The Lord Of Light concerns a group of Humans who have taken on the persona of eastern gods. The adopted mythos is based on Indian gods and goddesses. The venerable names of Shiva, Kali, Vishnu, Yama, Ratri, Ganeesha and many various other deities are now known throughout the land and these heavenly bodies are worshipped in temples the width and breadth of the world over which they eye jealously. One being, once a god,now a man,a simple man by the name of Sam is a grave threat to the hegemony of the pantheon of the gods. Sam preaches a philosophy of peace but has an inescapable urge to witness and bring about the downfall of the gods. Sam once a mighty god, now many times reincarnated is the last person alive who is an accelerationist. Accelerationism is a policy that allows mankind once they begin to develop an understanding of the sciences to keep and maintain this newly discovered knowledge. The gods have in their history never allowed this seed of revolution to blossom. Sometimes the destruction of whole cities has been their merciless quashing of any scientific advancement. Sam has had enough of their ways, and deals with sympathetic gods, demons and other various unsavoury elements to achieve his goals. This novel promises it all and delivers most of what it promises. Their is the reincarnation of Sam at the beginning of the novel by the god of death followed by the untimely demise of the lord of illusions at the hands of Yama. After the first chapter it dawns slowly on the reader the vast majority of the read is a flashback sequence of Sam's previous and varied lives. Slightly confusing but tolerable. Zelazny's portrayal of human beings as gods and the various pitfalls that await the unfortunate souls that eke out a life under their terrible beneficiary is a very revealing experience. He simply teaches us that power corrupts. A well known adage that the gods are aware of but simply do not care about. The interrelationship of God and mere mortal is challenged in a very drawn out battle sequence naturally at the end of the novel. The gods no longer impede mankind's progress and of the very few remaining gods that remain after the assault on their total control of everything: they fade into the background. This book is a solid read but does not reach, not in my eyes anyway, a state of science fiction nirvana.

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