Roger Zelazny facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Roger Zelazny
Zelazny in 1988
Born	Roger Joseph Zelazny (1937-05-13)May 13, 1937 Euclid, Ohio, U.S.
Died	June 14, 1995(1995-06-14) (aged 58) Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.
Pen name	Harrison Denmark
Occupation	Writer
Alma mater	Western Reserve University (B.A.) Columbia University (M.A.)
Genre	Fantasy, science-fiction
Literary movement	New Wave (although he denounced the term himself)
Notable works	Lord of Light, The Chronicles of Amber, Isle of the Dead, The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth, and Other Stories, Doorways in the Sand, Eye of Cat, Unicorn Variations, A Night in the Lonesome October

Roger Joseph Zelazny (born May 13, 1937 – died June 14, 1995) was an American writer. He wrote many fantasy and science fiction stories and novels. He is most famous for his series The Chronicles of Amber.

Zelazny won several important awards for his writing. He won the Nebula Award three times. He also won the Hugo Award six times. Two of his novels won Hugos: This Immortal (originally called ...And Call Me Conrad) and Lord of Light.

About Roger Zelazny

Roger Zelazny was born in Euclid, Ohio. He was the only child of Joseph Frank Żelazny and Josephine Flora Sweet. In high school, he was the editor of the school newspaper. He also joined the Creative Writing Club.

He went to Case Western Reserve University and earned a degree in English in 1959. Later, he studied at Columbia University in New York. He focused on plays from the Elizabethan era. He earned his master's degree in 1962.

From 1962 to 1969, Zelazny worked for the U.S. Social Security Administration. He worked in Cleveland, Ohio, and then in Baltimore, Maryland. He spent his evenings writing science fiction stories. He started with short stories and slowly moved to writing longer novels.

On May 1, 1969, he decided to become a full-time writer. He then focused on writing novels to make a living. He was an active member of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. Other writers like Jack L. Chalker and Joe Haldeman were also members.

His first story appeared in a fan magazine in 1953. His first story sold to a professional magazine was "Mr. Fuller's Revolt" in 1954. His first professional stories, "Passion Play" and "Horseman!", were published in August 1962. The story "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" brought him a lot of attention. It was published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Roger Zelazny was also part of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA). This was a group of heroic fantasy writers. Their stories were sometimes collected in books like Flashing Swords!.

Zelazny passed away in 1995 at age 58. He died from kidney failure due to colorectal cancer.

His Life Outside Writing

Zelazny was married two times. First, he married Sharon Steberl in 1964. They later divorced. Then, he married Judith Alene Callahan in 1966. Roger and Judith had two sons, Devin and Trent. Trent is also an author. They also had a daughter named Shannon.

Zelazny grew up in the Catholic faith. However, he later said he was not part of any organized religion.

He died in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on June 16, 1995. He had lived in Santa Fe for twenty years.

Story Ideas and Style

Roger Zelazny often used characters from myth in his stories. He placed these characters in modern or future worlds. Here are some of the mythologies he used:

• Chinese mythology: Stories and beliefs from China, seen in Lord Demon.
• Egyptian mythology: Ancient stories from Egypt, used in Creatures of Light and Darkness.
• Greek mythology: Old stories from Greece, found in ...And Call Me Conrad.
• Hindu mythology: Ancient stories and beliefs from India, in Lord of Light.
• Navajo mythology: Traditional stories of the Navajo people, in Eye of Cat.
• Norse mythology: Myths from ancient Scandinavia, in The Mask of Loki.
• Arthurian mythos: Stories about King Arthur and his knights, in The Dream Master.

His famous The Chronicles of Amber series also uses ideas from Norse mythology, Japanese mythology, Irish mythology, and Arthurian legend. His book A Night in the Lonesome October includes elements from the Cthulhu Mythos.

Another common idea in Zelazny's books is the "absent father." This means a main character is looking for or has lost their father. This is very clear in the Amber novels. In the first series, the hero Corwin searches for his missing father, Oberon. In the second series, Corwin's son Merlin is looking for Corwin. This idea might have come from Zelazny's own life. His father died suddenly in 1962, before Zelazny became a famous writer.

Zelazny was also very skilled in martial arts. He learned to use the épée (a type of sword) in college. He also studied judo, aikido, tai chi, and baguazhang. He even taught aikido and earned a black belt. Because of this, many of his characters are good at fighting. They use similar skills to defeat their enemies.

He also liked to try new ways of telling stories. In Doorways in the Sand, most chapters start with a dangerous scene. Then, the story goes back to explain how the characters got into that situation.

In Roadmarks, the story is about a road system that connects all possible times and places. Chapters about the main character are called "One." Other chapters, called "Two," are about different characters. These include heroes from old stories and real historical figures. The "Two" chapters are mixed up in time. This makes the story feel non-linear.

Creatures of Light and Darkness has characters who are like Egyptian gods. The story is told entirely in the present tense. The last chapter is even written like a play. Some chapters are long poems.

Zelazny also often mixed different types of stories. This is called "mixed genres." For example, Jack of Shadows and Changeling combine magic and technology. Lord of Light feels like a classic fantasy story. But it actually takes place on a colonized planet in the future.

His Influence on Others

Roger Zelazny's stories inspired many other writers. Samuel R. Delany wrote some of his books partly because of Zelazny's work. In 1967, a critic named Algis Budrys called Zelazny a leader of the "New Wave" of writers.

Neil Gaiman said Zelazny was the writer who influenced him the most. You can see Zelazny's style in Gaiman's writing and the topics he chooses. Andrzej Sapkowski also said Zelazny was his teacher. Zelazny's work inspired him to write his first novel.

Many authors have written stories and essays to honor Zelazny. Lord of the Fantastic: Stories in Honor of Roger Zelazny was published in 1998. It included works by writers like Neil Gaiman and George R.R. Martin. Another book, Shadows & Reflections: A Roger Zelazny Tribute Anthology, came out in 2017. It featured stories set in Zelazny's own universes.

Awards and Honors

Roger Zelazny won at least 16 awards for his fiction. These include:

• Six Hugo Awards
• Three Nebula Awards
• Two Locus Awards
• One Prix Tour-Apollo Award
• Two Seiun Awards
• Two Balrog Awards

Sometimes, his own books would compete against each other for the same award!

Here are some of his award-winning works:

• This Immortal (originally ...And Call Me Conrad) won the 1966 Hugo Award for best novel. It tied with Dune.
• "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" won the 1966 Nebula Award for best novelette.
• "He Who Shapes" tied for the 1966 Nebula Award for best novella.
• Lord of Light won the 1968 Hugo Award for best novel.
• Isle of the Dead won the 1972 Prix Tour-Apollo Award.
• This Immortal won the 1976 Seiun Award (a Japanese award) for best foreign novel.
• "Home Is the Hangman" won both the 1976 Hugo Award and the 1976 Nebula Award for best novella.
• "The Last Defender of Camelot" won the 1980 Balrog Award for short fiction.
• "Unicorn Variation" won the 1982 Hugo Award for best novelette. It also won the 1984 Seiun Award.
• The collection Unicorn Variations won the 1984 Locus Award and the 1984 Balrog Award.
• "24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai" won the 1986 Hugo Award for best novella.
• Trumps of Doom won the 1986 Locus Award for best fantasy novel.
• "Permafrost" won the 1987 Hugo Award for best novelette.

Zelazny was also a special guest at a big science fiction convention called Worldcon in 1974. He won an Inkpot Award in 1993 for his lifetime achievements in writing. His story "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" was even put on a DVD. This DVD was taken to Mars on the Phoenix Mars Lander in 2008!

Other Tributes

A type of tiny crustacean, called an ostracod, was named after him: Sclerocypris zelaznyi.

See also

In Spanish: Roger Zelazny para niños