Roger Zelazny | |
|---|---|
 Zelazny in 1988 | |
| Born | Roger Joseph Zelazny (1937-05-13)May 13, 1937 Euclid, Ohio, US |
| Died | June 14, 1995(1995-06-14) (aged 58) |
| Pen name | Harrison Denmark[1] |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Education | Western Reserve University (BA) Columbia University (MA) |
| Genre | Fantasy,science-fiction |
| Literary movement | New Wave (although he denounced the term himself) |
| Notable works | Lord of Light,The Chronicles of Amber,Isle of the Dead,The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth, and Other Stories,Doorways in the Sand,Eye of Cat,Unicorn Variations,A Night in the Lonesome October |
Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995)[2] was an Americanfantasy andscience fiction writer known for his short stories and novels, best known forThe Chronicles of Amber series. He won theNebula Award three times (out of 14 nominations) and theHugo Award six times (also out of 14 nominations), including two Hugos for novels: the serialized novel...And Call Me Conrad (1965), subsequently published under the titleThis Immortal (1966), and the novelLord of Light (1967).[3]
Zelazny was born inEuclid, Ohio, the only child of Polish immigrant Joseph Frank Żelazny andIrish-American Josephine Flora Sweet. In high school, he became the editor of the school newspaper and joined the Creative Writing Club.[4] In the fall of 1955, he began attendingWestern Reserve University and graduated with a B.A. in English in 1959.[4] He was accepted toColumbia University in New York, and he specialized in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, graduating with an M.A. in 1962.[4] His dissertation was titledTwo Traditions and Cyril Tourneur: an Examination of Morality and Humor Comedy Conventions in "The Revenger's Tragedy".
Between 1962 and 1969, he worked for the USSocial Security Administration inCleveland, Ohio, and then inBaltimore, Maryland, spending his evenings writing science fiction.[4][5] He deliberately progressed fromshort-shorts to novelettes to novellas and finally to novel-length works by 1965.[4] On May 1, 1969, he quit his job to become a full-time writer, and thereafter he concentrated on writing novels in order to maintain his income.[5] During this period, he was an active and vocal member of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society, whose members included the writerJack L. Chalker, in addition toJoe andJack Haldeman, among others.
His first appearance in a fanzine was with part one of the story "Conditional Benefit" (Thurban 1 #3, 1953); his first professional publication and sale was the fantasy short story "Mr. Fuller's Revolt" (Literary Calvalcade, 1954).[4] As a professional writer, his debut works were the simultaneous publication of "Passion Play" (Amazing, August 1962) and "Horseman!" (Fantastic, August 1962).[4] "Passion Play" was written and sold first.[4] His first story to attract major attention was "A Rose for Ecclesiastes", published inThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, with cover art byHannes Bok.
Roger Zelazny was also a member of theSwordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), a loose-knit group ofheroic fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized inLin Carter'sFlashing Swords! anthologies.
Zelazny was married twice—first to Sharon Steberl in 1964 (divorced, no children), and then to Judith Alene Callahan in 1966. Before this period, he was engaged tofolk singerHedy West for six months from 1961 to 1962.[4] Roger and Judith had two sons, Devin andTrent (who was an author ofcrime fiction, deceased), and a daughter, Shannon. At the time of his death, Roger and Judith were separated, and he was living with authorJane Lindskold.[6]
Raised as aCatholic by his parents,[4] Zelazny later declared himself alapsed Catholic and remained that way for the rest of his life.[5] "I did have a strong Catholic background, but I am not a Catholic. Somewhere in the past, I believe I answered in the affirmative once for strange and complicated reasons. But I am not a member of any organized religion."[5]
Zelazny died, aged 58, inSanta Fe on June 16, 1995, ofkidney failure secondary tocolorectal cancer.[6] At the time of his death, he had been a resident of Santa Fe for twenty years.[7]
In his stories, Zelazny frequently portrayed characters frommyth, depicted in the modern or a future world. Mythological traditions that his fiction borrowed from include the following:
Additionally, elements fromNorse,Japanese andIrish mythology,Arthurian legend, and real history appear inThe Chronicles of Amber series.The novelA Night in the Lonesome October involves theCthulhu Mythos, a shared fictional universe based on the work ofH. P. Lovecraft.
Another recurring motif of Zelazny's is the "absent father" (or father-figure). Again, this motif occurs most notably in the Amber novels: in the first Amber series, the protagonist Corwin searches for his lost, god-like fatherOberon; inthe second series, which focuses on Corwin's son Merlin (not to be confused with the ArthurianMerlin), Corwin himself is strangely missing. This somewhatFreudian theme runs through almost every Zelazny novel to some degree. The novelsRoadmarks,Doorways in the Sand,Changeling,Madwand, andA Dark Traveling; the short stories "Dismal Light", "Godson", and "The Keys to December"; and theAlien Speedway series all feature main characters who are either searching for or have lost their fathers. Zelazny's father, Joseph, died unexpectedly in 1962 and never knew of his son's successes as a writer.[8]
Two other personal characteristics that influenced Zelazny's fiction were his expertise inmartial arts and his addiction to tobacco. Zelazny became an expert with theépée in college; he thereby began a lifelong study of several martial arts, includingjudo,aikido (which he later taught as well, having gained a black belt),tai chi, andbaguazhang. In turn, many of his characters ably and knowledgeably use similar skills while dispatching their opponents. Zelazny was also a passionate cigarette and pipesmoker (until he quit in the early 1980s)—so much so that he made many of his protagonists heavy smokers as well. However, he quit in order to improve his cardiovascular fitness for the martial arts; once he had quit, characters in his later novels and short stories stopped smoking also.[5]
Zelazny also oftenexperimented with form in his stories. The novelDoorways in the Sand practices a flashback technique in which most chapters open with a scene, typically involving peril, not implied by the end of the previous chapter. Once this scene is established, the narrator backtracks to the events leading up to it, and then he follows through to the end of the chapter, whereupon the next chapter jumps ahead to another dramaticnon-sequitur.
InRoadmarks, a novel about a road system that links all possible times, places and histories, the chapters that feature the protagonist are all titled "One". Other chapters, titled "Two", feature secondary characters, including original characters,pulp heroes, and real historical figures. The "One" storyline is fairly linear, whereas the "Two" storyline jumps around in time and sequence. After finishing the manuscript, Zelazny shuffled the "Two" chapters randomly among the "One" chapters in order to emphasize their non-linear nature relative to the storyline.[9]
The novelCreatures of Light and Darkness, featuring characters in the personas of Egyptian gods, uses a narrative voice entirely in thepresent tense; the final chapter is structured as aplay, and several chapters take the form of long poems.
Another common stylistic approach in Zelazny's novels is the use ofmixed genres, whereby elements of each are combined freely and interchangeably. The novelsJack of Shadows andChangeling, for example, revolve around the tensions between the two worlds of magic and technology. The novelLord of Light, perhaps one of his most famous works, is written in the classic style of a mythic fantasy, while it is established early in the book that the story itself takes place on acolonized planet.[10]
Zelazny's stories inspired other authors in his generation includingSamuel R. Delany, whose novelNova and many of his short stories were written "partly in response to Zelazny’s eruption into the field."[11] In 1967,Algis Budrys listed Zelazny, Delany,J. G. Ballard, andBrian Aldiss as "an earthshaking new kind of" writer, and leaders of theNew Wave.[12]Neil Gaiman said that Zelazny was the author who influenced him most,[13] with this influence particularly seen in Gaiman's literary style and subjects.[11]Andrzej Sapkowski considered Zelazny to be his spiritual teacher, whose work inspired him to write his first novel.[14]
The anthologyLord of the Fantastic: Stories in Honor of Roger Zelazny, edited byMartin H. Greenberg and released in 1998, featured essays and stories in honor of Zelazny byWalter Jon Williams,Jack Williamson,John Varley, Gaiman,Gregory Benford, and many other authors.[15]
The anthologyShadows & Reflections: A Roger Zelazny Tribute Anthology, edited by Trent Zelazny and Warren Lapine, was released in 2017; it featured two essays and fifteen stories set in universes that Zelazny created. Contributors included Zelazny,George R.R. Martin, Shannon Zelazny,Warren Lapine,Steven Brust,Kelly McCullough,Jane Lindskold,Steve Perry,Gerald Hausman,Lawrence Watt-Evans, Michael H. Hanson, Mark Rich, Gio Clairval, Edward J. McFadden III, Theodore Krulik,Shariann Lewitt, and Jay O'Connell.[16]
Zelazny won at least 16 awards for specific works of fiction: sixHugo Awards, threeNebula Awards, twoLocus Awards, onePrix Tour-Apollo Award, twoSeiun Awards, and twoBalrog Awards. Often Zelazny's works competed with each other for the same award.[3]
In addition, Zelazny was the Guest of Honor at theWorldcon convention in Washington, D.C., in 1974 (also known as Discon II); he won anInkpot Award for lifetime achievement at theSan Diego Comic-Con convention in 1993. "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" was included inVisions of Mars: First Library on Mars, a DVD taken on board thePhoenix Mars Lander in 2008.[6]
Theostracod (class of crustaceans)Sclerocypris zelaznyi was named after Zelazny.[20]
