The first of NESFA's six volumes collecting Roger Zelazny's short fiction, covering the first few years of his career. While Zelazny is one of my favorite authors, I've always found him a bit hit-or-miss; he's written some bad stuff, but his best stuff can blow you away.

There are some stories in this collection that aren't great, but there are also three of his best, acknowledged classics in the genre - 'The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth,' 'A Rose for Ecclesiastes,' and 'He Who Shapes.' I'd read those before, but still find them compelling.

Many of the stories here appear for the first time after their initial publication. Mixed in throughout are some his poems, and the end matter includes part of a biography, as well as some miscellaneous fragments that have never been published before.

Many of the pieces included commentary from Zelazny, culled from interviews and other sources, which I enjoyed. I appreciated the explanatory notes, but would rather they had appeared as footnotes, rather than endnotes.

A must for any Zelazny fan. ( )

I checked this book out of the library to read the first short story, "A Rose for Ecclesiastes", which made a huge impression on my the first time I read, when it was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1963. It's a very good story, and so are many of the others, some of which I also remembered from their first appearances in the magazines. I found the extensive notes explaining the allusions and references in each story more than a little tedious and condescending, but they can be skipped. ( )

The first of six large volumes cataloging all of science-fiction writer Roger Zelazny's short fiction (including unpublished stories and notes from Zelazny himself). At 500 pages (remember, this is only Volume One of six), this is clearly aimed at die-hard Zelazny fans.

Zelazny was a science fiction writer who burst on the scene in the early 1960s. A member of the sci-fi's new wave, his stories focused on the psychology of his characters instead of the science defining the universe, and his use of mythology frankly dwarfs anyone before or since.

As a longtime Zelazny fan, I'd read most of this fiction already, but it had never been placed in the context of his career like this, and the Zelazny's own notes (he died in 1995) made it worth the expense.

For example, I didn't realize so many of his jewel-like short stories were generated in the first year of his writing career.

Zelazny's notes and the comments of other writers are interesting, though the extensive editor's notes -- which explain every aspect of the related story -- feel trivial and overdone.

With five more volumes to go, I won't finish the series anytime soon, but I am impressed by the amount of effort that went into its production. Those who haven't read Zelazny's work would be best served by buying his novels; this series is for Zelazny fanatics.
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No surprise to anyone that knows how much I love Zelazny's writing, but this is a fantastic look into his work. Many of the stories are unpublished or not readily available any more. As a whole, the work promises to include every short that he ever wrote. These are many of his early ones. A few are partials, but most are complete & as Zelazny preferred them.There is discussion about Zelazny's versus editorial preferences. There are excellent notes about allusions & metaphors in the stories as well as personal notes from Zelazny & other authors.If you're a Zelazny fan, I think this is a must read. ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1296094.html

This weighty volume of almost 600 pages covers the early work of the late, great Roger Zelazny (1937-1995). It is the first of a planned series of six volumes covering his entire literary career, published by the New England Science Fiction Association and edited by David G. Grubbs, Christopher S. Kovacs and Ann Crimmins. Together with volume two, it was launched at Boskone in February which was where I bought it.

I suspect that the book's main audience will be Zelazny fans like myself, hoping for 1) hitherto unpublished literary gems unearthed by the editors' diligence, 2) some insights into those aspects of Zelazny's life and background which made it possible for him to produce his work, and 3) a convenient volume including our favourite pieces. NESFA have delivered on all three. A lot of the uncollected pieces here are rather minor, but there were a couple which jumped out at me as memorable ('Final Dining', 'Circe Has Her Problems'). There is a decent amount of explanatory biographical material by co-editor Kovacs, Carl Yoke and a preface by Robert Silverberg. And this first volume includes 'A Rose for Ecclesiastes', 'The Doors Of His Face, The Lamps Of His Mouth' and 'He Who Shapes', Zelazny's best early stories, which is a powerful mixture.

Satisfying those three requirements would just about justify the hefty $29 price of this hardback. But there are several other positive points about it. First, a lot of Zelazny's early poetry is collected here, interspersed through the stories, certainly at a pace where I could appreciate it. Second, and probably deserving to be mentioned before this, there is a brilliant Michael Whelan cover which will apparently span the jackets of all six volumes. Third, each story and poem has, if available, a short epilogue from Zelazny himself explaining his own feelings about it, and also a glossary of literary references (most of which are accurate, though I wouldn't be surprised if the Miller whose writing has emetic effects is Henry rather than Arthur).

So, apart from its obvious appeal to existing fans, I think volume one at least is well-designed as a gateway book to encourage new sf readers to read more Zelazny and just to read more widely. 'A Rose for Ecclesiastes' is a really powerful story to begin with - consciously old-fashioned but doing something new as well. 'He Who Shapes', drawing as it does on Zelazny's own experience of car accidents and bereavement, is a good ending point for this first selection. The commentary keeps us going through the less memorable stories in the middle. I am looking forward to reading volume two, and to buying the rest as they come out. ( )