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scottedelman
scottedelman
13 May 2008 @ 10:23 pm
Newly Discovered Zelazny Novel  
Thanks to GalleyCat, I just learned that Charles Ardai's Hard Case Crime line will be publishing The Dead Man's Brother, a previously unpublished novel by Roger Zelazny.

The manuscript, supposedly completed 30 years ago and long thought lost, was apparently recently discovered among Zelazny's papers.

Roger Zelazny was once one of my gods. I loved "A Rose for Ecclesiastes," Creatures of Light and Darkness, Lord of Light, Nine Princes in Amber (the sequels, not so much), "The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth," and many other of his short stories and novels, so a new work, particularly one from when he was still in his prime, is big news for me.

I'm also looking forward to learning the entire history of the manuscript's submissions and rejections, and why it ended up in a desk drawer for decades instead of being read by all of us in the '70s.

The stories behind Phil K. Dick's struggles to get his mainstream novels published were fascinating, so I'm hoping that the entire story behind this particular story will also end up being revealed.

Though GalleyCat didn't provide a link to it, the publisher's site is offering an excerpt. The fragment certainly has that hardboiled feel to it, and so I'm anxious to read the entire novel to see Zelazny's take on the genre.

For a Zelazny fan, nine months will be a long time to wait.
 
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coppervale[info]coppervale on May 14th, 2008 03:04 am (UTC)
I am TOTALLY PLOTTING to bribe or cajole an ARC out of Charles.
scottedelman[info]scottedelman on May 14th, 2008 01:55 pm (UTC)
And if bribing and cajoling fail, there's always breaking and entering!
JoSelle[info]upstart_crow on May 14th, 2008 03:43 am (UTC)
I have to wait nine months for this?!?

Ah well. I own pretty much every Zelazny work ever published (some of which I tracked down via calling bookstores in other states - LOL pre-internet book searches), so I can just re-read them while I wait, I guess. :)

Did you ever read A Night in the Lonesome October? That was one of my favorites.
scottedelman[info]scottedelman on May 14th, 2008 02:05 pm (UTC)
Did you ever read A Night in the Lonesome October?

No, I never have. I think that at the time, I was worried that it would turn out to be a lesser work that would serve only to sadden me, the way Heinlein's later books did. But I've heard enough good things about the book that I now feel I definitely need to track it down.
RealThog: morgan brighteyes[info]realthog on May 14th, 2008 10:39 am (UTC)

"For a Zelazny fan, nine months will be a long time to wait."

Yeah, ditto!
International Bon Vivant and Raconteur[info]nick_kaufmann on May 14th, 2008 01:34 pm (UTC)
Holy moley! Zelazny is one of my favorites too. I had no idea he tried his hand at a hardboiled mystery!
scottedelman[info]scottedelman on May 14th, 2008 02:12 pm (UTC)
I had no idea he tried his hand at a hardboiled mystery!

Which is one reason I'm hoping we'll learn the history of Zelazny's attempts to get it published in the '70s. I've always been intrigued by those sorts of struggles.
dark_towhead[info]dark_towhead on May 14th, 2008 02:19 pm (UTC)
As soon as this one was announced, I found myself getting excited... Now that it's got a cool cover (not surprising from HCC), I'm pretty damned eager!


I have to say I'm rather impressed with HCC's lineup, a double from Robert Bloch, originals from Christa Faust and David J. Schow, and this unpublished Zelazny... Lots of good stuff both new and old!
The Esoteric Science Resource Centersclerotic_rings on May 14th, 2008 02:35 pm (UTC)
Hey, considering that it's been nearly 25 years since Zelazny died, waiting another nine months isn't all that bad. It's all a matter of perspective.
Steven desJardins[info]stevendj on May 14th, 2008 02:45 pm (UTC)
25 years? Barely half that; he died in 1995.
The Esoteric Science Resource Centersclerotic_rings on May 14th, 2008 03:42 pm (UTC)
For some reason, I thought he died in 1983. I remember that Eye of Cat was his last novel.
Steven desJardins[info]stevendj on May 14th, 2008 04:04 pm (UTC)
Nope—he wrote five Amber novels and A Night in the Lonesome October after Eye of Cat.
(Anonymous) on May 15th, 2008 07:29 am (UTC)
DEAD MAN'S BROTHER
Nope—he wrote five Amber novels and A Night in the Lonesome October after Eye of Cat.

He was around a perky for quite a while. The Dead Man's brother is a great pulp novel. And yes, he died in 1995. He also would have been 71 this past Tuesday.

He also wrote three books with Robert Sheckley, and well as started Donnerjack and Lord Demon. He also finished Psychoshop, Alfred Bester's half-finished novel.