On Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy

by Roger Zelazny, Warren Lapine (Introduction)

Roger Zelazny was a stylist. Indeed, few writers have had a better grasp of the English language than he did, to say nothing of rhythm and style. More than any other writer Zelazny makes writing look fun. It's seems like he's having the time of his life writing these masterful stories and he's happy to share them with you for the sheer love of it. And somehow, in a way that no other modern writer has, Zelazny makes people want to write. Over the years, Zelazny was occasionally asked to compose articles about his writing process and the state of genre fiction. Collected here are over a hundred and thirty pages on what science fiction and fantasy are and how to write it. Zelazny brought a level of sophistication, style, and whit to his writing that is seldom equaled. Now, through Zelazny's eyes and with his guidance, you can get a feel for how and why he was successful, while hopefully giving yourself the tools to join him on the Mount Rushmore of genre fiction.



Roger Zelazny was a science fiction and fantasy writer, a six-time Hugo Award winner, and a three-time Nebula Award Winner. He published more than forty novels in his lifetime. His first novel, This Immortal, serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction under the title ...And Call Me Conrad won the Hugo Award for best novel. Lord of Light, his third novel, also won the Hugo award and was nominated for the Nebula award. He died at age 58 from cancer. Zelazny was posthumously inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2010.



"A storyteller without peer. He created worlds as colorful and exotic and memorable as any our genre has ever seen." -George R.R. Martin



". . . his performance was never anything other than dazzling." -Robert Silverberg

150 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2025

About the author

Roger Joseph Zelazny was an American fantasy and science fiction writer known for his short stories and novels, best known for The Chronicles of Amber. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nominations) and the Hugo Award six times (also out of 14 nominations), including two Hugos for novels: the serialized novel ...And Call Me Conrad (1965), subsequently published under the title This Immortal (1966), and the novel Lord of Light (1967).

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read for anyone interested in Zelazny's writing process. I highly recommend it to anyone that wants a new perspective on the art of writing and it is a must-read for Zelazny fans.

[Elisabeth Valienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely interesting, but not what I expected. I was expecting something more like a manual than a collection of talks and essays.