Customer Reviews

The Changing Land

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recommend that you read this book after Dilvish the Damned. It gives it more meaning that way. I really love this book! As a D&D player, it is hard to read Zelazny without thinking of D&D because his stories are so filled with the fantastic elements that make that game fun. I couldn't help but feel at the end that the "gods playing with dice" were actually Gamers dicing over the fate of their characters. In any case, this is a splendid book with lots of heavy metaphysics to chew on: The timeless castle that ends up speeding through time and back around again, the various rooms and mirrors out of time, and the various moral leanings of all the charactersincluding the castle itself. The various fantasy elements seemed cobbled from everywhere, but overwhelmingly Lovecraftian: Living walls of a sentient house, a tentacled Old One kept in a pit by mortals, horrific landscapes, shimmering mirrors, and slithering demons. It is a wonderful book. Dilvish is back, the same as ever. Black gets slighted a bit, to throw the spotlight more on Dilvish, I think. The various other mages that make up the cast are all interesting.

Highly recommended!

This book has the grandest theme, longest sentence, and the most strangely-named demon in all of fantasy.

Actually I'm not positive about the longest sentence, because I haven't read the complete works of H. P. Lovecraft, but Zelazny must come close.

The demon's name is Melbriniononsadsazzersteldregandishfeltselior.

The author includes a touching love story between Queen Semirama and a tentacled semi-elder-god who lives in a cesspit at the bottom of Castle Timeless. The Queen is a hard character to like since she is indifferent to prisoners chained in the castle dungeon, and only talks to her slave when she has to work in her back-story. She had been raised from the dust by the evil sorcerer Jelerak in order to communicate with the ancient denizen of the cesspit, who is a source of tremendous occult power even if he does resemble a gigantic, smelly octopus.

The theme of "The Changing Land" is the death and rebirth of the Universe, and the meddling of the Elder Gods in human, elvish, and demonic affairs. Some of the characters, such as Dilvish the Damned and his hell-horse, Black spring fully-formed onto the pages. They were actually born in this author's earlier short stories, collected in the book, "Dilvish, the Damned." It might be easier to read "Dilvish, the Damned" before you dive into "The Changing Land" because the latter fantasy has lots and lots of characters who act as though we should know them. There are gods, demi-gods, semi-demi-gods, black and white magicians, heroes, elves, mechanical horses, demons, and at least one Queen who you'll have to sort out and remember. A couple of them change bodies at least once, which doesn't make it any easier on the reader.

Castle Timeless is the center of the action, and the goal of every power-hungry sorcerer who has a staff to quaver at its numerous demons. Its corridors are a constantly changing maze, and the land surrounding it is a mad god's dream, exploding volcanoes of mud, hedged with flame, and alive with winged monkeys---

Oops, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

Zelazny had completed his fifth Amber novel by the time he wrote "The Changing Land" and there is a definite Amberish glow to the mutating landscape and castle of this book. Once you have the characters straight in your mind, it is a wonderful read. I can't think of another author who has the chutzpah to take his readers on a trip through the Death of the Universe, and back out again through the next Big Bang.

This book has the grandest theme, longest sentence, and the most strangely-named demon in all of fantasy.

Actually I'm not positive about the longest sentence, because I haven't read the complete works of H. P. Lovecraft, but Zelazny must come close.

The demon's name is Melbriniononsadsazzersteldregandishfeltselior.

The author includes a touching love story between Queen Semirama and a tentacled semi-elder-god who lives in a cesspit at the bottom of Castle Timeless. The Queen is a hard character to like since she is indifferent to prisoners chained in the castle dungeon, and only talks to her slave when she has to work in her back-story. She had been raised from the dust by the evil sorcerer Jelerak in order to communicate with the ancient denizen of the cesspit, who is a source of tremendous occult power even if he does resemble a gigantic, smelly octopus.

The theme of "The Changing Land" is the death and rebirth of the Universe, and the meddling of the Elder Gods in human, elvish, and demonic affairs. Some of the characters, such as Dilvish the Damned and his hell-horse, Black spring fully-formed onto the pages. They were actually born in this author's earlier short stories, collected in the book, "Dilvish, the Damned." It might be easier to read "Dilvish, the Damned" before you dive into "The Changing Land" because the latter fantasy has lots and lots of characters who act as though we should know them. There are gods, demi-gods, semi-demi-gods, black and white magicians, heroes, elves, mechanical horses, demons, and at least one Queen who you'll have to sort out and remember. A couple of them change bodies at least once, which doesn't make it any easier on the reader.

Castle Timeless is the center of the action, and the goal of every power-hungry sorcerer who has a staff to quaver at its numerous demons. Its corridors are a constantly changing maze, and the land surrounding it is a mad god's dream, exploding volcanoes of mud, hedged with flame, and alive with winged monkeys---

Oops, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

Zelazny had completed his fifth Amber novel by the time he wrote "The Changing Land" and there is a definite Amberish glow to the mutating landscape and castle of this book. Once you have the characters straight in your mind, it is a wonderful read. I can't think of another author who has the chutzpah to take his readers on a trip through the Death of the Universe, and back out again through the next Big Bang.

The Changing Land is not so much a sequel to Dilvish the Damned. The book is less like Eye of Cat and more like Changeling and Madwand. The writing style is more story-based and less of a poetic narrative. I particularly enjoyed the character "Black", a demon in the form of an armored horse that Dilvish made a pact with. I found the depth and breadth of characters refreshing. This is a great read, but don't expect a seamless continuation of Dilvish the Damned.

I loved "Dilvish the Damned" and re-read it from time to time, enjoying it all over again. This book, pretty much a sequel to "Dilvish the Damned" I read once. That should say something right there. There were some really cool images and I enjoyed the first half of "The Changing Land". However, the end was somewhat disjunct and the tone and writing of the book was very different from that of "Dilvish the Damned". Read this book if you love Zelazny's writing. Have you already read at least 18 different books by Zelazny? If so, maybe give this a try. If not, pass this one by for something else.

I don't usually have patience for fantasy, preferring hard SF. However when the fantasy is written by Roger Zelazny, that is quite a different matter. Many of his greatest books have a considerable element of fantasy (the Amber series, Lord of Light, Creatures of Light and Darkness, Isle of the Dead to name but a few). And he brings to the field more discipline and tighter plotting than you would normally expect in a fantasy novel. "The Changing Land" is a sequel to the short story collection "Dilvish the Damned", and as might be expected the novel form gives Zelazny much more scope to outline and develop some really interesting ideas. The basic proposition - outlined in "Dilvish the Damned" - is that the Elf-descended warrior Dilvish once crossed the mighty wizard Jelerak, who turned his body into a statue and condemned his soul to Hell. Having escaped, with the aid of the steel horse Black (who, it is hinted, is a human being in magical guise), Dilvish heads straight for Jelerak's fortress stronghold Castle Timeless with the fixed intention of killing him. But Jelerak is away - seemingly detained by some unknown but powerful force - and the castle has been taken over by his apprentice Baran and the resurrected queen Semirama, while all the land around is periodically racked by lethal magic "storms" projected by the mad Elder God Tualua, the castle's longest-standing resident. Long before Jelerak's much-feared return, events in Castle Timeless have taken a violent and unpredictable turn. And then Dilvish weighs in...

If you enjoyed any of Zelazny's fantastic novels, especially the Amber series, you will find "The Changing Land" equally entertaining.

Read this book, hellfire read anything by Zelazny, the man just didn't know how to write a bad novel. It was a shame to lose him when we did.

The Changing Land is a fun read ending the stories of Dilvish collected in "Dilvish the Damned".

Having finally tracked down his mortal enemy, the sorcerer who sent him to Hell, Dilvish and his comrade Black must cross a land best described as a dark magic hurricane. Reality there is not fixed and nothing is what it seems. Fire demons, roaming spells and even a field of maniacal giant hands stand between Dilvish and his vengence.

My only complaint is the end is a bit anti-climactic but the adventures woven by Zelazny here are still enough for me to rate this one 4 stars.

Read "Dilvish the Damned" first and then this one right after and you won't be disappointed.

Reading this page and other reviews has been illuminating. I had no idea that this book was even sort of a sequel to anything and that goes a long way towards explaining why I felt like I was missing so much backstory. Although, to be fair, one often feels that way in Zelazny novels. One of the things that he was so good at as a writer was dropping the reader into the middle of the action and helping them swim instead of letting them sink.

It isn't my favorite Zelazny. I am giving it four stars because I do not really believe that the man could write a bad book. There were some hackneyed bits but there were also some really lovely moments-- Black is a classic character and I really enjoyed him.

So. Pick this up if you have read the first book which I have not read-- I guess I would look for Dilvish the Damned first, since this may make more sense. There are probably better places to start with RZ if you are new to his work.