Roger Zelazny exploded onto the Science-Fiction scene in 1962, with four short stories in as many months. The following year, he racked up no less than fourteen appearances one of which was the classic "A Rose for Ecclesiastes," and by 1965 he was probably the hottest property in SF, which made the publication of his first novel that year one of the most eagerly awaited events of the year.
Fantasy & Science Fiction
Zelazny's first novel --And Call Me Conrad began serialization in the October 1965 Fantasy & Science Fiction. That in itself is significant; the October --anniversary-- issue is the most eagerly awaited one each year, and rarely carries serials, and announced to the SF world, as if any announcement were needed that this was a major novel.
--And Call Me Conrad
Several centuries after the Earth has been turned into a radioactive ruin, and the bulk of humanity relocated to a colony of the Vegan Empire, a few tattered remnants linger in the islands across the globe; the British Isles, the Greek Islands and the Caribbean all have local populations, but travel to the mainlands is fraught with danger.
Conrad Nomikos is the Terran Minister for Tourism. With his one blue and one brown eye and mismatched legs, Nomikos is an enigma, the more so as rumours swirl around him that he is far older than he appears, and may even be the same terrorist who fought the Vegans to a standstill a half-century earlier.
When the greatest Vegan writer of his generation decides to tour the Earth's ruins as part of a 'survey,' Conrad is reluctant to agree to the Vegan's demands that he act as a tour guide, especially as the tour will go through the 'hot spots' of radioactive mainland Greece. But he is given little choice, and then in hammer-quick succession he learns that a contract has been put out on his charge, and that his beloved Cassandra is missing presumed dead...
Roger Zelazny
Zelazny was fascinated by myth; it suffuses all of his early work to a greater or lesser extent, be it the Greek myth of his first novel, Tristan and Isolde in the Nebula-winning "He Who Shapes," the Hindu pantheon of his second Hugo-winner, Lord of Light, or the Egyptian myth of Creatures of Light and Darkness.
--And Call Me Conrad is a first novel, and is not without faults; while it moves along snappily, its ending feels a little rushed, and more than a little contrived. Although, given that this is a novel about Greece, a Deus ex Machina would in some ways be fitting, this is a genre novel, and subject to the constraints that apply.
However, what should also be noted is Zelazny's audacity in paralleling The Odyssey in Nomikos' journey through Greece, his control throughout the bulk of the novel, and above all, his dizzying use of language, opening the novel with;
"You are a Kallikanzaros," she announced suddenly.
I turned onto my left side and smiled through the darkness.
"I left my hooves and my horns at the office."
"You've heard the story!"
The name is Nomikos!"
This Immortal
The following year --And Call Me Conrad was published by Ace Books in paperback as This Immortal , the title by which it has generally become known, as it has stayed in print ever since. However, the original magazine serial was the version that tied for the 1966 Hugo Award with Frank Herbert's Dune, an award that was richly deserved.
Colin Harvey - Author six novels, and editor of four anthologies; professional reviewer since 2003, including six years at Strange Horizons. Member of ...
