Lord of Light Book

"Lord of Light" was published in 1967, won the Hugo in 1968, and is often considered a science fiction masterwork. More than once, I have seen it referred to as a top ten all time science fiction novel and many people consider it their favorite science fiction book. I believe it to be important, influencing writers such as George R. R. Martin and John C. Wright. I did not enjoy the book, finding it difficult to follow and the story failed to ever come alive in my head. There is much to appreciate, and maybe a second read would be more fruitful, but I never cared about the characters and honestly had to force myself to complete it.

Let's start with the positive. The book has an excellent premise. Humans have migrated to another world and many of the original crew (call them Firsts), have not only discovered a technology that allows them to be immortal through reincarnation, but also have materially become gods. They developed near magical abilities in order to fight off and eventually imprison the original inhabitants (beings of pure energy). Their descendants now live in a near medieval society worshiping the Firsts in the form of Hindu gods. The gods ultimately control the process of reincarnation and force the population into a mind scan at the age of 60 to determine their reincarnation result. People that are found unworthy (largely in serving the gods) may return in diseased bodies or even as animals such as primates or dogs. The plot follows the main character, named Sam, who embraces Buddhism over Hinduism, and looks to give the population the same technology the gods enjoy. The story is complex and nuanced. Fight scenes are very well written.

So, what did I dislike? To begin there is a massive amount of exposition and info dumps. I guess these are somewhat necessary due to the scale of the story, both in term of time, as well as world building. But still, I couldn't go a chapter without feeling like I was constantly being reminded that this was a story, I almost never lost myself in the characters and the story. The prose often seems intentionally obscure. Characters have many names and it's likely that many subtle references around Hindu and Buddhism were lost on me. We begin with a flashback, that's very thinly introduced. The story meanders and for me, fails to find any strong buildup of tension or climax.

I must document that I read this during the beginning of the Covid 19 Global Pandemic. It's a time where I'm highly distracted and struggling to stay positive, which likely influences my impressions of this work. As I said, a reread in the future may change my viewpoint, however, at this point in time, I'm giving it 3.5 stars round up to 4 for the strong premise and cultural influences it created. Imaginative and epic in scope, but also murky, and too unfocused for my tastes.