On Fri, Jan 24, 2003 at 12:49:04PM -0600, Ruhlen, Rachel Louise (UMC-Student) wrote: > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Ruhlen, Rachel Louise (UMC-Student)" <RuhlenR at missouri.edu> > > > > I fear I may be committing sacrilege, or at least making > > myself a target, but I don't actually like Zelazny, whom > > everyone here seems to worship. Will I be excommunicated from > > the list for saying that? Rachel > > [Rosemary Ighel writes] > > Curious, what do you not like? It's my impression that he > > had a style that I absolutely adore and another style that I > > find difficult to read, but pushed through because of my love > > for the former. I was always glad that I did, but _Lord of > > Light_ and _Jack of Shadows_ could easily have been written > > by different authors. > > > I've only tried the Amber Chronicles. I just couldn't get into the > story. It was depressing. Maybe Iain (husband) can give more insight. He > encouraged me to try them, but acknowledged that he didn't think they > were "my thing", whatever that means. In my opinion, Zelazny's real strength was as a short-story writer. All the moments that make me stop in astonishment, that really bowl me over, are from his short stories. I enjoyed the first set of Amber books and have read them several times; I also love some of his other novels. But I think it's the short stuff where he's at the very top of his form. I think Steven is a better novelist than Zelazny, actually. > (Note: I don't like depressing books. They may be necessary, but I go > out of my way to avoid them, including _Teckla_!) TECKLA's one of my favorite Vlad novels, so perhaps I shouldn't recommend specific Zelazny short stories to you. 8-) -- Pamela Dean Dyer-Bennet (pddb at demesne.com) "I will open my heart to a blank page and interview the witnesses." John M. Ford, "Shared World"