Lord of Light

Lord of Light

Cover of first edition (hardcover)
Author	Roger Zelazny
Cover artist	Howard Bernstein
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Science fantasy
Published	1967 Doubleday
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	257 pp
OCLC	6446183

Lord of Light (1967) is a science fantasy novel by American author Roger Zelazny. It was awarded the 1968 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and nominated for a Nebula Award in the same category. Two chapters from the novel were published as novelettes in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1967.

The context of the novel – modern western characters in a Hindu-Buddhist-infused world – is reflected in the book's opening lines:

His followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god. He preferred to drop the - and the -atman, however, and called himself Sam. He never claimed to be a god, but then he never claimed not to be a god.

Zelazny noted, "Lord of Light was intentionally written so that it could be taken as a science fiction or a fantasy novel.

"On the one hand, I attempted to provide some justifications for what went on in the way of the bizarre; on the other, I employed a style I associate with fantasy in the telling of the story. I wrote it that way on purpose, leaving some intentional ambiguity, because I wanted it to lie somewhat between both camps and not entirely in either. I did this because I did not see much stuff being written at that time which fit that description; because I wanted to see whether I could do it; and because I was curious as to how such a book would be received."

Lord of Light is set on a planet colonized by some of the remnants of "vanished Urath," or Earth. The crew and colonists from the spaceship Star of India found themselves on a strange planet surrounded by hostile indigenous races and had to carve a place for themselves or perish. To increase their chances of survival, the crew has used chemical treatments, biofeedback and electronics to mutate their minds and create enhanced self-images, or "Aspects," that "strengthened their bodies and intensified their wills and extended the power of their desires into Attributes, which fell with a force like magic upon those against whom they were turned." The crew has also developed a technology to transfer a person's atman, or soul, electronically to a new body. This reincarnation by mind transfer has created a race of potential immortals and allowed the former crew members to institute the Hindu caste system, with themselves at the top.