Zelazney wrote the intro to my all time favorite book,
"To Reign in Hell" by Steven Brust.
I have been trying to remember the name and author of this book for at least a year, and now I found it! I am going to the bookstore tonight and read it over the weekend.
Thanks!
amazon.com
It's very appropriate that Roger Zelazny wrote the intro to this novel, as the novel itself uses a concept prevalent in Zelazny's works: that of pulling the myth out of a mythology and presenting it in another genre (such as Lord of Light, Creatures of Light and Darkness).
In TO REIGN IN HELL, Steven Brust tells the story of the revolt in Heaven from a fantasy perspective. This is the first book I've read by him, and I'm definitely impressed. He provides you with an answer for everything you were shushed for asking in Sunday school: "How was God formed from Chaos? How was Heaven created? What would cause a group of angels to rebel? Why would God let them rebel?" The outcome is the same, of course, but Brust's version of the story is great reading. All the expected (and a few unexpected) players are there, and Brust does a fantastic job of giving each of them very real personalities. The way he gives every character a distinct form of speech is brilliant, and he doesn't stumble once. An especially nice touch is the ongoing dialogue between two lesser angels, Sith and Kyriel, interspersed throughout chapters, which provides a "common man's" perspective on the events in the book.
The middle of the book does get a bit slow here and there, but the beginning and end are very well-written and will grab your attention. |
