ed.rybicki
11/20/2013
"His followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god. He preferred to drop the Maha- and the -atman, however, and called himself Sam. He never claimed to be a god, but then he never claimed not to be a god."
Which sets the tone for a marvellous excursion into what appears to be a Hindu-dominated planet with real gods - inclcuding Sam. And Vishnu, and Brahma, and the deathgod Yama - and Buddhism, introduced by Sam as a means of combatting what he sees as a stranglehold on the population by corrupt ex-crew of the starship that brought them there.
It is a brilliant book - even if it was born out of a single pun (it is unmissable), as it lets Zelazny show off his entire range of writing skills, as well as an impressive grasp of comparative religion. Still one of my favourites, after 35+ years!
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