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The Dilvish Stories #2
The Changing Land
A novel of Dilvish the Damned.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
22 people are currently reading
565 people want to read
About the author
Roger Zelazny
745 books3,884 followersRoger 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).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
February 18, 2012
A society of wizards monitors Castle Timeless, the stronghold of the missing wizard Jelerak, and home to a mad Elder God named Tualua. Wizards from within and without plot to take the castle and the powers of the imprisoned god for their own, until Dilvish arrives with vengeance on his mind...
The Changing Land is a good quick read. Bascially, it's Roger Zelazny telling a pulp swords and sorcery sort of tale with some Lovecraftian elements thrown in. Dilvish and his steel horse Black are an interesting, if underdeveloped, pair. I found Jelerak and the relationship between Semirama and Tualua to be the most interesting parts of the book, although the imprisoned wizards definitely had their moments.
The ever-changing landscape outside Castle Timeless reminded me both of the Amber series and Michael Moorcock's depiction of Limbo in his Eternal Champion saga. The plot, while not overly original, has enough twists to keep it interesting, as well as an ending that I didn't see coming.
The Changing Land is well worth a read but I wouldn't rank it among Zelazny's best works. 3.5 out of 5.
The Changing Land is a good quick read. Bascially, it's Roger Zelazny telling a pulp swords and sorcery sort of tale with some Lovecraftian elements thrown in. Dilvish and his steel horse Black are an interesting, if underdeveloped, pair. I found Jelerak and the relationship between Semirama and Tualua to be the most interesting parts of the book, although the imprisoned wizards definitely had their moments.
The ever-changing landscape outside Castle Timeless reminded me both of the Amber series and Michael Moorcock's depiction of Limbo in his Eternal Champion saga. The plot, while not overly original, has enough twists to keep it interesting, as well as an ending that I didn't see coming.
The Changing Land is well worth a read but I wouldn't rank it among Zelazny's best works. 3.5 out of 5.
April 10, 2023
Nice fantasy read. Interesting and enjoyable. Recommended
March 13, 2024
This novel appeared a year prior to Dilvish the Damned, the book that collected all of the shorter Dilvish stories, but chronologically comes after that one. I think Dilvish is one of Zelazny's most overlooked or under-appreciated characters, and it's a shame that Zelazny didn't revisit him. He spent a long time in Hell, while his body was a statue, and emerged with his faithful steed, Black, to buckle a lot of swashes across very cleverly depicted familiar fantasy landscapes. The castle in this one echoes Hodgson's The House on the Borderland, one of my all-time favorites. It's Zelazny near his best, which is high praise indeed.
Read
December 22, 2025DNF @ p. 30. I found this in a little free library (tm) with 1980s era public library stickers intact and thought it might be a fun one. However, it is unfortunately boring in practice. The highlight is the way the very first character we encounter on-page is named Hodgson, possibly the least classic-fantasy-genre name to ever exist. I realize it’s a reference because the book is dedicated in part to William Hope Hodgson, but I still laugh every time I think about it.
April 4, 2021
Zelazny injects anachronistic thinking into his sword and sorcery fare. The Society of wizards communicate long distance by magical cellphone, the Society changed its name from the Brotherhood from pressure by female members, and an entire sequence that represents penetration into an existing magical construct/system reads as nothing less than the "hack the mainframe" portions of popular movies. It's a valid viewpoint and one that gives the setting a certain flavor.
But in conjunction with Zelazny's repeated dip into modern vernacular--"Hot damn!"--I find it makes the work less than timeless and makes these wizards a little too close to modern thinking. It was easy to enjoy the fundamental imagery and concepts, especially as it pertained to Castle Timeless itself and the mind-warping way it existed, but also easy to hate the way everyone spoke or behaved.
It takes maturity of thought to never explain Black himself. His relationship to Dilvish is an underpinning of the story and especially to the prequel collection, but it is never spelled out what Black is, where he came from, and what his exact arrangement is. Though, the last is partially unveiled in the denouement but only with additional questions.
But in conjunction with Zelazny's repeated dip into modern vernacular--"Hot damn!"--I find it makes the work less than timeless and makes these wizards a little too close to modern thinking. It was easy to enjoy the fundamental imagery and concepts, especially as it pertained to Castle Timeless itself and the mind-warping way it existed, but also easy to hate the way everyone spoke or behaved.
It takes maturity of thought to never explain Black himself. His relationship to Dilvish is an underpinning of the story and especially to the prequel collection, but it is never spelled out what Black is, where he came from, and what his exact arrangement is. Though, the last is partially unveiled in the denouement but only with additional questions.
June 19, 2014
I must have read this a dozen times when I was a kid. It is Zelazny at his most commercial -- that is, broadly appealing. But still inimitably Zelazny, of course.
The Changing Land is several leagues of territory beset by waves of transformation. Anything can happen there, at a moment's notice: volcanoes, acid pits, monsters sprouting from the ground, toxic magical winds. Pretty much everything that happens can kill you. Sorcerers from all over the world are trying to cross to the Castle at the center, on the theory that there's gotta be *something* good there. (If nothing else, an off-switch.)
Into this mess comes Dilvish, who you may remember from some short stories. He's still hunting his arch-enemy Jelerak. (The Castle in the Changing Land used to be Jelerak's castle.) All Dilvish has to do is cross miles of deathtrap territory, contend with any of Jelerak's servants who remain plus every other sorcerer as lucky as he is, and find the evil wizard. Dilvish is equipped with an iron horse and Boots of Elvenkind (Dungeon Master's Guide, p139). The horse may be the smarter of the two.
I should try to explain what it was about Zelazny, back in those early days of genre fantasy. His characters are... modern without being contemporary. The sorcerers in this book don't know what a grandfather clock is (the Castle is full of anachronisms), but they complain about office politics and being dragged out of bed when you crystal-ball them in the middle of the night. They have girlfriends. (Sometimes the girlfriends are smarter than they are, too.)
(Yes, there are girl sorcerers too. That's why the Brotherhood of Sorcerers is now officially called the Society, and don't you get it wrong, or a bunch of sorceresses, enchantresses, and wizardresses are going to land on your ass. The question is assumed to be settled. I said it was modern, but modern 80s, ok?)
There's also a better hacking scene than cyberpunk *ever* managed in that *entire* decade. Spell-hacking. It is absolutely recognizable to any programmer-type person. (This book came out the same year as Vinge's "True Names". SF about computers always dates itself by trying to be current with the future, but the spell-hacking is a *metaphor* and therefore timeless. It's genius. Someone needs to write a damn monograph about it.)
The story manages to be epic in scope while being homey and comfortable. Everyone is parading around in a castle older than time -- I didn't say Jelerak was the *first* owner -- but it's not about grand battles and charges of glory. More like a comic melodrama, with escapes and schemes and sneaking about. The (self-called) light wizards and dark wizards would rather talk practicalities, and even the villains manage to not do anything very horrible on-screen. Much.
The scenery is as wildly imaginative as fantasy has ever seen. Zelazny can just riff ideas forever. You may be used to it from Amber's shadowride scenes, but the Changing Land doesn't go by in the rear-view mirror. The characters are stuck in it and have to *deal* with it, demon or spell or volcano or rain of singing frogs, whatever it is.
And in all this genre-trope mummery, Zelazny still feels free to occasionally turn loose his narrative voice, unconstrainable and hilarious as starlings bursting up into the sky.
I don't think I can overstate how much of an influence this book has had on me. Oh, there are plenty of Zelanzy books, and plenty of magical-infinite-house books too, and I took something from all of this. This may have been my first of each, though.
The Changing Land is several leagues of territory beset by waves of transformation. Anything can happen there, at a moment's notice: volcanoes, acid pits, monsters sprouting from the ground, toxic magical winds. Pretty much everything that happens can kill you. Sorcerers from all over the world are trying to cross to the Castle at the center, on the theory that there's gotta be *something* good there. (If nothing else, an off-switch.)
Into this mess comes Dilvish, who you may remember from some short stories. He's still hunting his arch-enemy Jelerak. (The Castle in the Changing Land used to be Jelerak's castle.) All Dilvish has to do is cross miles of deathtrap territory, contend with any of Jelerak's servants who remain plus every other sorcerer as lucky as he is, and find the evil wizard. Dilvish is equipped with an iron horse and Boots of Elvenkind (Dungeon Master's Guide, p139). The horse may be the smarter of the two.
I should try to explain what it was about Zelazny, back in those early days of genre fantasy. His characters are... modern without being contemporary. The sorcerers in this book don't know what a grandfather clock is (the Castle is full of anachronisms), but they complain about office politics and being dragged out of bed when you crystal-ball them in the middle of the night. They have girlfriends. (Sometimes the girlfriends are smarter than they are, too.)
(Yes, there are girl sorcerers too. That's why the Brotherhood of Sorcerers is now officially called the Society, and don't you get it wrong, or a bunch of sorceresses, enchantresses, and wizardresses are going to land on your ass. The question is assumed to be settled. I said it was modern, but modern 80s, ok?)
There's also a better hacking scene than cyberpunk *ever* managed in that *entire* decade. Spell-hacking. It is absolutely recognizable to any programmer-type person. (This book came out the same year as Vinge's "True Names". SF about computers always dates itself by trying to be current with the future, but the spell-hacking is a *metaphor* and therefore timeless. It's genius. Someone needs to write a damn monograph about it.)
The story manages to be epic in scope while being homey and comfortable. Everyone is parading around in a castle older than time -- I didn't say Jelerak was the *first* owner -- but it's not about grand battles and charges of glory. More like a comic melodrama, with escapes and schemes and sneaking about. The (self-called) light wizards and dark wizards would rather talk practicalities, and even the villains manage to not do anything very horrible on-screen. Much.
The scenery is as wildly imaginative as fantasy has ever seen. Zelazny can just riff ideas forever. You may be used to it from Amber's shadowride scenes, but the Changing Land doesn't go by in the rear-view mirror. The characters are stuck in it and have to *deal* with it, demon or spell or volcano or rain of singing frogs, whatever it is.
And in all this genre-trope mummery, Zelazny still feels free to occasionally turn loose his narrative voice, unconstrainable and hilarious as starlings bursting up into the sky.
I don't think I can overstate how much of an influence this book has had on me. Oh, there are plenty of Zelanzy books, and plenty of magical-infinite-house books too, and I took something from all of this. This may have been my first of each, though.
January 29, 2016
Dilvish the Damned is an interesting character. While basically a good guy, he has spent serious time in Hell & consorts with demons, Black, his metal steed, in particular. He's on a quest to find the man who put him in Hell with the express purpose of killing him, no matter what. Dilvish's quest is complicated by his previous efforts which weakened his tormentor, the most powerful sorcerer of the day. Others are eager to gain the power they think may be abandoned & the location itself is hampering everyone's efforts.
It's not an original plot, but the dressings are typically Zelazny. He has a skewed view of such things & it's a joy to have him share his vision, which he does very well. Fast paced with lots of action, bewildering twists & a surprise ending. The impression of a large, complicated world & hints at a long history all give a lot more depth to this than is at first apparent.
It's not an original plot, but the dressings are typically Zelazny. He has a skewed view of such things & it's a joy to have him share his vision, which he does very well. Fast paced with lots of action, bewildering twists & a surprise ending. The impression of a large, complicated world & hints at a long history all give a lot more depth to this than is at first apparent.
March 11, 2012
I have been rereading some classic sf novels by Zelazny. Shown below is a passage from Roger Zelazny's The Changing Land, where the writer displays a great sense of humour along with an economical use of full stops:
"Monstrously ancient structures of an imposing nature are not in the habit of having been constructed by men. Nor was the Castle Timeless an exception, as most venerable cities trace their origins to the architectural enterprise of gods and demigods, so the heavy structure in the Kannais which predated them all, and which had over the ages served every conceivable function from royal palace to prison, brothel to university, monastery to abandoned haunt of ghouls - changing even its shape, it was said, to accommodate its users' needs - so it informed with the echoes of all the ages, was muttered by some (with averted eyes and evil-forfending gesture) to be a relic of the days when the Elder Gods walked the earth, a point of their contact with it, a toy, a machine, or perhaps even a strangely living entity, fashioned by those higher powers whose vision transcended that of mankind - whom they had blessed or cursed with the spark of self-consciousness and the ache of curiosity that was the beginning of soul - as mankind's surpassed that of the hairy tree-dwellers counted by some as his kin, for purposes best known only to those shining folk whom it at least served somewhere, somehow as an interdimensional clubhouse before those beings absented themselves to felicity of a higher order, leaving behind the unripened fruits of their meddling in the affairs of otherwise satisfied simians; fashioned in the opinion of some metaphysicians, on a timepless plane out of spiritual substances and, hence , not truly a part of this grosser world to which it had been transported, consisting as it did of equal measures of good and evil and their more interesting counterparts, love and hate, compounded with a beauty, therefore, that was both sinister and beatific, possessed of an aura as absorbent as a psychic sponge and as discriminating, alive in a sense that a man with only a functioning portion of his right hemisphere might be said to live, and anchored in space and time by an act of will imperfect because divided, yet superior to normal earthly vicissitudes for all the unearthly reasons the metaphysician would not care to recite a second time."
(Page 184 in the Del Rey edition of Roger Zelazny's novel The Changing Land, published in 1981 by the Amber Corporation.)
And I, not being a metaphysician, would also hesitate to recite this a second time.
"Monstrously ancient structures of an imposing nature are not in the habit of having been constructed by men. Nor was the Castle Timeless an exception, as most venerable cities trace their origins to the architectural enterprise of gods and demigods, so the heavy structure in the Kannais which predated them all, and which had over the ages served every conceivable function from royal palace to prison, brothel to university, monastery to abandoned haunt of ghouls - changing even its shape, it was said, to accommodate its users' needs - so it informed with the echoes of all the ages, was muttered by some (with averted eyes and evil-forfending gesture) to be a relic of the days when the Elder Gods walked the earth, a point of their contact with it, a toy, a machine, or perhaps even a strangely living entity, fashioned by those higher powers whose vision transcended that of mankind - whom they had blessed or cursed with the spark of self-consciousness and the ache of curiosity that was the beginning of soul - as mankind's surpassed that of the hairy tree-dwellers counted by some as his kin, for purposes best known only to those shining folk whom it at least served somewhere, somehow as an interdimensional clubhouse before those beings absented themselves to felicity of a higher order, leaving behind the unripened fruits of their meddling in the affairs of otherwise satisfied simians; fashioned in the opinion of some metaphysicians, on a timepless plane out of spiritual substances and, hence , not truly a part of this grosser world to which it had been transported, consisting as it did of equal measures of good and evil and their more interesting counterparts, love and hate, compounded with a beauty, therefore, that was both sinister and beatific, possessed of an aura as absorbent as a psychic sponge and as discriminating, alive in a sense that a man with only a functioning portion of his right hemisphere might be said to live, and anchored in space and time by an act of will imperfect because divided, yet superior to normal earthly vicissitudes for all the unearthly reasons the metaphysician would not care to recite a second time."
(Page 184 in the Del Rey edition of Roger Zelazny's novel The Changing Land, published in 1981 by the Amber Corporation.)
And I, not being a metaphysician, would also hesitate to recite this a second time.
July 24, 2015
I've been won over by Zelazny and actively seek him out in the paperback stacks. Famed primarily for his genre work, it is only recently that I gave him a fresh go, having dabbled in the past to no good end; reluctant reader of magical adventures that I am, rare indeed is the tale or author who wins my admiration. Roger Zelazny is of this breed.
The Changing Land is exemplary of what I enjoy in Zelazny. How he accomplishes his narrative is just as compelling as the tale itself, and as someone who over the last few years has come to count one quality in equal measure to the other (process/execution), his genre work is especially compelling. There is a lot of indirect narrative going on. That is, he flies with the notion that stories come from a shared landscape and freely refers to other books/scriptures without either plagiarizing them or tacitly acknowledging them.
Case in point: The Changing Land's main stage is a funky, scary edifice called Castle Timeless. Zelazny makes out of it an intriguing backdrop for the action, entirely on the merits of the ideas he plays out against it, presented in solid, no-fuss prose. However, it doesn't take much to recognize the place as somewhere we've been before, as if we had read about it elsewhere, in another book... like William Hope Hodgson's The House on the Borderland, perhaps?
No 'perhaps' about it: Castle Timeless is the selfsame House of Hodgson's seminal horror novel. Having one of the central characters named 'Hodgson' is sort of a dead giveaway, as if the author is winking really hard at you -he wants you to get a charge out of it as much as he does!
While telling a complete tale having nothing whatsoever to do with Hodgson's novel, Zelazny manages to also tell us where/what the House was doing before showing up there. As I say, this is entirely beside the point of Zelazny's novel, but is there, resonating like mad, for those with eyes to see and hearts to sing.
Okay, maybe my heart wasn't singing. I did like the book, though, and look forward to reading more by this daft Zelazny fellow.
The Changing Land is exemplary of what I enjoy in Zelazny. How he accomplishes his narrative is just as compelling as the tale itself, and as someone who over the last few years has come to count one quality in equal measure to the other (process/execution), his genre work is especially compelling. There is a lot of indirect narrative going on. That is, he flies with the notion that stories come from a shared landscape and freely refers to other books/scriptures without either plagiarizing them or tacitly acknowledging them.
Case in point: The Changing Land's main stage is a funky, scary edifice called Castle Timeless. Zelazny makes out of it an intriguing backdrop for the action, entirely on the merits of the ideas he plays out against it, presented in solid, no-fuss prose. However, it doesn't take much to recognize the place as somewhere we've been before, as if we had read about it elsewhere, in another book... like William Hope Hodgson's The House on the Borderland, perhaps?
No 'perhaps' about it: Castle Timeless is the selfsame House of Hodgson's seminal horror novel. Having one of the central characters named 'Hodgson' is sort of a dead giveaway, as if the author is winking really hard at you -he wants you to get a charge out of it as much as he does!
While telling a complete tale having nothing whatsoever to do with Hodgson's novel, Zelazny manages to also tell us where/what the House was doing before showing up there. As I say, this is entirely beside the point of Zelazny's novel, but is there, resonating like mad, for those with eyes to see and hearts to sing.
Okay, maybe my heart wasn't singing. I did like the book, though, and look forward to reading more by this daft Zelazny fellow.
September 13, 2016
I'm a huge Zelazny fan, and have most of his books, apart from a few of the very obscure ones. This is neither one of my favourites nor one of his best-known ones, but I have read it several times. The most recent re-read was because someone critiquing one of my short stories was reminded of it, and suggested I could read it for inspiration.
Reading it with a critical eye, I remember why it's one of the lesser Zelaznys. A lot of the description is blow-by-blow action, which goes on rather too long. The frequent bizarre transformations are deliberately meaningless, manifestations of a mad god. The overall feel is leaning towards Jack Vance, in terms of an abundance of characters with no redeeming features, and that's far from my favourite part of sword-and-sorcery. The main character's motivation is revenge, and even though he takes the time to rescue some people - there are some decent characters in the book, and he is arguably one - he has a lot of flaws and darkness in his makeup too.
Unusually for the time and for Zelazny, this book contains a couple of gay characters, though both of them die without first receiving any character development to speak of. There are two women, one an innocent who functions mainly as a damsel in distress (despite being, on the face of it, a competent adventurer), and one being an oversexed, underdressed, and rather cruel enchantress. I wish I could say that this was unusual for Zelazny, but it's not.
Zelazny's strength was always in exuberant and original worldbuilding, and that's certainly on display here, though not without a few familiar tropes from the sorcery part of sword-and-sorcery. A flawed book, far from his best, but not without its enjoyable features.
Reading it with a critical eye, I remember why it's one of the lesser Zelaznys. A lot of the description is blow-by-blow action, which goes on rather too long. The frequent bizarre transformations are deliberately meaningless, manifestations of a mad god. The overall feel is leaning towards Jack Vance, in terms of an abundance of characters with no redeeming features, and that's far from my favourite part of sword-and-sorcery. The main character's motivation is revenge, and even though he takes the time to rescue some people - there are some decent characters in the book, and he is arguably one - he has a lot of flaws and darkness in his makeup too.
Unusually for the time and for Zelazny, this book contains a couple of gay characters, though both of them die without first receiving any character development to speak of. There are two women, one an innocent who functions mainly as a damsel in distress (despite being, on the face of it, a competent adventurer), and one being an oversexed, underdressed, and rather cruel enchantress. I wish I could say that this was unusual for Zelazny, but it's not.
Zelazny's strength was always in exuberant and original worldbuilding, and that's certainly on display here, though not without a few familiar tropes from the sorcery part of sword-and-sorcery. A flawed book, far from his best, but not without its enjoyable features.
libros-no-terminados
February 28, 2021Mortalmente aburrido, poco emocionante. La precuela, Dilvish el maldito, fue algo más interesante, pero ni siquiera he podido acabármelo, faltándome tan poco. Puede que por el hecho de que el protagonista no parece protagonista, sino los secundarios, que francamente, ¡son sosos! Lo siento por los fans, pero a mi no me gustó.
Si queréis leer reseñas más detalladas, entrad en mi blog VeroWorld:
https://veroworldblog.blogspot.com
Si queréis leer reseñas más detalladas, entrad en mi blog VeroWorld:
https://veroworldblog.blogspot.com
October 5, 2024
Много харесвам творчеството на Зелазни, а отдавна не бях чела нещо от него. Тази книга не беше толкова силна, като други, но пък беше интересно изживяване. Хареса ми как е изградил света и отношенията между героите.
April 28, 2020
Continuing my reading of the Zelazny canon. My Del Ray paperback copy lists this as a first edition, and the back cover proclaims it "first book publication." So I must have had this book since around the time it came out in 1981, though I'd never read it before. This is a bit of an odd creature as Zelazny had written a number of short stories featuring the character of Dilvish. Those stories were later collected in the book Dilvish the Damned, but this novel was published first. I wondered if I should read the short stories first, but decided to stick with the publication order I've been following. And while certain references to characters and events made me wonder about those stories, if I'd not known anything, this book easily stands on its own as a novel complete unto itself. The character of Dilvish doesn't even appear until a good way into the novel. This book made me realize that starting a Zelazny novel and not knowing anything about it, the reader could expect just about anything. This is straight-up heroic, epic fantasy with numerous black and white magicians (mostly working together), demons from Hell (apparently), and an elder god (who, within the novel, devolves into madness). A lot of very cool fantasy concepts pop up that I would love to steal and adapt for a D&D setting. The Timeless Castle sits in the middle of a land that is constantly shifting and changing (hence the title), and a variety of magic types make their way there in order to obtain the power at the center of things. Dilvish, on the other hand, just wants to kill the castle's lord as a matter of revenge. This is a great fantasy story that I very much enjoyed for what it was. And I think it's the first Zelazny book where none of the characters smoke.
August 1, 2018
As fine a swords-and-sorcery adventure as you're likely to find, but I like Dilvish better in short stories than a novel. The more time given to exposition, the less the allure of a rich but hidden backstory. And although the main story starts out extremely cool, playing off a lot of the better tropes of magical fantasy fiction, the cast of characters gets pretty large and takes screen time away from our hero. Then there is a noticeable slump in energy in the middle, things get sort of hodgepodge without much coherence to what's come before, Zelazny tries to inject a modern tone and some jokes that don't gibe, and the whole conclusion rushes into a bit of a chaotic mess.
3 stars out of 5. Plenty entertaining, but largely style over substance.
3 stars out of 5. Plenty entertaining, but largely style over substance.
December 25, 2014
Honestly,I can say that I have never read a Roger Zelazny book I did not enjoy.
This one had all the elements I love about much of his other work; in 'The Changing Land' his descriptive powers are as absorbing as ever. The vivid descriptions leave me with a more visual experience of the story than a lot of movies are capable of producing.
The twisting magically tortured landscapes challenge the imagination as does the ambiguous, mysterious castle. The determined, quest driven hero is all that he should be, as are the entire suite of characters that combine into a Gordian plot-knot that is unravelled for your entertainment.
This one had all the elements I love about much of his other work; in 'The Changing Land' his descriptive powers are as absorbing as ever. The vivid descriptions leave me with a more visual experience of the story than a lot of movies are capable of producing.
The twisting magically tortured landscapes challenge the imagination as does the ambiguous, mysterious castle. The determined, quest driven hero is all that he should be, as are the entire suite of characters that combine into a Gordian plot-knot that is unravelled for your entertainment.
Read
March 14, 2016Holds up well, much as Dilvish the Damned does. You'd hardly know this book is older than I am.
September 24, 2024
This is a disjointed marvel of weirdness and adventure. It reads like a tournament adventure. There’s a castle (or tower) at the center of a “changing land”, that is, a land in constant change due to an Old One named Tualua living in a pit in the center of Castle Timeless, whose power, every once in a while either rolls out in waves or causes the castle’s power to roll out in waves across the desert surrounding the castle.
Castle Timeless itself either holds beings independent of the pit’s controllers (led by the wizard Jelerak), or is a being independent of the pit’s controllers.
Most of the potential usurpers are members of a large Council of sorcerors, mired necessarily in bureaucracy because its membership contains both white and black wizards. The bureaucracy and its inability to rise from it is played as humorous.
Old Ones are not the only eldritch horrors to appear. There are also the “Hounds of Thandolos!”, lupine beings that come in through angles, such as any corners in a room. Demons do not appear to be particularly eldritch, but they’re not explained except as things to be summoned. Reincarnation exists, and in a world of necromancers the interaction between reincarnation and resurrection is fascinating.
Apropos of nothing except that any readers of this book who move their lips when they read are in mortal danger, take a look at the sentence on pages 137-138 at the end of Chapter VIII. It rambles masterfully, as if it were a Council historian, for nearly a full page. In its defense, it does have one semicolon in it.
If there’s a main protagonist, it would be Dilvish, a man literally out of time and accompanied by a metal horse named Black who seems to be some sort of magical computer, that is, a repository of knowledge of the past and of magic.
But it really does read as an old-school D&D one-shot in which everyone has their own end in mind and nobody knows what they’re doing.
Castle Timeless itself either holds beings independent of the pit’s controllers (led by the wizard Jelerak), or is a being independent of the pit’s controllers.
Most of the potential usurpers are members of a large Council of sorcerors, mired necessarily in bureaucracy because its membership contains both white and black wizards. The bureaucracy and its inability to rise from it is played as humorous.
Old Ones are not the only eldritch horrors to appear. There are also the “Hounds of Thandolos!”, lupine beings that come in through angles, such as any corners in a room. Demons do not appear to be particularly eldritch, but they’re not explained except as things to be summoned. Reincarnation exists, and in a world of necromancers the interaction between reincarnation and resurrection is fascinating.
Apropos of nothing except that any readers of this book who move their lips when they read are in mortal danger, take a look at the sentence on pages 137-138 at the end of Chapter VIII. It rambles masterfully, as if it were a Council historian, for nearly a full page. In its defense, it does have one semicolon in it.
If there’s a main protagonist, it would be Dilvish, a man literally out of time and accompanied by a metal horse named Black who seems to be some sort of magical computer, that is, a repository of knowledge of the past and of magic.
But it really does read as an old-school D&D one-shot in which everyone has their own end in mind and nobody knows what they’re doing.
Monstrously ancient structures of an imposing nature are not in the habit of having been constructed by men.
May 24, 2018
Empecé a leer este libro por error ¡Resulta que lo confundí con alguna de la saga de "El señor de la noche" de Tanith Lee! Pero ya que empecé con su lectura, la verdad es que ya no me dieron ganas de soltarlo. Se supone que es la segunda parte de "Dilvish, el maldito" (que es el que debí haber empezado leyendo), y narra el intento de venganza de este contra un maligno hechicero que lo condenó a pasar una temporada en el infierno. Para esto, se dirige a un castillo donde su rival mantiene preso a un ser muy poderoso y antiguo llamado "Tulua" (que tiene tentáculos, ¿ven por donde va?), del cual se sirve para incrementar sus poderes. Hay varios magos más tratando de acceder al mencionado castillo, buscando quedarse para si mismos, y con diversos fines, los poderes de Tulua, pero Dilvish solo tiene un objetivo en mente: ¡asesinar al hechicero!
El autor logra una narración trepidante, al más puro estilo de "Espada y hechicería" y sirviéndose de los Mitos de Cthulhu de forma discreta, pero efectiva. El personaje de Dilvish no esta muy bien delineado, pero eso le confiere un aura de misterio a su figura, que espero que no se disuelva cuando lea la primera parte. El desenlace de la obra llega demasiado pronto, pero esta acompañado de tantos incidentes, narrados en forma muy intensa, que lo deja a uno con ganas de más.
No leo mucha fantasía en estos días, pero me pareció una opción muy interesante, y definitivamente, los cameos de Cthulhu y algunos otros bichos de los Mitos fueron algo muy interesante de leer.
El autor logra una narración trepidante, al más puro estilo de "Espada y hechicería" y sirviéndose de los Mitos de Cthulhu de forma discreta, pero efectiva. El personaje de Dilvish no esta muy bien delineado, pero eso le confiere un aura de misterio a su figura, que espero que no se disuelva cuando lea la primera parte. El desenlace de la obra llega demasiado pronto, pero esta acompañado de tantos incidentes, narrados en forma muy intensa, que lo deja a uno con ganas de más.
No leo mucha fantasía en estos días, pero me pareció una opción muy interesante, y definitivamente, los cameos de Cthulhu y algunos otros bichos de los Mitos fueron algo muy interesante de leer.
November 11, 2020
This one finishes the overall story arc for the Dilvish the Damned short story collection, albeit this sequel is a full length novel instead of another compilation of shorter linked tales.
So, in this one a society of wizards is guarding a fortress at the center of a land being affected by some really strong magic. Turns out the fortress is the abode of a demi-god Tualua, a tentacled being of immense power but alien thoughts, whose emanations are the cause for the eponymous Changing Land. Many wizards have attempted to take control of the demigod to wield its power, but they end up being captured and killed by the wizard Jelerak's minions, including the resurrected priestess Queen Semirama, who was the lover of Dilvish's ancestor, the Elven Lord Selar, and is the only one able to communicate with Tualua.
The rest of the story has to do with Dilvish's attempt to inflitrate the fortress and kill his nemesis, unaware that Jelerak himself is being barred from entering and is also sneaking in under an assumed identity in order to heal himself after his battle with his apprentice Riley in the Tower of Ice in the previous volume.
Once again, I found this one pretty cool in an old school kind of way, with traces of Moorcock and of course H.P. Lovecraft. I really liked the idea of Tualua having a cyclic dual nature with a "good" side and an "evil" side that take turns being in control, along with spells of madness, and I also liked that he was aware of it and did not judge it by human standards of morality, and that he also was concerned for his priestesses well-being regardless. It was an interesting take on a Lovecraftian god. Of course, it was also good to see Dilvsih finally get his revenge, though perhaps not in the way he intended.
One thing that was disappointing is that thought we'd get to see him storm each of Jelerak's fortresses mentioned in the last volume, instead of just the first one and the last one, but it's a minor quibble.
So, in this one a society of wizards is guarding a fortress at the center of a land being affected by some really strong magic. Turns out the fortress is the abode of a demi-god Tualua, a tentacled being of immense power but alien thoughts, whose emanations are the cause for the eponymous Changing Land. Many wizards have attempted to take control of the demigod to wield its power, but they end up being captured and killed by the wizard Jelerak's minions, including the resurrected priestess Queen Semirama, who was the lover of Dilvish's ancestor, the Elven Lord Selar, and is the only one able to communicate with Tualua.
The rest of the story has to do with Dilvish's attempt to inflitrate the fortress and kill his nemesis, unaware that Jelerak himself is being barred from entering and is also sneaking in under an assumed identity in order to heal himself after his battle with his apprentice Riley in the Tower of Ice in the previous volume.
Once again, I found this one pretty cool in an old school kind of way, with traces of Moorcock and of course H.P. Lovecraft. I really liked the idea of Tualua having a cyclic dual nature with a "good" side and an "evil" side that take turns being in control, along with spells of madness, and I also liked that he was aware of it and did not judge it by human standards of morality, and that he also was concerned for his priestesses well-being regardless. It was an interesting take on a Lovecraftian god. Of course, it was also good to see Dilvsih finally get his revenge, though perhaps not in the way he intended.
One thing that was disappointing is that thought we'd get to see him storm each of Jelerak's fortresses mentioned in the last volume, instead of just the first one and the last one, but it's a minor quibble.
July 30, 2021
Zábavný kousek starší fantasticky, co dosti jasně odpovídá na otázku, proč není dobré mít ve sklepě pradávnou a naprosto cizí polobožskou bytost, která je šílená víc, než za normálního stavu.
Utvoří vám kolem domu Zóna z Piknik u cesty ale místo mimozemských odpadků, přináší sto a jeden způsob jak v ní zemřít podivným magickými efekty, byť by jinak šla přejít za hodinu svižné chůze.
Magie a její pravidla zde nejsou vysvětlena, také člověk často jen uvažuje jak dané věci vlastně fungují ale je to napsané čtivě, že to ani nevadí.
Závěr je sice dosti antiklimatický ale uspokojivý a má příjemný bonus
V podobě odkazu na Lovecraftův Culthu Mytos…
A Black je stejně jako v předchozím díle zlatíčko, tedy pokud něco takového jde říct o kovového démonickém koni cynickém tolik, že je to svým způsobem zen.
Utvoří vám kolem domu Zóna z Piknik u cesty ale místo mimozemských odpadků, přináší sto a jeden způsob jak v ní zemřít podivným magickými efekty, byť by jinak šla přejít za hodinu svižné chůze.
Magie a její pravidla zde nejsou vysvětlena, také člověk často jen uvažuje jak dané věci vlastně fungují ale je to napsané čtivě, že to ani nevadí.
Závěr je sice dosti antiklimatický ale uspokojivý a má příjemný bonus
V podobě odkazu na Lovecraftův Culthu Mytos…
A Black je stejně jako v předchozím díle zlatíčko, tedy pokud něco takového jde říct o kovového démonickém koni cynickém tolik, že je to svým způsobem zen.
January 24, 2020
This book has great promise. The setting is intriguing, the main character is cool and interesting, the action is well paced. It vaults high but lands badly, twists its ankle, and limps away embarrassed.
The castle and surrounding lands where the story takes place is beset by random magics that wash over the place in waves, altering the landscape, summoning monsters, paralyzing or entrapping trespassers, even altering the flow of time itself. Those brave or foolish enough to attempt entry to the castle are there for the power of Tualua, a tentacled being of great magic and unpredictable rage. Tualua is trapped within the castle, and its captors and keepers are often in danger themselves of falling prey to the ancient entity’s wrath. One woman, a once-dead and still beautiful priestess, has earned Tualua’s affection, and she has her own plans to block out the castle’s master and harness the power within for herself. Jailed in the castle’s dungeon are a group of wizards also after the power to use for good or bad, depending on what color cloak they wear. Then there’s Dilvish, the main character who rides through the changing land on a black, metallic horse. He wants none of the castle’s power or treasure. He only seeks revenge against the castle’s master for deeds committed years ago in a book that this one must be the sequel to.
I have no problem with the half-revealed history of Dilvish belonging to another book I will probably never be able to track down (if it exists). It deepens his character, veils him in mystery. He is, by far, the best character. The rest are entirely defined by their roles in the plot. The female Dilvish meets outside the castle is there to be a damsel. The wizards inside are there to provide a plot point and to explain the situation to Dilvish. The bad guys are bad. The once-dead sorceress provides sex and further exposition.
The flaws of characterization would be forgivable if the story worked. And at first it seems like it will. The one who captured Tualua is, himself, locked out and has to use subterfuge to regain his position. Factions form within the castle. Wizards without lend their powers to help breach the walls. Wizards within find ways to defend themselves from the demons that enslave and punish them. Dilvish is captured, makes a deal. His horse has secrets of its own. But then…
The whole thing is solved by a series of deus ex machinas, one quite literal. A few characters die, but we don’t care. The damsel does nothing. A pact between two characters is dissolved, which might be meaningful if we had been aware of it before that exact moment. The conflict fixes itself, and the players all turn to each other and say, "Boy, that was a thing." Zelazny squanders all the potential of this amazing setting.
I was going to say the book was still a fun read, but the act of writing this review has made me rethink that assessment. This book was a disappointment. That's a shame, because I loved the Amber novels. A Night in the Lonesome October, Zelazny's final novel, was great fun. So were several other Zelazny books I've read. The man knew how to craft a tale, but this one feels like he got bored and ended it as quickly as possible. You might find yourself doing the same.
The castle and surrounding lands where the story takes place is beset by random magics that wash over the place in waves, altering the landscape, summoning monsters, paralyzing or entrapping trespassers, even altering the flow of time itself. Those brave or foolish enough to attempt entry to the castle are there for the power of Tualua, a tentacled being of great magic and unpredictable rage. Tualua is trapped within the castle, and its captors and keepers are often in danger themselves of falling prey to the ancient entity’s wrath. One woman, a once-dead and still beautiful priestess, has earned Tualua’s affection, and she has her own plans to block out the castle’s master and harness the power within for herself. Jailed in the castle’s dungeon are a group of wizards also after the power to use for good or bad, depending on what color cloak they wear. Then there’s Dilvish, the main character who rides through the changing land on a black, metallic horse. He wants none of the castle’s power or treasure. He only seeks revenge against the castle’s master for deeds committed years ago in a book that this one must be the sequel to.
I have no problem with the half-revealed history of Dilvish belonging to another book I will probably never be able to track down (if it exists). It deepens his character, veils him in mystery. He is, by far, the best character. The rest are entirely defined by their roles in the plot. The female Dilvish meets outside the castle is there to be a damsel. The wizards inside are there to provide a plot point and to explain the situation to Dilvish. The bad guys are bad. The once-dead sorceress provides sex and further exposition.
The flaws of characterization would be forgivable if the story worked. And at first it seems like it will. The one who captured Tualua is, himself, locked out and has to use subterfuge to regain his position. Factions form within the castle. Wizards without lend their powers to help breach the walls. Wizards within find ways to defend themselves from the demons that enslave and punish them. Dilvish is captured, makes a deal. His horse has secrets of its own. But then…
The whole thing is solved by a series of deus ex machinas, one quite literal. A few characters die, but we don’t care. The damsel does nothing. A pact between two characters is dissolved, which might be meaningful if we had been aware of it before that exact moment. The conflict fixes itself, and the players all turn to each other and say, "Boy, that was a thing." Zelazny squanders all the potential of this amazing setting.
I was going to say the book was still a fun read, but the act of writing this review has made me rethink that assessment. This book was a disappointment. That's a shame, because I loved the Amber novels. A Night in the Lonesome October, Zelazny's final novel, was great fun. So were several other Zelazny books I've read. The man knew how to craft a tale, but this one feels like he got bored and ended it as quickly as possible. You might find yourself doing the same.
June 17, 2018
Fantasy a tinte fortemente horror e con una buona dose di mitologia inventata, questo romanzo oltre ad alcune scene veramente terrificanti, come quella d'apertura, ha un senso del fantastico molto forte e nel complesso è una lettura che, a vent'anni di distanza, mi resta impressa.
Ho scoperto solo di recente che il romanzo riprende le file di alcune avventure brevi narrate nello stesso universo e con gli stessi protagonisti principali.
Finora tutto ciò che ho letto di Zelazny mi ha soddisfatto.
Ho scoperto solo di recente che il romanzo riprende le file di alcune avventure brevi narrate nello stesso universo e con gli stessi protagonisti principali.
Finora tutto ciò che ho letto di Zelazny mi ha soddisfatto.
April 30, 2025
With about 50 pages to go, I was really expecting a sequel. I liked a lot of the characters, but felt like their stories weren't given space to develop. Jelerak especially does absolutely nothing in this story before being unceremoniously ejected from the novel.
Aside from the rushed pace of the conclusion, I thought the setting was interesting, both the Changing Land itself and the Castle Timeless. I could feel the heart in all the little organisations and spaces in the book, and would have loved to have spent more time with them.
Aside from the rushed pace of the conclusion, I thought the setting was interesting, both the Changing Land itself and the Castle Timeless. I could feel the heart in all the little organisations and spaces in the book, and would have loved to have spent more time with them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 18, 2025
Basically the last in the line of Dilvish stories, this is the biggest (the others being short stories), and the most Zelazny.
Not to say you can't tell who wrote the others, but this one has the space to spread its psychedelic wings.
The other difference is that the cast is much larger, and you spend a fair amount of time away from him. In fact, the first few chapters are spent setting things up by visiting a few different viewpoints in turn. Only after mood and initial actions are set up does Dilvish ride into the story.
It certainly helps to read the stories of Dilvish the Damned first, as you never get into his head, even as he dominate the rest of the action, nor get any explanation of any number of things. He's powerful, extremely competent, and extremely driven here. And that's about all you get.
Meanwhile, you get fragments of several other people as this is the only story to feature them. But the main focus here is a strange place (a timeless castle, and the ever-changing area around it), and plenty of sword-and-sorcery style action.
Past that, well, there is a lot to talk about, as there are several different plots going on, with various people maneuvering around the power a leftover from the days of the Old Ones represents. But, all these separate plots end up fraying and merging into the climatic action, and not even Dilvish gets to carry his story to his wanted conclusion under the force of other events. Really, the psychedelics take over here, and its a great ride, but somewhat lacking in character agency.
Not to say you can't tell who wrote the others, but this one has the space to spread its psychedelic wings.
The other difference is that the cast is much larger, and you spend a fair amount of time away from him. In fact, the first few chapters are spent setting things up by visiting a few different viewpoints in turn. Only after mood and initial actions are set up does Dilvish ride into the story.
It certainly helps to read the stories of Dilvish the Damned first, as you never get into his head, even as he dominate the rest of the action, nor get any explanation of any number of things. He's powerful, extremely competent, and extremely driven here. And that's about all you get.
Meanwhile, you get fragments of several other people as this is the only story to feature them. But the main focus here is a strange place (a timeless castle, and the ever-changing area around it), and plenty of sword-and-sorcery style action.
Past that, well, there is a lot to talk about, as there are several different plots going on, with various people maneuvering around the power a leftover from the days of the Old Ones represents. But, all these separate plots end up fraying and merging into the climatic action, and not even Dilvish gets to carry his story to his wanted conclusion under the force of other events. Really, the psychedelics take over here, and its a great ride, but somewhat lacking in character agency.
August 26, 2025
I started this book without knowing that it was the sequel to a fix-up novel, which I'm now interested in tracking down. It fully works on its own though, without relying on the reader's knowledge of previous events. It tells an exciting and increasingly intense story, with an avalanching series of events involving inter-connected characters, motivated by a complicated hatchwork of intentions, and has a satisfying ending.
February 4, 2025
Book ten of 2025. Roger Zelazny's sequel to Dilvish the Damned was a welcome surprise. At 185 pages, it is a focused conclusion to the protagonist's quest of vengeance carried over from the previous book. New characters are introduced sympathetically, old ones fleshed out, and lovecraftian elements nudge into this sorcery filled world. A fast read, but a good one.
March 28, 2021
Dopo trent'anni di questo romanzo ricordavo il titolo, la copertina di Urania e un vago ricordo di quella sensazione che lascia un romanzo quando giri l'ultima pagina. E si, era proprio un bel grosso; Mha.
March 17, 2022
Zelazny is the Raymond Chandler of Magical Fiction.
As my headline denotes, I hold Chandler as one of America's great writers,
so too Zelazny in the world of Bradbury etc. Zelazny's The Changing Land, the second book of Dilvish and his
As my headline denotes, I hold Chandler as one of America's great writers,
so too Zelazny in the world of Bradbury etc. Zelazny's The Changing Land, the second book of Dilvish and his
November 16, 2025
Zelazny Strikes Again...
It's written by Zelazny. That alone ensures a great reading experience. This one is about Dilvish. That only makes it better. Sword and Sorcery story. A Trifecta!
It's written by Zelazny. That alone ensures a great reading experience. This one is about Dilvish. That only makes it better. Sword and Sorcery story. A Trifecta!
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