one of the very few masters of temporal fugue” (43). Noted that both Horus and Osiris had independently destroyed the Steel General in the past (56). I can’t place this guy in kemetic, either, though there’s a Greek analogue in Talus, maybe. More than likely this is the apotheosis of Uncle Joe Stalin, the Man of Steel, as the spirit of Revolution: “Out of the pages of history come the thundering hoof beats of his war horse Bronze. He flew with Lafayette Escadrille. He fought in the delaying action at Jarama Valley. He helped to hold Stalingrad in the dead of winter. With a handful of friends, he tried to invade Cuba. On every battleground, he has left a portion of himself. He camped out with Washington when times were bad, until a greater General asked him to go away. He was beaten in Little Rock, had acid thrown in his face in Berkeley. He was put on the Attorney General’s list, because he had once been a member of the IWW” (76). But also: “he shot craps with Leon Trotsky, who taught him the writers are underpaid; he shared a boxcar with Woodie Guthrie, who him his music and that singers are underpaid; he supported Fidel Castro for a time, and learned that lawyers are underpaid” (77). So, yeah, very nice.Great moment when one entrail reader reads the entrails of a rival entrail reader (83-84), and another when Steel General and Set have a temporal fugue duel (85-89) that basically destroys the planet on which the contest occurs. Beautiful section thereafter about machine sexuality (108-09).Aside from these lucid intervals, though, no idea WTF happened. Recommended for deviants from the social norm, readers who know that all wives be bitches to their lords, and interlocutors who ask their assailants to consider the possibility of having portions of themselves which might withstand the destruction of their bodies.
What do You think about Creatures Of Light And Darkness (1970)?
Honestly, I would have given this two stars.While I generally like Zelazny's storylines (they tend to all feel like chess match- Amber was a medieval chess set, this was an ancient Egyptian set), this one felt so much more muddled than the Amber series I read previously.The female characters, rather than just being dynamic bitches, were prop pieces, at best. Which didn't give me a lot the relate to. The world creations and general descriptions were incredible and lush, and I enjoyed several non-sequiter chapters, but by and large, I probably wouldn't read this again- unlike the Amber series. The third star designation was for three amazing pieces of writing hidden in this otherwise standard fantasy novel.1. There is a fantastically apathetic Last Rites given to a character. I want it said at my death bed.2. There are characters, called the Norns, who he describes in one paragraph as essentially American. Which made me laugh audibly.3. A chapter is devoted to a sect that worships shoes. That was hilarious.
—Fictionista Du Jour
I finished Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny last night. A rather curious piece of literature...The plot: (possibly. It might actually be about something completely different. It's hard to say, really...)In the far future, humanity and other 5 other intelligent races, have spread across the universe. Life and death are kept in balance by Anubis and Osiris, Lords of the House of Death and Life, respectively, who make sure that plagues strike fertile planets, and arid planets get a
—Alytha
Between poetry, SF and acid trip... The plot is somewhat hard to follow, but you can very well read the book without that. The story works like a kind of impressionist painting, where every short chapter acts as an image rather than a plot fragment. We never learn whose point of view it is and the heroes remain mysterious. As for the plot, it is quite different from the typical SF plot that tries to be extra coherent to compensate for the lack of realism of the setting. Here the characters have a weird theatrical quality about them, and the bits and pieces of the story build something like a great surrealist picture, where the beginning and the end are not so much definite moments in the story as simply the moments when the narrator starts to take, then to lose, interest in what happens. To be absolutely honest, althought I only read that book a few months ago, I'm not sure I remember every detail of the plot...Still, the style and atmosphere are very poetical and enjoyable. If you like traditional Japanese theatre and SF, do give it a try.
—Cécile C.
