Customer Reviews

The Last Defender of Camelot

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a huge fan of the author and the original release of this brilliant short story collection, I am extremely disappointed in the new release. HUNT DOWN THE ORIGINAL. The new version omits all of Zelazny's forewords and, more damning, it actually omits some of the better stories found in the original collection. Silverburg mentions "Horsemen!" in the introduction, then the story is strangely absent. This is a travesty.

This is a great book of short stories that covers a whole range of subjects in fantasy and science fiction. The title story gives a hopeful continuation of the Arthur legend. The novelette, "And Now, for a Breath, I Tarry," is sheer poetry as it tells a Faustian tale using robots and computers instead of humans. It's definitely worth the time to find it.

This new collection of Zelazny stories, selected by Robert Silverberg, is a good one. It contains 3 of his stronger stories from earlier collections made by Zelazny himself: "For A Breath I Tarry," "The Last Defender of Camelot," and "24 Views of Mt. Fuji."

The book also contains several other worthy stories to create a collection that spans Zelazny's career. I suspect length issues caused the selection to be limited to only 11 stories. Still, as a long-time reader of Zelazny's work since the '60s, I think he would have been better represented if I Books could have made the collection bigger. New readers of Zelazny can't easily get a feeling for the magnitude of his accomplishments with such a small selection.

The absence of "He Who Shapes" and "Damnation Alley," for instance, is to be regretted. Still, the collection is good overall. New readers who wish to read more of Zelazny's work will simply need to scour 2nd hand bookstores.

Another, somewhat irksome problem is that the collection name, _The Last Defender of Camelot_, matches that of a collection that Zelazny published himself back in 1980. That collection was probably one of his 2 or 3 best, and it was also quite large. Giving this collection the same name seems an ill-considered choice, and it will result in some confusion that should have been avoided. Most regrettable, but oh, well. At least these stories are available again, and that is a plus.

Addendum 2011: The NESFA editions of the complete stories of Zelazny now satisfy the needs of people who want to read everything in the order that it was written in. Collections like this one are still useful for introducing readers to Zelazny's work.

Ihave owned several copys of this book , and given them as gifts, a practice that will stop now that this book is becoming hard to find. Filled with short stories, this book is wonderful to read. The only regret i have is that the story The last defender of camelot was not made into a full size novel. It really was a great book i highly recomend it.

This is worth it all 4 "For a Breath I Tarry," which is 1 of my all-time faves -- words fail me; it's hilarious, heart-wrenching; it'll change your world in 25 pages. "He Who Shapes" (aka "The Dream Master") is also outstanding. Also solid: "The Last Defender of Camelot," & a romantic heart-wringer called "The Engine at Heartspring's Center." There R many others which R at LEAST worth reading. Zelazny was a poet; I miss him. If U like him, U might also try early George R.R. Martin, early Samuel R. Delany, & some of Robert Silverberg's mellower work (like DOWNWARD TO THE EARTH, DYING INSIDE, THE BOOK OF SKULLS).

I discovered Roger Zelazny's writings long ago when I was young and impressionable, for which I am eternally grateful. This collection of his short stories is my personal favorite because the stories contained within are each unique and distinct, no two alike. Think of a banquet with many courses, each one delicious and completely different and you will know what I mean.

From "Passion Play" to the "Stainless Steel Leech", through "Comes Now the Power" and "Damnation Alley", Zelazny demonstrates his uncanny insight into the soul of man, machine, and beast. And in the title piece, "Last Defender of Camelot", he takes the over-told Arthurian legend and twists it into something fresh and original. Yum!

But my favorite story is "For a Breath I Tarry", a post-apocalyptic vision of hope and humanity springing from a most unlikely and accidental hero.

If science fiction, GOOD science fiction, is something you value, this book will please you for many years because just when you think you know everything these stories have to offer, some other facet or nuance will creep up behind you and remind you how strange and wonderful the universe really is.

BKA

This is the 1980 paperback edition of this anthology, which has been reprinted a number of times. It contains Zelanzy's own thoughts about each of the stories, a mini-introduction to each.

The more modern edition, Last Defender of Camelot (Ibooks Fantasy Classics), is missing some of the content in this volume.

The stories contained inside are

Passion Play ** like his first story
Horseman! ** felt incomplete
The Stainless Steel Leech ***, remember more about his intro anecdotes than the story
A Thing of Terrible Beauty, ****, interesting doomsday approach
He Who Shapes (novella) *** too psychologically artsy for me
Come Now the Power -- *****, my favorite of this collection
Auto-Da-Fe' -- *****, mechadors = original concept, truly wonderful tone and word choices
Damnation Alley (novella) -- ** didn't like the main character
For a Breath I Tarry -- *****, asks 'What is the nature of man?'
The Engine at Heartspring's Center -- *** tragic love
A Game of Blood and Dust -- **** neat concept of timelines
No Award -- *** an assassination
Is there a Demon Lover in the House? -- **** Jack sees a movie
The Last Defender of Camelot -- *** relies too much on Arthurian mythos for my taste
Stand Pat, Ruby Stone -- *** really alien
Halfjack -- *** needed to be longer, but got the point across

As far as short stories go, this collection was superior.

This is another of Roger Zelazny's anthologies, of a medieval romance type. Great read. 5 stars

This guy is one of the best Science Fiction fantasy writers ever. (he wrote the Amber series -- about 9 brothers and sisters who hate, love, ally with and betray each other for supreme mastery of a multi-universe) In this book this is a collection of his short stories. It's really quirky you never know what's going to happen next.

"The Last Defender" is an excellent collection of some of the master's best stories, including "24 Views of Mount Fuji," and one previously uncollected story. Zelazny did more than just write science fiction; he captured the essence of human emotion, even when writiing about computerized intelligences in the distant future (see, for example, "For A Breath I Tarry." )