Lord of Light
by Roger Zelazny · first published 1967
84% recommend11% neutral5% critical
Why HN recommends it
Dense, poetic science fantasy set against Hindu and Buddhist myth, with body-swapping and immortality themes; prized for Zelazny's vivid prose and rereadability, best for readers ready for a challenge.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A colony of humankind is subjugated by the First Colonists, the crew of the starship that brought them to their new home 1000 years before. They have taken control of ancient technologies and enhanced themselves with godlike psychic powers and virtual immortality. Adopting the panoply of the venerable Hindu religion, they live lives as its Gods, surrounded by advanced technology within the trappings of a primitive civilization. Our hero Sam, unready to battle the tyrannical forces of the Celestial City allied with his former wife, now the rapturous Kali, Goddess of Destruction. A story of
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Mentions per year
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…by: Stanislaw Lem (Cyberiad, Futurological Congress, Solaris) Alfred Bester (The STars my Destination, The Demolished Man) or Samuel R. Delany (Babel-17, Dhalgren, Trtion, Nova) oh and Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light and This Immortal are both great. Some of Philip K. Dick's stuff is great, but everyone recommends him. :) almost forgot John Brunner, check out Steel Beach, The Sheep Look Up, and Stand on Zanzibar.
on “Ask YC: What's the most inspiring sci-fi book you've read?” ↗Lord of Light is brilliant. It is also very strong stuff - dense, metaphorical, and poetic. It should probably not be the first Zelazny of anyone who's just branching out from GRRM.
on “Entitlement issues (2009)” ↗Lord of Light by Zelazny. It's on another level really and I love the Buddhist, Hindu influence combined with the technology.
on “Ask HN: What's your favourite sci-fi/fantasy book?” ↗I really don't see what the article's accelerationism has to do with the notion as used in Lord of Light. In spite of the Hindu religion references, that is definitely not a philosophy/politics book. It is Zelazny's best book in my opinion, and you can read it - it has little to nothing to do with the Guardian's…
on “Accelerationism: how a fringe philosophy predicted the future we live in” ↗…and Everything. (Douglas Adams is one of those guys whose every throwaway joke encapsulates an entire series of philosophical novels.) On the "unquestioned human right" to immortality: Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light. You may have to read most of it before it becomes clear what I'm talking about, but keep reading. It's an awesome work.
on “Futurist Ray Kurzweil Pulls Out All the Stops (and Pills) to Live to Witness the Singularity” ↗+1 for Amber. Much of the rest of Zelazny is good, too. I actually like Lord Of Light better, though it's a bit less approachable (in the specific sense that I picked it up and put it down a few times before getting into it).
on “Entitlement issues (2009)” ↗I'll counter with: 1) Dune - Frank Herbert 2) Mote in God's Eye - Niven & Pournelle 3) The Lord of Light - Roger Zelanzy 4) Xeelee Series - Stephen Baxter (Or the Manifold: books) 5) The Well World Saga - Jack L. Chalker (Stick with the first 5 books)
on “My Favorite Science Fiction (and Non-Fiction) Books” ↗Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light was a fascinating novel about accelerationist ideas.
on “Accelerationism” ↗Ha, how about that. By the way, you might enjoy Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. You're the hero of the story.
on “Learn Vim (the Smart Way): a book to learn the good parts of Vim” ↗…the inspiration for Clarke's story (take a simple idea to its ultimate conclusion). Roger Zelazny's take on this (for Hinduism instead) was IMHO the best, as a trivial side point to a plot element in Lord of Light.
on “The Metaphysical Can Opener” ↗Lord of Light - Zelazy Dosadi Experiment - Frank Herbert
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗…"The Pool of Fire", "The City of Gold and Lead" Robert Heinlein "Podkayne of Mars","Tunnel in the Sky", or "Beyond this Horizon" Samuel Delany "Babel-17" or "The Einstein Intersection" Roger Zelazny "Lord of Light"
on “Science fiction for the young” ↗Everything and More, by David Foster Wallace (history of inifinity) Lord of Light, by Zelazny (fiction, but transcendent) The Trial of Socrates, by I.F. Stone (makes the case that Socrates was a genuine threat to his society) Any book by Ryszard Kapuscinski The Histories, by Herodotus…
on “Ask HN: Books That Gratify One's Intellectual Curiosity?” ↗I recently have been reading Hugo Award Novels and recommend Roger Zelazny's This Immortal which is good enough to have shared the award with Dune in 1965. Lord of Light is also a great read and won a Hugo in 1968. Clifford Simak's Way Station, Phillip K. Dick's Man in the High Castle, and Walter Miller's Canticle for Leibowitz are other great Hugo novels from the early…
on “Ask HN: What do you read?” ↗Great list. Only missed four titles. So glad to see "The Stars My Destination" on the list Wish it had included Zelazny's "Lord of Light". No arguments about the rest of it. JURGEN
on “The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)” ↗