[admin]

Customer Review: Stream of Conciousness Pschobabble
Usually, I really like Zelazny's work. Unfortunately, in this case, he's just gone too far with his mythological basis. I'd estimate that more than half of this book consists of nothing but his interpretation of snippets from Navajo mythology stuck smack in the middle of a story. There IS a decent action-packed plot buried in there, but it's just overwhelmed by the mythology. By the end, the whole thing becomes a psychological "experience" as Zelazny basically drops the plot so the protagonist can confront himself. Even worse, the very last pages leave me unsure about whether or not he succeeds. With a tighter linkage between mythology and plot, this could have been an excellent book. But, because the two elements are so disjoint, and because Zelazny emphasizes the mythology over the plot, it just fails. So, unfortunately, I have to rate this book at a Not Very Good 2 stars out of 5.
Customer Review: A Singular Book about a Singular Navajo Singer +++
This is a singular book about a singular personage, William Blackhorse Singer, "the last Navajo tracker on a future earth". The other characters are quite interesting as well, whether human, alien or spirit. They are represented well from an inner viewpoint via their metaphysics and psychology, including Navajo and Native ones. The prose, poetry and imagery are out of this world. Yet their action moves in a quickly changing way in surprising plot twists. As in many books by this author, history and culture are woven into the story smoothly, supporting without disrupting the flow of events. As a fan of Navajo and Native Ways, as well as Roger Zelanzy, this is my favorite single novel of this author.


More...