Lord of Light - Structure

Structure

The novel is structured as a series of long semi-independent chapters; each a distinct story within a long campaign by the protagonist Sam – a classic trickster character – against the established gods of the world. The stories are not presented chronologically. The first story relates Sam's return from Nirvana to continue the struggle after decades of exile. The next stories are presented as flashbacks as Sam remembers the beginning of his campaign, and the tactics he employed, leading up to the titanic battle of Keenset. In the final chapter the newly returned Sam completes his campaign against the gods, with bittersweet results.

The story of Sam is based partly on the myths that surround the Buddha, the future buddha Maitreya, and Kalki, the coming tenth Avatar of Vishnu. Each chapter begins with an extract from a legendary version of the story, and extensive quotes, in English, from Indian literature such as the Sanskrit Vedas and the Pali Canon. Several events in the plot are accompanied by dialogue from the Upanishads.

In an intentional match with Hindu and Buddhist mythology and teachings, the first six chapters of the book describe actions which occur in the 'Great Wheel of Life'. These are repetitive actions, and thus the end of chapter six feeds directly into the beginning of chapter one. If read in this way, of course, the book will never end, in exactly the same way as an unenlightened life will never escape the cycle of desire, and be continually reborn. Eventually, an enlightened soul can achieve Nirvana, and release him or herself from the action of the Great Wheel.

While his previous works such as ...And Call Me Conrad and The Dream Master cast science fiction themes into a mythic mold, Lord of Light is the first to use Zelazny's technique of "anachronistic myth," in which a mythical or legendary story has science-fiction underpinnings and features occurrences of 20th century American vernacular and culture: Hindu deities smoke cigarettes, characters refer to Marxism and old drinking songs like "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", and two characters engage in an "Irish Stand-down," in which they take turns punching each other until one collapses.

Zelazny deliberately mixed elements of science fiction and fantasy in this novel in which the former crew of the starship Star of India pretend to be gods by adopting the trappings of Hindu mythology, and Sam invokes Buddhism to challenge them. Zelazny noted, “Lord of Light was intentionally written so that it could be taken as a science fiction or a fantasy novel. On the one hand, I attempted to provide some justifications for what went on in the way of the bizarre; on the other, I employed a style I associate with fantasy in the telling of the story. I wrote it that way on purpose, leaving some intentional ambiguity, because I wanted it to lie somewhat between both camps and not entirely in either. I did this because I did not see much stuff being written at that time which fit that description; because I wanted to see whether I could do it; and because I was curious as to how such a book would be received.”