At a certain point in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Roger Zelazny became my favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy writer. Zelazny won six Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards so I wasn’t alone in considering him a wonderful writer.
But, as so often happens, I couldn’t keep up with Zelazny’s output. And, other writers nudged Zelazny from my Top Spot so I still bought his books…but didn’t get around to reading many of them. That’s the case with Changeling (1980) and Madwand (1981). Some critics thought Zelazny was going to launch another series like his famous Amber series with these two novels. But whatever the reason, these two books remain alone.
Changeling begins with a battle. The sorcerer of Rondoval faces defeat and death. His wife, Lady Lydia, flees while leaving her infant son, Pol. When the baby is discovered, some of the soldiers suggest killing the child. But the victorious sorcerer, Mor, decides to exile the baby to an alternate Earth (ours). However, Magic demands a balance so Mor travels to Earth with baby Pol and exchanges the infant with another infant named Mark.
As time passes, Pol grows up in a technological society where his magic powers disrupts the workings of all machinery–much to the frustration of his computer using father. Meanwhile, Mark grows up on a farm in the magic world and begins to invent useful items–which are not appreciated by the villagers. As you might guess, Changeling ends up with a battle between Mark and Pol. GRADE: B
Madwand continues Pol’s story as he attempts to learn about his past and master the magic arts. I found this sequel lacking in the intensity of the original novel. GRADE: C+
Zelazny seemed generally to lose steam as the years went by. (I can sympathize.) Some good later work, but fewer late works by him seem to inspire the devotion of his first few years’ best-loved contributions, from “A Rose for Ecclesiastes” on out.
Todd, you’re right about Zelazny (and a lot of other writers) who lost steam later in their careers. Many of them are remembered for their early work.
I’d guess that most of us followed the same trajectory with Zelazny–early adulation followed by the creeping realization that this guy could write faster than we could read. I’ve been trying to remember exactly when I bailed out, and I’m thinking I’d didn’t read much of his stuff in the 80s other than the last few books in the Amber series. But it sure was fun while it lasted.
Michael, I had the same reading trajectory with Zelazny as you did. I pretty much read everything Zelazny wrote in the 1960s and then I started to taper off in the 1970s. By the 1980s I bought Zelazny’s books…but I’m only getting around to reading some of them decades later.
Although I never read science fiction, I admire the ability to create another world and think through what would be the strengths and failures in that world. Amazing imaginations.
Patti, I agree with you. World-building is an art and Zelazny is one of the superior practitioners.
I bought, volume by volume, NESFA’s excellent six volume hardcover set of The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny. After reading vol 1-3, I gifted the set to my friend, blogger, podcaster, reviewer Andrea. I liked the shorter works better than novels.
Rick, I completely understand your preference for Zelazny’s shorter works. What a generous gift for Andrea!