Customer Reviews

Jack of Shadows (Signet)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This remains one of my favorite books, possibly the best work of fiction Zelazny ever wrote. At the time it was written (1971), the booklists were just starting to get their heads around the combined yet markedly different fields of fantasy and science fiction. Zelazny wrote a seemingly effortless work that casually crossed from the mists and shadows of the former to the reason and bright lights of the latter, then back again.

The basis of this freedom lies in the ambiguity at the heart of imagination and impulse to discover, along with the moral ambiguities of the antihero. Zelazny makes us feel the torments and trials of the leading character, Jack of Shadows, as he attempts to undo the treachery that leads him to the grave and then beyond it at the outset of the book. The coldness and utter devastation of his revenge brings up us against the limits of our own humanity, and at the moment of his own vulnerability as he reaps the chaos he has sown, our ineffectuality as well.

The scope of Zelazny's imagination is apparent in the architecture of the book's premise. A planet of human beings is rotating a sun with one hemisphere forever facing toward the light, and the other away. The world of light is the world of science, reason, and a very 1960's cosmopolitan culture with automobiles, computers, and universities. The world of darkness is the world of magic, reincarnation, feudalism, monsters, and an aristocracy of sorcerors eternally competing in petty fiefdoms.

A great source of interest and amusement lies in the differences between each culture, and how they view each other. The scientists of the light side maintain a shield to keep the sun from cooking the planet to a crisp; the sorcerors of the dark side maintain a spell to keep the planet from freezing. Neither side seems to believe that the other's science or magic is effective. On the twilight border between the worlds, an enigmatic figure stands guard, trapped in stone, waiting to be released by some world-changing catastrophe.

What is most fascinating about this premise is how un-clichéd the fantasy world is. Magic is used in the most practical, utilitarian way. People speak normally, and are motivated by very understandable pettiness and self-interest. The processes by which the world works are considered so natural by its inhabitants that it's easy to forget that there is anything unscientific about it. And the story rolls along in the most clear and economical way, allowing circumstances and outcomes to evolve naturally out of the characters and premise of each situation. It is highly operatic writing, and I mean that in the most complimentary way.

I would highly recommend this book, especially to an entry-level science fiction reader. Some devotees of fantasy might find it lacking in romance and high concepts, and its protagonist too hard to relate to. But it makes perfect sense in a science fiction arena as a book that works off of the logic of a set of presumptions, and then goes for broke on sheer entertainment. In that way, it anticipates the works of Stephen King and Anne Rice, though I would hasten to add that the Zelazny of this period was a man of fewer, more impactful words. There is not one boring page here for me.

Zelazny takes on another legend. This time he takes the Faust legend and reverses it. Faust was a reputable scientist who got in trouble by getting involved with magic. Shadow Jack is a rather disreputable magician who gets in trouble when he messes with science. If you had to plow through Goethe in college like I did, you will enjoy seeing how Zelazny takes characters and events from Faust and turns them upside down and inside out. If you never read Faust, read Jack of Shadows anyhow; it's a great story. If you have read it already, read it again; you'll always find something new. Zelazny could pack enough creative ideas into a single book to last a lesser writer a lifetime. Jack of Shadows has one of my personal favorites, a world with an `East pole' and a `West pole'.

In this novel, Zelazny takes on a number of themes and situations and subverts them all through an allusive, elliptical style that allows multiple interpretations. The title character is a man who is constantly between extremes - he's the master of shadow, in itself an intermediary between light (which in this book governs the world's `scientific half') and darkness (which governs the `magical half'). All the dichotomies Zelazny juggles with - light and darkness, science and magic, good and evil, etc. - are always part of the same whole, and the fact that both parts are usually seen as mutually exclusive fuels many of this book's episodes and produces some tension. Throughout the novel, hints are scattered about Jack's double life as a magus and semi-god in the darkness, and as a teacher in the light; meanwhile, Jack faces adversaries representative of light (elaborate machines) and of darkness (strange creatures), and he uses both technological knowledge and magical incantations during his quest. The book is another kind of initiatory voyage, since Jack has been there before but still must go through several challenges, and in the toughest of them he is often confronted with himself - either when put in a chamber of mirrors or when discussing with his own soul. His quest is ultimately a complex quest of self-discovery.

I like _Jack of Shadows_ a lot, despite its flaws. If, in its actual achievement, the book falls a little short of Zelazny's conception, that's at least partly because the book promises so much in the early going, but doesn't quite deliver on its promise.

Viewed in retrospect, this book seems like the last hurrah of Zelazny's early writing career. Roughly contemporaneous with the first couple of Amber books, it's a fast-developing science-fantasy,told with a lot of poetic imagery, and (for the most part) well written. (It seems a little choppy later in the book.)

As was common for a lot of Zelazny's work of this period, the language seems to echo Elizabethan and Jacobean poetry, and the author's control is always good. In pattern, it resembles a Jacobean period revenge tragedy -- another feature of his early work.The characters, the fantasy milieu (sort of scientifically justified), and the plot are good. At this stage in his career, Zelazny seemed to throw this sort of thing off in an almost offhand manner.

The first half is, I think, among the best things Zelazny wrote of this sort, fast-moving and colorful, with a fascinating protagonist about whom we want to know more. The protagonist, Shadow Jack, almost a supernatural force in human form, is first shown in a fantasy setting, where we learn something of his powers, his enemies, and his character as he falls into a trap and undergoes an ordeal from which he must somehow extricate himself. The ending of the first part is inconclusive, but points the way to the rest of the book. The story is sufficiently self-contained that it could have been published alone as an entertaining novella.

In the second part of the book, Jack relocates to the quotidian world of the "daylight" side to perform research "undercover" as it were. This is a nice notion in the way it ties the fantasy world of the first part to a mundane world not unlike our own; many fantasy novels suffer from a feeling of unreality proportional to their distance from the here-and-now, and Zelazny's trick neatly finesses that problem. It is interesting to note how the sense of shadow and darkness that accompanied Jack seems to follow him even into the "daylight" world in the form of mood and verbal imagery.

The color and inventiveness of the book almost carry the reader away -- but not quite. Unfortunately, after a good beginning of the second part of the book, it feels as if the writer was in too much of a hurry to reach the end. The book has sprung a leak or two and there is a loss of intensity or pressure, so to speak, yet the writer, seemingly oblivious to the problems, presses onward.

The last half of the book seems too perfunctory, as Zelazny leaves all sorts of possible developments on the floor, e.g., I think he could have gotten a lot more out of Jack's life in the daylight side. Here the book feels almost like an outline for a novel rather than the novel itself. It is not often that I want sf books of this period to have been longer, but this book is an exception, because much that it should have been is regrettably absent.

The final section, when Jack has returned to the dark side, works itself out with a certain inevitability, but I think it became a little too predictable.

A good book (however uneven), for all these qualms. I'd give it a 4.5 for the first part, then a 3-3.5 the rest of the way, with a final average a high 3 or low 4. It's useless to complain about what the writer might have given us. We've got all that Zelazny wanted to write on this subject. I'm happy to have the final product. I think admirers of Zelazny will mostly feel the same.

At the time of this writing, the book has been out of print for many years. That's a pity.

BACKROUND: the world is'nt spining, On lightside- science rules, On darkside- magic.

Jack of shadows is a darkside power- that means he's not only soul'les, has many lives and he fights dirty, like all darksiders, but he is a kind of a demon- his full powers are not clear. He's a sorcerer, a warrior, and a very acomplished thief.

The plot is about ShadowJack's revange on a few enemies, and his rise to power and domination of all darkside.

This is one of Zelazney's best works, though I believe "Lord of light" and "Creatures of light and darkness" are better. It's as good as the original five AMBER books more or less.

Anyway, ShadowJack himself is the best protagonist that ever came from under the master's pen. He is clearly Corwin's proto-type, but better than him nontheless. Cruel, strong, unforgiving, reptile-like, elusive. He reminds me of moorcock's Elric of Melenibone.

The spirit of the story is not as philosophic as some later books of Zelazney, though there are a few conversations with MorningStar (wait 'till you know him, he's great) that tends towards introspection as well as theology etc'. But even without heavy meanings behind every sentence, it's sheer delight to read a Zelazney book.

This is not a soft sci-fi book mind you, It's pure fantasy. VERY RECOMMENDED.

I have read this novel many times, and each time wanting more. Any Amber fan should read this because this world is the start of that world-construct.The relationships between Jack, Morningstar, and his soul, I feel, are relationships that are within ourselves. This fantasy is more than just swords and revenge but a true attempt to show our internal workings externalized

I defy anyone to read this book, and not fall in love with the world Zelazny has crafted. Shadow Jack is the epitomy of the anti-hero. the rogue with no heart of gold, and no soul. The setup of his world is irony at it's height. The Darkside world which is ruled by magic, monsters, and a medievil caste society, is souless. Wheras, the dayside world which is governed by light, and science, is driven by emotion. It is simply a masterpiece of fantasy fiction, I envy those who read it for the first time.

Jack of Shadows was one of, if not the, first fantasy book that I ever read. And it was what made me the fantasy reader that I am today. The world he creates, from the atmosphere of the planet right down to the villians are vividly detailed. Jack himself is an amazingly complex and interesting character. Truly a find: one of the greatest fantasy books the I've ever read. If there's a problem, it's that there wasn't a sequel. This one will keep you reading right up until the last period. Read this book, if it's the last thing that you do!

This is one of my favorite books. I cannot recommend it highly enough. The world that Zelazny creates is a vivid and imaginative one, full of beauty and ugliness, light and darkness, good and evil. The book is all about duality. It is about objects and their opposites, ideas and there antithesis. And at the center of the work is Shadowjack, a character whose presence betrays the ideas in the rest of the book. He is a shadow, inbetween light and darkness. He is the grey between the white and black of the world in which he lives. This book is brilliant on so many levels. As a simple work of fiction it is entertaining and brilliantly written. As an allagory it is beautifully crafted and deeply moving. A must read. Buy this book and share it with others.

In this book, the Dark Side of earth is controlled by Lords of territories, Lords who control everything in their domain and have great magical powers. These Lords are immortal and are reborn after they die. The price for these powers is a small thing - their souls ...

Jack of Shadows is a Lord whose domain is a wavering and changing thing, a domain who travels with him whever he goes. For Jack is the Lord of Shadows and wherever there are shadows Jack reigns supreme.

This book is a stylized, almost poetic piece of work. The struggles and fights are real enough but everything is done in a suble, poetic way. The characters, who sometimes lacks depth in Wizardworld, another early Zelazny book, are deep and engaging in this book.