BooksOfTheMoon

The Dream Master

By Roger Zelazny

Rating: 2 stars

This is a story of a Shaper, Charles Render, who is part artist, part psychologist, as he shapes people’s dreams to try and cure psychological problems. His latest case is unique: Eileen Shallot, a blind psychologist who wants to become a Shaper herself but must be cured of her sight-neurosis before she can begin.

Being a book about dreams, this book had plenty of dream imagery, whole sections that didn’t seem to fit into the main storyline, but which made sense in their own dream-logic. The end was fittingly odd and suffused with dream-logic as Render’s fears started infusing his sessions with Eileen leading to a very strange and, for me, unsatisfying, ending, although it fits with the themes of the book very well.

Book details

Publisher: Ace Books
Year of publication: 1966

The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth

By Roger Zelazny

Rating: 3 stars

This is a collection of short stories from reasonably early in Zelazny’s career and there’s a wide span both in terms of size (one is almost novella sized, another is just over a page long) and scale. There’s something here for everyone, although I particularly enjoyed The Keys to December and The Great Slow Kings, two very different stories.

Book details

Year of publication: 1965

The Chronicles of Amber (The Chronicles of Amber, #1-5)

By Roger Zelazny

Rating: 3 stars

Amber is the only ‘real’ world, casting ‘shadows’ that its royal family can manipulate to travel through. Now the King has vanished and the royal family is tearing itself apart for succession to the throne, whilst being menaced by powerful foes. Can they survive, or will the forces of chaos destroy the universe?

This series of five books started off slowly. I almost gave up after the second book, but I’m glad that I persevered since it picked up the pace with book three and got going. Worth reading, but you have to stick with it.

Book details

ISBN: 9781857987263
Publisher: Gollancz
Year of publication: 1978

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