LORD OF LIGHT By Roger Zelazny

Published : 1967
Pages : 317
Overall Mark : 6/10

Sam is a being whose soul is taken from Nirvana and returned to the planet he once lived on under the name of Buddha. There are a number of other beings on this world, seeming immortals with the ability for reincarnation who name themselves after Eastern Gods, and Sam has taken it upon himself to defeat their hunger for power and put an end to their limitless rule through the undermining their ways by making reincarnation either available for all or for none.

This is a very strange novel and is sometimes difficult to read. It takes most of its ideas from Buddhism as well as the Hindu religion, and each chapter feels more like a parable or morality tale than part of a cohesive whole. The basic ideas of the story have been copied on occasion in such movies as Stargate, but the idea of a renegade God who wants to destroy his fellow beings has a feel to it that is both timeless and powerful as it gives us a lead character who must be either very brave or very stupid, but in any case has a firm grip on what he believes is right and wrong.

BROTHER ODD By Dean Koontz

Published : 2006
Pages : 438
Overall Mark : 9/10

Odd Thomas has taken up residence in a monastery which tends to disables children in the hope that the seclusion from the outside world will free him of his cursed visions of ghosts of the dead. Unfortunately the monastery has ghosts of its own, one of which takes the form of a giant skeletal creature! It’s now left down to Odd to rally the troops and defend the monastery against the creature, whatever it’s origins may be…

This was far better than Forever Odd. Where that novel sort of lingered on the same situation, which didn’t seem to go anywhere, this novel was far more action packed and left me with a feeling of far more satisfaction. It’s good to see Koontz back on form, though I fear he may start to meander a bit with his apparent obsession with dogs being a possible plotline for Odd Hours, what with Boo the ghost dog becoming something of a lingering presence.

CITIES IN FLIGHT By James Blish

Published : 1970
Pages : 607
Overall Mark : 6/10

Colonel Paige Russell is hired by a large company to find soil samples on distant planets and bring them back to the company for study. His investigations soon lead him to discover some unusual facts about the bridges being built on Jupiter and an odd connection to an anti-gravity device called a spindizzy. Many years later, the spindizzies are being used to transport entire cities across the Universe in an attempt to both colonise other planets and also to get away from the Earth.

This is an odd science fiction novel to say the least. It seems to come from a political stand point and gives a lot of information without actually telling the reader a whole lot. It feels a lot longer than its 600+ pages, but can be entertaining in parts. I’d skim read the first section if I were you, the remainder of the books are a vast improvement.