Zelazny's crystal telephones

Things are starting to come together in The Changing Land. Semirama, the ancient Queen that Jelerak revived to speak with the mad elder god Tualua within Castle Timeless, has sent for Dilvish. It's been confirmed that the Weleand of Murcave who has started towards the Castle isn't who he says he is. And Baran is plotting gain control of both Semirama and Tualua.

But what has me most interested is the use of crystals in the book so far. I'm not one who's versed in the lore or use of crystals in current pagan belief, but Zelazny's use of them is fascinating. In no small part because they figure into my own fantasy writing.

Though, I can't help but think that I needlessly complicate their use.

Zelazny's crystals on the other hand, are basically telephones. The wizard seeking contact with another brings him or her to mind, stares into the crystal and then the one they seek appears (so long as they're available). Zelazny's use of communication crystals is just so simple despite Zelazny's giving absolutely no explanation of how these crystals work. But he doesn't need to, and that's the rub.

It makes me really wonder if Zelazny himself knew how they worked, or if his crystals really were just stand-ins for telephones. Putting the familiar into the strange makes it all the easier for people to understand. Perhaps someday such a process will replace our own crude dialling method.

Zelazny as character builder

Well, I've just read through the scene depicted on the pulpy cover of my edition of The Changing Land. The one where Dilvish and his metal horse Black are depicted riding over a multitude of grasping violet hands. It was definitely as epic as the cover suggests.

But what's more enthralling about this section of the book is its character development. We see Dilvish and Black working together and get a strong sense of their history as partners. By chapter's end, it feels like they've been through countless adventures and seen many wondrous things before they even came to challenge Castle Timeless and the sorcerer Jelerak. Giving readers that sense of such a strong bond definitely shows Zelazny's skill.

Doing so also makes the chapter's end a real nail-biter.

In fact, though Zelazny litters Dilvish and Black's path with a host of obstacles that would be right at home in a fiendish D&D campaign, it's that character building that's much more enduring.

Our hero (?): Dilvish

The introduction of Dilvish in The Changing Land is pretty incredible. He leaves an impression and Zelazny manages to maintain the air of mystery about him despite his origins being spoiled on the back of the book.

We readers might know that he's escaped from Hell, but exactly how isn't just left unanswered, based on what information we're given about Dilvish, it's also left sounding a little ridiculous.

Though Dilvish appears to be completely comfortable being out of place.

One of the elements of my first impression of Dilvish is that he's barely even aware that he's escaped from Hell. Dilvish's dedication to hunting down the sorcerer Jelerak seems so complete that nothing else matters - aside from remaining inconspicuous.

For all of his powers, there's definitely some element of self-consciousness that comes across when Meliash points out that his counter-greeting is out of date, as well as his referring to "the Society" as the more sexist "the Brotherhood."

Thus, Dilvish hardly seems the marauding badass type. Though there's a ton of potential for that to change.

Stepping into The Changing Land

Roger Zelazny is credited as a master of fantasy and science fiction. Though he wrote when the genres were still very new things. The Changing Land makes this quite evident (in its first chapter).

His characters read like they're building on templates made by Tolkien (elves, scheming magic-users, etc.). His setting gets little description.

Since the plot is being trickled out, there's no heavy exposition as of yet. Another weirdly modern note is the apparent lack of dialogue tags. I've not yet come across a single "[character x] [word for spoke+past tense modifier]."

Though those latter two qualities are the mark of good writing in any genre. And from any point in time.

Yet, Zelazny's tone in The Changing Land reminds me of Eric Rücker Eddison's in The Worm Ourobouros. Eddison's book was published in 1922, and Zelazny's came out in 1981, but there are still tonal similarities. Both share in a writing style that comes off as pulpy and have similarly fantastical content.

I still need to find Nine Princes in Amber to complete the first part of Zelazny's The Chronicles of Amber, but The Changing Lands has opened up as a fine introduction to this icon of an author.