Customer Reviews

Roadmarks

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recently reread Roadmarks. I had forgotten what a great (but short!) book it is. Highly recommended for all science fiction and fantasy fans, and even those who like a good road story.

It has lots of famous cameos - whom not all I could identify -- and some great twists and turns. I only wish it had been longer or had spawned a sequel! This is an extremely easy book to read, and has a great lead character with the requisite mechanical side-kick. It's so good you'll wish the book was twice as long.

I first read this one in 1979, and was rather taken with it at that time. I truely enjoyed it. Recently, I came across it in a box of books in my attic, dusted it off (good grief, a mouse had had it's way with it - groan) and read it again. As with my first reading, I enjoyed it just as much. Now I do admit to being a big Amber fan, so maybe that is part of what did it for me. I also enjoy time travel stories. The book is written in a light fashion, a fashion meant to be enjoyed and to entertain and does this well. I suspect it may not be everyones cup of tea, but for Zelazny fans, it will be a treat. I very much recommend this one...if you can find it.

The book tells the story of a highway, not too far from here, that doesnt take people to destinations....it takes them to the future and the past. Red and his Robot sidekick (who is hilarious) are trying to evade 10 Assasins sent to kill them as they travel through time in their old pickup truck while looking for the road exit that leads them where they want to go... A Fun little book that a person can polish off in 3 hours or so and will enjoy it more that a movie for the same investment of time.... If you are a slower reader, have no fear... the highway of time in this book is Forgiving and will be waiting as long as it takes..

Go to the Used bookstore/Online Auction and buy this Masterpeice!

Relic113

I wish that there was a series such as the Amber books that take up the stories of the road. I like a hero with out too many super powers. Its sad that with the author gone this can never be. But this book is a stand alone version of the best of Zelazny. You should definetly give it a read.

A beautifully wrought tale of a mans spiritual journey to the realization of self.

I think sometimes people do not catch Zelazny's work because they do not see the undercurrents at work in his writing. In most of his best work there are two levels to read upon.

I hope, most fervently, that I can achieve that kind of greatness in mine someday.

The late author, Roger Zelazny was the progenitor of some of fantasy's greatest parallel world stories, most especially his Amber novels. "Roadmarks" is a sort of `Amber manqué' without Corwin and the rest of Oberon's homicidal brood of magicians. We miss them, but Zelazny's new hero and his beat-up blue Dodge pick-up soon take up the slack.

The basic parallel world theme is present: history can be reworked and branched in a new direction by, say, the misfiring of John Wilkes Booth's pistol in the Ford Theatre. When "Roadmarks" begins, Red Dorakeen is running guns to the ancient Greeks at Marathon, so that they will defeat the Persians and set history back on its `correct' track. As you might have guessed from the beat-up Dodge pick-up, Time is a multi-branching Road in this book, designed by the Dragons of Bel'kwinith and accessible only to certain special humans such as Red.

Unfortunately for our hero, someone has taken out a perfectly legal contract for his death. The assassins get ten shots (so to speak) at him, and it is really this device that drives the plot forward, rather than Red's rather vague notion of learning his true identity. The various hit men are limned in gleeful detail:

"...he can turn over a car, kick down a heavy door, run all day. He has perfect night vision. He also has attachments---"

And this would-be killer is one of the clunkers.

"Roadmarks" is Zelazny in top form and you'll ride all the way to the Last Exit to Babylon with Red and his friends without even noticing the passage of real (out of the book) time.

a friend of mine gave me this book a few years ago and i couldn't get over the idea of it. it wasn't a exceptionally great book but the concept was first rate. i enjoyed it greatly.

A great book because it makes you realize a story does not have to be told sequentially and thus makes you question the nature of time - a theme central to the book's plot. If you like this you also will probably like Zelazny's "Doorways in the Sand" and "Lord of Light."

I thought that this was a wonderful book, and unlike some of his other books, it didn't have a weak ending. The only reason that I gave it an 8 was that I thought that it was a little hard to follow, because the viewpoint skip from character to character. The Road is a concept that only a great author like Roger Zelazny could think up. If you're a fan of his other books, you will probably like this book, which is written in a 'light fantasty ' style, in contrast to his other books.

The book is full of incredible scenes and some really cool ideas, but I felt like they don't add up as well as they do in other books by Zelazny. A fun read, but not his best.