Customer Reviews

Dilvish the Damned

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Zelazny is best known for his AMBER series, as well as LORD OF LIGHT. DILVISH is a compilation of several short stories that Zelazny wrote so each section is broken into different chapters. The pace moves well enough but not as is expected today in the typical 1000 page fantasy epic.

That said there are several fantastic elements in these stories which I rarely find in later fantasy novels so, for that alone, the reading is worth it.

Remember, his best tale would be the first five books of AMBER and DILVISH, THE DAMNED is somewhere between pretty good and good, but not great, like Amber.

Moorcock's pulp stories, which were later put into slim novels, is similar in pacing to that of DILVISH, THE DAMNED.

I recommend that you read this book first before you read the Changing Land-which also features the adventures of Dilvish.

The is a very uneven book, no doubt because it is a collection of short stories and fill-in chapters ranging from 1967 to 1982. Still, it has its moments particularly in the two longest chapters, Tower of Ice and Devil and the Dancer. Here, Zelazny was at full power, and I whipped through the book, which had been slow going up to that point. Dilvish is best enjoyed like Conan or Elric-- not for literary style or depth, but for sheer action, adventure and imagination. Of course, I came to like Black, the metal horse from Hell, best of all. He reminds me of Spock in a way. I usually end up saying that a Zelazny book leaves me wanting more, and that was the case this time. Luckily there is more-- The Changing Land.

This is one of my all-time favorite works of fiction!

The story concerns Dilvish the Damned's quest for revenge. The backdrop to the story is this: Jhelerak, formerly a white magician who challenged Hohorga the Maleficient and was defeated, has lapsed back into evil after Dilvish's ancestor, Selar, killed the Maleficient One.

Much later Dilvish prevents Jhelerak from sacrificing a young woman and Jhelerak turns Dilvish's body to stone, sending his soul to the deepest Hell the dark mage can manage. Centuries later, Dilvish sells his soul to the supernatural creature Black in return for escape and getting vengence on Jhelerak - an aim which has become Dilvish's obsession. Just as Jhelerak was completely changed by the actions of the Maleficient, Dilvish riding a black mount "from hell" and equipped with the blackest of magics, the Awful Sayings and the eyes of a demon, returns for vengence. Although a work of "high adventure" the book is filled with philosophical considerations combined with bits of humor ["The Devil with them all, Dilvish the Damned" says one anti-Hero referring to the possibility that gods and devils might simply be alter-egos of one another! And "'Damned if you do and damned if you don't,' said Dilvish the Damned, dismounting" referring to Dilvish's tendency to risk his life for damsels in distress].

Somewhat similar to (but better than) Jirel of Joiry or Elric of Melnibone, this is well worth the read.

Title: Dilvish, The Damned
Author: Roger Zelazny
The edition reviewed is the Del Rey paperback of Nov. 1982 which collectes all seven of the Dilvish short stories: Passage to Dilfar (c 1964), Thelinde's Song (c 1965), The Bells of Shoredan (c 1966), A Knight for Merytha (c 1967), The Places of Aache (c 1979), A City Divided, The White Beast (c 1979), Tower of Ice (c 1981), Devil and the Dancer, Garden of Blood (c 1979), and Dilvish, the Damned.

Dilvish is the last of his house which had been stricken from the peerage because of several generations of inter-marriage with Elf-kind. Bereft of his lands,he turns his hand to many occupations. At a time when he was soldiering and had just finished participating in a great battle, he comes across a situation he must try to correct. Being of the High Blood, he is not killed when he breaks Jelerak's circle trying to rescue the girl being used in a sorcerous rite. But he is sufficiently weakened that Jelerak is able to turn his body to stone and imprison his spirit in Hell for over two centuries.

The first story picks up Dilvish at his defeat at Portaroy where he had returned from Hell and also introduces us to his companion Black, a demonic metal horse. The last story ends with a young woman rushing from the woods, imploring Dilvish for help. Black is warning Dilvish "the woman will stab you in the back" and Dilvish is replying "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" as he goes to help her. In between, there is plenty of action as Dilvish leads an army in defense of the city of Difar, encounters Cal-den, his old tormenter in Hell, stays a while with a vampire, tries to win the game forced on him by two sorcerers, and other adventures on his quest for vengeance against Jelerak.

This is one of Zelazny's sword and sorcery series of stories. The remaining story in the series is a novel called The Changing Land. If you enjoy sword and sorcery, I think you will enjoy this book and The Changing Land. The style of writing reminds me more of the writing in EC Tubb's Dumerest or Karl Edward Wagner's Kane series or that of John Brunner in The Traveler in Black than it does of the tales of swashbuckling exploits of violent, amoral swordsmen like that of Robert E Howard, Lin Carter, et. al. As I've mentioned before, I re-read and this is one of the books I'll keep around to read again just because it is, IMO, one of the better examples of this style of writing.

Normally I don't go for Gonads-the-Barbarian clones, but "Dilvish the Damned" (1982) is a collection of short stories that forms a prequel to "The Changing Land" (1981), which is one of my favorite Zelazny fantasies.

Plus Dilvish the Damned has a very cool demon horse named Black, who supplies most of the brains and brawn in these eleven stories. Dilvish spent a couple of years in hell, courtesy of the evil sorcerer, Jelerak, and his gray matter seems to have gotten a bit scrambled. That makes him easy prey for every sorceress-in-distress who falls his way and/or out of her décolleté dress.

Black is very philosophical about these encounters.

Zelazny tossed off these stories in the midst of writing five of his Amber novels, from 1964 to 1981. Like the Amber novels, there is lots of flashy sword-play, and slightly wittier dialogue than is to be found in most thews-thaumaturgy-and-thwack'em tales. The earlier stories such as "Passage to Dilfar" (1964) and "Thelinde's Song" (1965) tend to be written with the verbs in front of the subjects, as in "...neither were his eyes the eyes of Men," and there are mighty curses within. One of my favorites, to be uttered in the full heat of battle, is "May he thrash in the darkness of the darknesses for the ages of ages."

These stories don't always flow one into another as many were written from year to year for the fantasy magazines. Dilvish acquires an invisible sword and a legion of ghosts in one tale, "The Bells of Shoredan" (1966), loses the legion but keeps the sword in the next, "A Knight for Merytha" (1967). He permanently loses the sword in the following stories (well, it was invisible). I'd recommend "Dilvish, the Damned" (1982) for serious Zelazny fans only, or those who are interested in the prequel to "The Changing Land."

I picked up this book by Roger Zelazny while looking for other sci-fi at a local used book store. The version I have has a terrible cover right out of the artistically challenged 1970's. What is it about that period that produced such awful art in every field? But as the saying goes, don't judge it by it's cover. This is a great book of short stories that I came into with great scepticism. I don't read just anybody, I like references. Wolfe led me to Borges and John. C. Wright, Phillip Dick and Jack Vance.

I was looking for something else that has escaped me, when instead the Zelazny book found me instead. He is an artful writer, sort of like Vance without all the artifice. In some sense it reminded me of Vance's Dying Earth and by extension Wolfe's Torturer books. But Zelazny has an interesting since of humor, and whereas Vance's Dying Earth seems to have nothing but scoundrels in it, Dilvish exudes a certain nobility in his action and motivation.

Since these stories were not written into a coherent whole, there are large gaps in the action and what happened has to be pieced together, but I like that. The style rings more true to life, where we lack information and have to guess at what is going on around us. Looking at the book I expected a lot of stuff about hell and demons and things, but really it doesn't get much of a treatment. Dilvish was sent to hell for a few centuries by an evil wizard but has somehow escaped (we aren't told how) and is now out for revenge. The entire series of episodes is in some sense his quest to find his tormentor. The opening pages made me think that I was in store for some over the top, quasi-Medieval romance with absurd language and unbelievable characters, but the stories get better as they go. This is light fare, but entertaining, and skillfully done.

This is one of my favorite books by Zelazney. Purely in the fantasy realm, of course. I was somewhat intrigued, yet simultaneously taken aback by the title. But you soon find out why this green-clad dude is referred to as "damned". Dilvish is one of my favorite non-human protagonists. And if you liked more recent books like "Bring me the Head of Prince Charming", you will like this book. I have reread "Dilvish the Damned" several times already and will probably read it again and again in the coming years. A fun and memorable book.

For those of us who have read and re-read the Amber stories, Lord of Light, Doorways in the Sand, Isle of the Dead, and Roger Zelazny's other masterpieces, this light collection of fantasy stories comes as a welcome stopgap. Written in much the same frame of reference as the Amber series, "Dilvish, the Damned" is a set of 11 separate tales about Dilvish, a master swordsman reputedly of Elfish blood, who has escaped from Hell and rides a magical steel horse called Black. Four of the stories were originally published in the 1960s, and the others a decade or so later, so it is not surprising that they are only loosely connected. Personally, I don't usually read fantasy because I feel it is not a disciplined enough genre - authors are always free to produce some deus ex machina to rescue their heroes (and their plots). But I make an exception for writers as good as Zelazny, because they impose their own discipline. Even though "Dilvish the Damned" is full of sorcerers and demons, zombies and vampires, magic and spells - as well as the ever-present sword and sandals - it all holds together remarkably well. True, there is no discernible common theme - how could there be when so many of the stories were independently written? - but each is entertaining enough, and the characters of Dilvish and a handful of friends (and foes) are sufficient to bind the collection together. It's best not to read straight through, however, but treat this like a box of chocolates - sample one or two, then put the lid back for a while.

Dilvish was one of RZ's favorite characters because he kept writing stories about him for nearly 20 years.

This collection of short stories centers around Dilvish's quest for revenge against the sorcerer who sent him to Hell. The stories are arranged in chronological order rather than publication date and good thing too because it almost feels like a standalone novel.

The best and worst thing about this book is that you follow him and his comrade Black through one adventure and perilous spot after another, get almost to the point wherte Dilvish is to meet his mortal enemy in combat and the book comes to an end. Argh!

This book is a prequal to "The Changing Land" & I highly reccomend you read them in series to find out how it all turns out (so you won't go mad)!

Superficially in the form of a novel, this is actually an episodic and open-ended series of sword and sorcery yarns, all featuring Dilvish, a more-or-less decent hero, and his smarter companion, a demonic iron horse named Black, and his ongoing quest for revenge against the evil wizard who once banished him to Hell. The focus, however, is neither on the origins of his quest nor its resolution, but rather upon the adventures along the way.

This was first published in novel format in 1982, so it is sometimes called a "prequel" to 1981's "The Changing Land", which also features Dilvish. I would object to that characterization. These stories were written and published first (as individual stories). Moreover, I thought the ending here was perfect. In my view this is *the* Dilvish Book, and the inferior novel "The Changing Land" is strictly optional.

Zelazny is better known for his AMBER series, but I liked this better. As here, the AMBER books are highly readable, with a good-natured and humorous vibe, but I thought the AMBER series ultimately collapsed under the dreadful weight of Zelazny's too-intimate interest in reality-bending and reality-denying sorcery. I much prefer these stories, more in the style of traditional sword-and-sorcery, wherein the hero himself is not really much of a magician, such that the fantasy remains anchored to a relatively normal center. Dilvish is more interested in slaying wicked sorcerers than emulating them, and even revenge must take a back-seat to rescuing damsels in distress.