Zelazny’s humor ranged from dry to grotesque, with a particular fondness for puns and wordplay. “I think Will Durant said somewhere in his
History of Civilization
series that he sometimes thought that one of the great legacies of human thought down the ages was the world’s humor. I’m misquoting him, but that’s the essence of it. I mean, if you just look at the dark side of life, it’s a very distorted picture. Of course, if you just look at the light side of it, it is too. You need them both for balance.
“I think a writer who wants to do justice to the human condition has to look at it both ways. Was it Lord Byron who said that life is a tragedy to the person who feels and a comedy to the person who thinks? But you have to do both—think and feel.”
[36]
Zelazny’s work reflected many influences. “I think it partly comes from poetry, which is where striking metaphor is often common coin. It partly comes from humor, where the essence of it is some kind of twist or distortion to something, and it also comes from the fact that I read mythology most of my life. And I do these things—the twisting and shifting of imagery—with things I know well, such as mythology. It all kind of flows together. I just automatically run the things I’ve created through the machinery in my mind.”
[36]
Wilderness
And the Darkness Is Harsh
DC Comics optioned the Amber series for graphic novel adaptation, but the first issue did not appear until 1996. Zelazny’s death put the project in limbo, and DC Comics adapted only the first two books (
Nine Princes in Amber
and
The Guns of Avalon
); each became three separate comic books.
In the introduction to Book 1 of
Nine Princes in Amber
, Zelazny discussed the origin of the Trumps and other aspects of the series:
“For several years I’d been fascinated by the art of playing cards. I began collecting them—odd decks, old decks, Tarots. I found them in junk shops, antique shops, hobby shops. I read books on them. What they were all doing in that special place in my mind is hard to say. But when the time came and Corwin searched Flora’s study, looking for anything that might give him a clue concerning his past, they were there, waiting for just that moment, and they had to be the right thing. And when Flora mentioned Amber, I saw it, I suddenly knew what it was, what it had to be.
“Yes, I started the story without knowing everything in it. I did this because I could feel that the story was all there, somewhere, just waiting for the proper chords to be struck to bring it forth. I do not think that it is bits and pieces that turn themselves into a story. Rather, I feel that the story finds the bits and pieces it needs to tell itself…
Nine Princes in Amber
almost wrote itself. I just wrote it down, with all the pleasure of someone reading for enjoyment, discovering what was happening as I went along…
[86]
Zelazny’s card collection numbered over a hundred decks from playing cards to Tarot cards, most collected for their variety and illustrations rather than any perceived value. His collection also included Amber Tarots that fans created and sent to him.
“Some reviewers will talk as though the only things I’ve ever written were the Amber books and a handful of good short stories. They forget there are 40 other books out there, some of which are worth noting. But one always gets referred to as the author of the Amber series, then they name certain stories that received awards and forget things like
Eye of Cat
,
Lord of Light
,
Doorways in the Sand
, and
Creatures of Light and Darkness
.”
[36]
In what may have been his last recorded interview, in 1995 Zelazny discussed critics. “A number of reviewers would say things like, ‘Roger Zelazny’s a pretty good writer, but all he writes is these darned rehashes of old myths. It would be nice to see what else he could do sometime.’ Then after I’d finally learned all this stuff I’d spent several years catching up on [through his reading program] and started writing stories that involved science, I started getting these reviews that said ‘Gee, Zelazny used to write these wonderful stories involving mythology.’ And I said to hell with it and decided to ignore reviewers.”
[14]
Had he ever learned anything from critics? “Not really. I got comments from critics that I really didn’t like and so I worked out ways of working in more of those things they really didn’t like in my next story.” On the other hand, criticism from editors and other writers could be valuable. “That’s different! These people are pros. They are not out to destroy your aesthetic and refashion you in their own image. Editors are just out to make as strong a book as they can. I’ve learned some very nice things from editors. I’ve learned some dumb things, too… Every now and then you just pick tricks up from editors… I think criticism from authors and editors is important if it’s good. And after a while you get to know which ones have some common sense.”
[14]
A favorite creation from his last two years, “Godson” was a retelling and expansion—with the Zelazny touch—of the fable “Godfather Death.” Zelazny also adapted the story into a humorous musical, writing the lyrics for several songs as well as the dialogue. He had preliminary discussions with local musician Bruce Dunlap about doing the score, and he’d performed it solo (chanting the songs) at a party held by George R. R. Martin just a few months before his death.
[70,71]
With Zelazny’s death the project also died, and the music was never written.
[87]
The script and lyrics appear in this volume.
Zelazny was a judge of the
L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future
contest and regularly received stacks of manuscripts to review (many of these are in the Syracuse University archives). His involvement in this project led to speculation that he was interested in Scientology and Dianetics, but he wasn’t. Friend and colleague Algis Budrys (who coordinated
Writers of the Future
) asked him to participate, and he enjoyed working with up-and-coming writers.
As well as contributing to many original anthologies, Zelazny participated in a popular shared world anthology (the
Wild Cards
series), created his own shared world series (
Alien Speedway
), supervised contributions to his Amber series (
Visual Guide to Castle Amber
,
Amber Diceless Role-Playing Game
,
The Amber Sourcebook
, the two choose-your-adventure books, the
Nine Princes in Amber
computer game, and the Amber board game that was never released), and guided author Tom Thomas in the composition of two novels (
Flare
and
The Mask of Loki
). These experiences prompted him to edit anthologies, something he had not done since
Nebula Award Stories Three
.
He worked on four original anthologies in the last two years of his life. In order of publication, these included:
Warriors of Blood and Dream
contained tales involving martial arts that he solicited from writers in 1993. His introduction described his fascination with the techniques and gave a moving portrayal of his friend and teacher who had succumbed to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Zelazny requested stories from 15 authors, including Joe R. Lansdale, Richard Lupoff, Steven Barnes, Michael Stackpole, and Jane Lindskold. Zelazny wrote an introduction to each story but did not contribute one of his own.
Warriors
was published the month he died.
Wheel of Fortune
gathered tales of gambling and other games of chance. Zelazny contributed an introduction, an original Amber short story, “Blue Horse, Dancing Mountains,” and an introduction to each story. Also begun in 1993, the book was in press when he died and published in December 1995.
Forever After
was a concept novel about what happens after “Happily Ever After” in fairy tales or fantasy novels. Good trumps evil, but all talismans, weapons, and persons persist in one place. If that power isn’t dispersed, will it cause problems? He recruited four authors to write the four principal tales, and he wrote the frame story in five sections. It was published posthumously in December 1995 with an afterword by a contributor, David Drake. The frame story appears in this collection under the title “Forever After: Preludes and Postlude.”
The Williamson Effect
gathered original stories that honored Jack Williamson. Zelazny had assembled the stories but had not written the introduction, notes, or a story of his own when he died. David Brin wrote the introduction, and James Frenkel contributed notes for each story. This anthology was published in May 1996.
Zelazny was actively working on
Donnerjack
in the months before he died. “The one I’m writing now is set in the 22
nd
Century and is a non-cyberpunk world datanet story. Which is very different from anything I’ve seen so far.”
[14]
Scattered sections of the novel’s first half are identical to portions of the hand-written manuscript residing in the Zelazny Archives at Syracuse University.
During his last two years Zelazny and Jane Lindskold worked on the concept for an sf computer game,
Chronomaster
. As noted in the afterword to “Sandow’s Shadow,”
Chronomaster
evolved from a Francis Sandow story that Zelazny had outlined and abandoned.
[88,89]
Although Zelazny’s name is more prominent on the box and related materials, Lindskold wrote the script and dialogue for the game.
[89]
She also wrote one novel based on the game, noting that “much of the novel
Chronomaster
is wholly mine, Roger died while that work was in progress.”
[89]
A planned trilogy never appeared, just this book.
Readers scoured Zelazny’s stories for hints about his religious beliefs. Similarly, they searched in vain for clues to his politics. “People have told me that they can’t tell my politics from my stories. The reason is something that probably smacks of perversity, save that I was the way that I am long before I’d thought it through: When the country’s political climate is conservative, I tend to grow liberal. When it swings the other way, I find myself feeling more conservative. More likely, it shows me as being basically mistrustful of both government and the temper of the times in general. I am aware of a somewhat paranoid element in my makeup when it comes to anyone or anything capable of exercising power over me.”
[90]
In a 1972 interview he elaborated: “I have no objection to the expression of political opinions in SF if they are an integral part of the story structure. I don’t at all appreciate their intrusion for the purpose of converting a story into a political tract, because I consider that intellectually insulting.”
[91]
He also noted “Yes, I feel that political ideas are fair game in a science fiction story and, yes again, I feel that more of them are appearing these days. Hearkening back to an oldie, I thought
Starship Troopers
a powerful story; and in the future, when I read a story containing political ideas, my judgments will still be aesthetic rather than moral ones.”
[92]
At a convention a few months before he died, Zelazny described his writing habits, which, except for a growing interest in computers, hadn’t changed much in thirty years. He sometimes used a desktop Macintosh for correspondence and for access to an early Zelazny newsgroup (transcripts reside in the archives), but not for writing stories. “I normally compose on a lap-held portable typewriter and I have a lady [Nancy Applegate] who does part-time clerical work for me. I give her the manuscript and have her run it through her computer and get her to give me disks if the publisher wants disks, or hard copy if they want hard copy. She’s afraid I’m going to learn word processing and put her out of a job. And I’m afraid I am… Another year or two at most and I’ll switch over.”
[14]
He dedicated
A Farce to Be Reckoned With
to Nancy Applegate “in thanks for blood, sweat and tears.”
[93]
His methodical writing habits forestalled writer’s block. “I try to write every day, I used to try to write four times a day, minimum of three sentences each time. It doesn’t sound like much but it’s kinda like the hare and the tortoise. If you try that several times a day you’re going to do more than three sentences, one of them is going to catch on. You’re going to say ‘Oh boy!’ and then you just write. You fill up the page and the next page. But you have a certain minimum so that at the end of the day, you can say ‘Hey I wrote four times today, three sentences, a dozen sentences.’ Each sentence is maybe twenty words long. That’s 240 words which is a page of copy, so at least I didn’t goof off completely today. I got a page for my efforts, and tomorrow it might be easier because I’ve moved as far as I have.”
[14]
He still felt compelled to write. “Yeah. I do. Not just for the mercenary end of things [writing to pay the bills] although that is a consideration; no, there’s something inside.”
[14]
He’d never been blocked, but, “I’ve slowed down. I can always write and that’s the thing with three sentences at a time, even if you’re feeling sluggish you can always get three sentences out. I’ve never had one of those really bad ones like some writers I’ve known. But there are times when you’ll be writing along and you’re not exactly sure what you want to do next. What I do is just slow down and think about it and it’s usually not long before you are back on track.”
[14]
He preferred to write short stories. “From an aesthetics standpoint you really have to pare down to the bone. You can’t write a throwaway scene. Whereas in a novel—see in my first book I could have Conrad walking along a street late at night trying to figure out what he’s going to do about some problem. And have him stop in a café and have him listen to a singer for about a page and then walk on… I prefer short stories for technical virtuosity, very compressed, very economical. How to say everything in as brief a span as possible.”
[14]