26 April, 2002: Lord of Light
Roger Zelazny had was a good writer writing during an extraordinary period for science fiction, when the British New Wave, with its greater attention to prose style, engagement with literary experimentation, and sympathy for the countercultural, was beginning to leak over to America. Zelazny did have two uncommon gifts, though; he could write detailed fight scenes that made sense and he was able to effortlessly shift voice (from Shakespearean to faux-Hammet and back in between sentences). Both of these were, to some extent, a crutch, but the latter trick was never used to better effect than in Lord of Light.
Lord of Light is a pretty standard "colonists who don't remember the truth" sort of story, along the lines of Heinlein's "Universe". The colonists are ruled with an iron fist by a small oligarchy who retain all power for themselves; Zelazny's twist is that the oligarchy has appropriated the identity of the Hindu pantheon for themselves. They've got psionic abilities and all kinds of indistinguishable-from-magic technology, and thanks to a sort of brain scanner, they can provide reincarnation to the masses, with their own interests serving instead of the karmic cycle. One of the original settlers who knows the truth and has decided to fight them at their own game by adopting the role of the Buddha.
If the very notion of charlatans and tyrants stepping into the roles of Brahma, Vishnu, and the Buddha Gautama doesn't strike you as painfully sacreligeous, you'll probably find this book enjoyable. There's very little that's novel about the execution, but the characters are sharply drawn, there are some real questions posed about the nature of intent and enlightenment, and Zelazny's prose is never worse than readable. And perhaps, like me, you'll find something enjoyable about the Buddha talking like a streetwise and world weary man from 1967.