Details Containing Books Jack of Shadows
| Title | : | Jack of Shadows |
| Author | : | Roger Zelazny |
| Book Format | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 236 pages |
| Published | : | May 2nd 1989 by Signet (first published 1971) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Science Fiction. Fiction. Science Fiction Fantasy. Speculative Fiction. Magic. Adventure |
Roger Zelazny
Mass Market Paperback | Pages: 236 pages Rating: 4 | 5789 Users | 283 Reviews
Interpretation In Pursuance Of Books Jack of Shadows
For the plot description I shamelessly plagiarized the first two and a half sentences of the official book description. The Earth no longer rotates. Science rules the dayside of the globe. Magic rules the World of Night. Jack of Shadows was a thief whose magic was strongly connected with shadows. In other words, he could not do any magic in complete absence of them. He was caught in the beginning of the book and executed. Being a supernatural being he had several lives, just like an ordinary cat.
He came back and sought revenge.
I am a big fan of Zelazny. I keep saying that even his minor efforts deserve 3 stars. This looks like one of them. The beginning was quite good; it slowed down by about one third in the book, but still remain decent until the second half. At that point I had to ask myself, "Who the heck wrote this part and why did the Grand Master of science fiction and fantasy let him/her destroy his work???" The very end became quite good - probably the best part, but at that time it was way too late.
Add to this the fact that during the bad part of the book I stopped caring about Jack and his fate and you will understand why I gave one of my all-time favorite science fiction writers only 3 stars this time. It is still not a waste of time by any means, but please if you are not familiar with Zelazny do not start your acquaintance with him with this novel. It has excellent ideas, but the execution really lacked.
At this point I have to recycle the first image I used here to show my face when I finished this novel:
Boy, was I grumpy! 
Present Books Supposing Jack of Shadows
| Original Title: | Jack of Shadows |
| ISBN: | 0451159764 (ISBN13: 9780451159762) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel (1972), Locus Award Nominee for Best Novel (1972) |
Rating Containing Books Jack of Shadows
Ratings: 4 From 5789 Users | 283 ReviewsAppraise Containing Books Jack of Shadows
Zelazny doing a Vance tribute? The only thing better would be Jack Vance doing a Zelazny tribute.In my more wistful moments, I like to imagine a world in which Jack Vance and Roger Zelazny were massively profitable authors with seven digit sales figures while Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan were modestly successful but never crossed into the mainstream. I picture a world in which the industry standard is delivering an original setting, a compelling society, an intriguing main character, aThis was a book that mesmerized me as a teenager and was a pathway into fantasy and science fiction. Reading it now years later I find myself much more critical. Zelazny had an amazing imagination as he created a world where one side is in the dark and the other is in light with a twilight zone in-between. Magic rules on the dark side and science on the other. He focuses on Jack of Shadows as the main character which gains his power from shadow. Regardless, as a reader we follow the many
2Aug2016 - currently rereading with the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group here:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...This was one of the first Zelazny books I read & it's still fantastic. The characters aren't complex, but I think this is done on purpose. The only ones that much time is spent on are Dark Siders who have no soul. They're very uncomplicated, driven simply by desire, pride, & power. Jack personifies most & his thoughts are well documented. I thought his lame attempts at
No, this isnt the Earth you are familiar with. Yes, humans still are the dominant species. Yes, the birds and animals are present. But, this planet shows only one face continually to the Sun. One side always in bright light and the other in perpetual night, which might have some interesting effects on evolution. Because this is Zelazny, we get to know a bit of why one side doesnt have just boiling rock and the other side a frozen environment where nothing moves. This world is protected by a
Franky, I am quite shocked that Roger Zelazny was capable of such thoroughly craptastic writing.
I read plenty of Zelazny when I was younger. In fact I have probably read most of his work. The one novel that eluded me for a long time was Jack of Shadows. This was doubly frustrating because I had heard it was his best book. Time passed and my enthusiasm for science fiction and fantasy began to wane somewhat. I haven't read any Zelazny for quite a while, but I always knew that if I ever managed to get hold of Jack of Shadows I would be eager to read it.Finally last year I saw a second hand
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