Roger Zelazny

Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 - June 14, 1995) was a United States writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels. He won the Nebula award three times and the Hugo award six times, including twice for novels: Lord of Light (1968) and ...And Call Me Conrad (1966) (which was later published as This Immortal).

Related Topics:
May 13 - 1937 - June 14 - 1995 - United States - Fantasy - Science fiction - Short stories - Novel - Nebula award - Hugo award - Lord of Light - ...And Call Me Conrad - This Immortal

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Zelazny was born in Euclid, Ohio, an only child of Josephine Sweet and Joseph Frank Zelazny (Żelazny). His father had emigrated from Poland when he was a young man and met Josephine Sweet in Chicago, Illinois. In high school, Roger Zelazny was the editor of the school newspaper and joined the Creative Writing Club. In the fall of 1955, he began attending Western Reserve University and graduated with a B.A. in English in 1959. He was accepted to Columbia University in New York and specialized in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, graduating with a M.A. in 1962.

Related Topics:
Euclid, Ohio - Poland - Chicago, Illinois - 1955 - Western Reserve University - 1959 - Columbia University - New York

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Zelazny had a rare gift for conceiving and portraying worlds with plausible magic systems, powers, and supernatural beings. His captivating descriptions of the nuts and bolts of magical workings in his imagined worlds set his fantasy writing apart from otherwise similar authors. His science fiction was highly influenced by mythology, poetry, including the French, British, and American classics of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and by wisecracking detective fiction. His novels and short stories often involved characters from classical myth, depicted in the modern world.

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A frequent theme is gods or people who become gods. Another recurrent theme is the "absent father" (or father-figure). This occurs most notably in the Amber novels, in the first series of which Corwin searches for his absent father Oberon, while in the second series it is Corwin himself who is the absent father. However, the theme also recurs in Roadmarks and Doorways In the Sand (in the latter, the main character's parents are dead but his uncle fills the role of the "absent father").

Related Topics:
Amber - Roadmarks - Doorways In the Sand

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He was a prolific writer and, with the exception of the Amber novels (and the related pairs Changeling/Madwand, Isle of the Dead/To Die in Italbar, and Dilvish the Damned/The Changing Land), created a completely new setting for each book.

Related Topics:
Changeling - Madwand - Isle of the Dead - To Die in Italbar - Dilvish the Damned - The Changing Land

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