[.ca] Lord Demon (ISBN 0380770237)

From Amazon.com:
Roger Zelazny (1937-1995) was a wizard of the pen: he won six Hugos and three Nebulas and is revered by science fiction and fantasy readers. Lord Demon is his last novel, the second of two projects unfinished at his death. Jane Lindskold, his partner and a fantasy author herself, completed it from some manuscript, a few notes, and conversations she'd had with him. Fans are often skeptical of posthumous collaborations: "It's not real Zelazny"--but Lord Demon comes darned close. It deserves space beside the Amber series, The Dream Master, and Lord of Light. As Zelazny once said of another novel: "It has all my favorite things--blood, love, fire, hate and a high ideal or two." Lord Demon is vintage Zelazny: a "scientific" fantasy built on favorite themes (the necessity of knowing oneself, of taking risks, and of accepting the vulnerability that comes with feeling passionately), drawing on East Asian, Irish, and hero's quest myths, and featuring his signature protagonist: erudite, smart-mouthed, detached, homicidal when roused but more often immersed in art, poetry, and the creation of alternate realities; unexpectedly kind to the weak and deeply romantic in his approach to women. The bad puns and wildly whimsical turns the story takes are also characteristic. Fans will hear echoes of Amber: Kai Wren and his demon colleagues represent Chaos; the gods live in Origin, imposing their will to order the planes of existence; the powerful demon He of the Towers of Light has sculpted his home to resemble Origin, and approaching it is much like walking the Pattern; and so on. What's unique is what Kai Wren learns in Lord Demon. The immortal doesn't fail, nor does he return triumphant to marry and rule his folk. This hero and the author finally accept the limits of superpower and the pleasures in being "only human." ---Nona Vero

Chronique amazon.fr:
Kai Wren est un démon d'ordinaire courtois. Mais lorsqu'il découvre O'Keefe, son fidèle serviteur, pendu à un arbre, il commence par réduire à néant (au plein sens du terme) plusieurs des créatures qui l'ont tué, arrachant au plus vif d'entre eux le nom du commanditaire. Un duel plus tard, heureusement interrompu, il apparaît qu'il s'agit d'une fausse piste. Rebelotte avec le second nom cité. Il apparaît assez vite que l'enjeu n'est pas une banale vengeance : certains sorciers ont l'intention d'envahir la Terre et de la conquérir ! Lord Démon va avoir du fil à retordre... On l'a compris, le lecteur n'attendra pas un roman complexe, à l'intrigue ardue, mais il se distraira, pour peu qu'il accepte de grosses ficelles et des plaisanteries appuyées, sur fond d'occultisme chinois. Décédé en 2001, Roger Zelazny avait - comme souvent en tel cas - de nombreux ouvrages en cours. C'est son épouse, Jane Lindskold, qui se charge désormais de les achever. Pour le plus grand bonheur des inconditionnels de Zelazny. --Stéphane Nicot

Wonderful start, but alas...:
As others have pointed out, Lord Demon starts out in a manner fitting of Zelazny. The ideas and the style, the writing, are everything one could want. Truth be told, the first several chapters through, that nostalgic feel of classic Zelazny was so strong, I could have wept. Okay maybe that's a bit too dramatic, but you get the idea.. :P In any case, there was suddenly a point when it hit, that the book just lost it and went downhill. It was actually quite a noticeable division. The last part in particular was hastily thrown together, far too many easy outs, and simply badly executed. I'm tempted to blame all that on Lindskold, but its probably unfair to pass judgement in such a blanket fashion, especially since Zelazny did write some pretty bad (IMHO) books towards the end... So I guess I'll just leave it as a book with a beginning that was a joy to read and an ending that does it quite an injustice. Zelazny fans should still read it though, because there is some good stuff in there, more than enough to remind us of how much poorer the world is with his passing.

Not his best:
While this book is certainly not a bad read, it did disapoint me a bit. I expected really good things from this book since I greatly enjoyed "Donnerjack", (another of the Zelazy, Lindskold "collaborations"), but it didn't deliver. Some of that Zelazy charm was there, but the characters just didn't jump of the pages like they do in "Donnerjack" or in other Zelazy's works. I guess everything can't be as good as the Amber books or "Lord of Light." So I guess I'd say, not bad, but not fantastic.

Lindskold - a Zelazny clone? Nah, not likely...:
Kai Wren, Lord Demon, enchanter and bottlemaker, is brought out of seclusion by the loss of a dear friend. Digging deeper, he discovers a devious plot of conquest he himself may not be able to thwart. One big problem - after centuries of hermitage, can he still tell which of his allies are faithful, and which are not? Lindskold has nothing of Zelazny's subtlety and clarity of vision, and turning over the master's unfinished work to a mere apprentice leads to nothing short of disaster. I believe that Zelazny intended the demons' social structure in "Lord Demon" to reflect - to a degree - the social hierarchy of an immigrant minority. For example, while Kai Wren, in his human guise, manifests as a dignified, cultured gentleman, scrub demons - the lowest rung of the demon totem pole - are filthy, uncouth, and speak in broken English. This fairly potent theme, played over a wholesome adventure tale in the best Zelazny fashion, would doubtless make a heck of a book. Linskold denies us that. Instead of a riveting yarn steeped in oriental symbolism, the story she spins is so absurdly tangled that it's impossible to keep all of it straight, and yet so absolutely repetitive and mundane that there is really no point to continue reading. Her characters are devoid of any semblance of humanity, and she develops the plot by methods that seem extremely amateurish: the story can be easily laid out in schematic form; quite obviously, Lindskold drew an "idea tree" and then just expressed it in words. She strings together events hoping that quantity is quality, and peppers them with such tired plot devices as dinner-table strategy sessions. Furthermore, "Lord Demon" bears an uncanny similarity to Zelazny's own "Nine Princes in Amber." Lindskold even hazards a blunt allusion to the latter work ("Didn't something like this happen in some book?..") Indeed, both novels follow a similar pattern: a powerful character is caught unaware, robbed of his powers and imprisoned in the human world, but on the strength of his own virtues he regains his rightful position. Fortunately for "Nine Princes," it begins at "Lord Demon's" midpoint, whereas in "Lord Demon" the reader has to get over a very promising prelude that Lindskold quickly abandons. And whereas the fallen Amberite in Zelazny's classic reasserts his rights through his own qualities, Lindskold's Kai Wren depends on his friend's contrived magical abilities all the way to the finale. Lindskold lacks Zelazny's subtle touch and his deep understanding of different cultures and personalities. Her characters never come off the page as anything other than stereotypes, and the oriental atmosphere the old master establishes is quickly reduced to quick-fire voleys of esoteric trivia. Lindskold takes minor characters Zelazny never intended to play cardinal roles, and creates "a band of unlikely adventurers" from them (another tired cliche). Essentially, she takes a story with a heart and soul and turns it into modern fantasy fluff. And modern fantasy fluff isn't something I care to read after Zelazny's highly intriguing fifty-page teaser. I'll read "Donnerjack" eventually, but I'm dreading to start it.

Kite, With Broken String:
Zelazny was one of the field's premier science fiction and fantasy writers from the mid-sixties to the nineties, giving us some truly unique visions and always told in his own voice, a voice colored around the edges by cynicism and a touch of humor, but mainly couched in a sense of legend and archetype. This book begins in very typical Zelazny fashion, introducing us to the world of literal demons, mainly drawn from Chinese legends. And the introduction will grab you; its setting and concept are very well drawn and captivating. The story is told from the point of view of Kai Wren, also known as Lord Demon and the Godslayer, so named as the only demon to ever defeat a god in their long running war. But as we meet him, we find an artisan and something of a hermit, who has spent the last 120 years designing and fashioning a magical bottle, who has feelings for his human servant (something demons aren't supposed to have). When his servant is murdered by some scrub demons during a routine run to Earth for pizza, Kai is galvanized to action, first to obtain revenge on the perpetrators, and later, as just who the real brains behind the murder becomes more and more of a puzzle, he finds himself working as an investigator, slowly developing friendships with other humans and demons as he gathers information. If the starting scenario had been consistently carried through the entire book, this might have been a very good novel. Unfortunately, after about page 70 or so, it deteriorates into very ordinary developments, as the demons are more and more portrayed as having very human qualities and vices and several rather pointless additions are made to the initial idea. The old idea of alternate universes accessed by 'gates' becomes one of the main plot movers (even if a couple of these universes are populated by hangers and socks its still not very original), most of the 'gods' are only sketchily drawn and seem remarkably weak to be gods, and most of the 'puzzle' the average reader will figure out long before Kai Wren does. The final battle is certainly not Zelazny in his prime, as it is a complete cop-out, a retreat to 'this is fantasy, anything goes', and will severely disappoint the reader. I don't know whether the above problems are those of Zelazny not having time before his death to completely flesh out his story idea and correct perceived problems or are those of having the novel completed by Jane Lindskold with her own ideas that don't mesh very well with Zelazny's original concept. But the net result, while still very readable and good for some mild entertainment, does not compare to the marvelous tales an earlier Zelazny gave us, from Lord of Light and This Immortal to Jack of Shadows.

Easy to tell Zelazny didn't finish this himself...:
What can I say, I'm a BIG fan of Zelazny - However, this book is NOT really a Roger Zelazny Novel. The books starts like a classical novel by the master: Kai Wren, a Demon, also called "Lord Demon" because he's the only demon to ever kill a god in a one on one combat, finds that his personal servant has been murdered. The murder investigation causes him to suspect that there is more than meets the eye to this affair, and that the entire Demon-God status quo is in danger. What I love about this book, and all of Roger Zelazny's book, is that there's a new "mythology" in them. The worlds described in his novels are filled with their own legends, their own creatures and myths. Nevermind that so many of those are repeated again and again in these novels ("Lord Demon" reminded me a lot of Amber's second series - books 6 to 10). For example, in "Lord Demon", Kai Wren is also a bottle maker. However, his bottles aren't just bottles: they take centuires to complete and can have an entire universe contained inside them! If it's all so great, why did I give the book only 3 stars? Well, the book starts really well, but then it loses all of its momentum, it turns into a definite non Zelazny novel (Dimensions of socks? Dimensions of Coat Hangers? COME ON!!!), and the end is stupid, not to mention boring. I'm sure if Zelazny wrote it from beginning to end it would've been a masterpiece - as well as a beginning of an awesome new series. But the way it is right now, the book promises a lot, but does not keep its promise. My final verdict: read it, but expect to be highly disappointed halfway through the book. However if you're a Roger Zelazny fan - read it, you'll probably still love (most of) it.