Маската на Локи

by Roger Zelazny, Роджър Зелазни

Началото е през 12 век. Хасан ас-Сабах, Върховен убиец, надвива с лекота Тома Амне, рицар-тамплиер и бял магьосник... В множество следващи превъплъщения безсмъртният арабин прекъсва живота на своя противник, но той неизменно се завръща. А убиецът е изтощен...

21-ви век. Часът на Локи скоро ще удари и Ариман, Господарят на мрака, ще бъде победен...

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Mythology, Science Fiction Fantasy, Collections, Historical

304 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1990

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

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was published as a collaboration between Zelazny and Thomas, but I suspect that Thomas did most of the actual writing, perhaps based on an outline from Zelazny. It doesn't have the subtle nuance of character for which Zelazny was known and does have prolonged descriptions and explanations that don't sound like him. It's an interesting and enjoyable cross-time adventure fantasy, a little disappointing more for what it isn't than for what it is.

[Иван Величков · Rating 4 out of 5]

Маската на Локи съчетава успешно любовта на Томас Т. Томас към алтернативната история с любимия персонаж на Зелазни – Пакостника.
При първия прочит преди години останах със смесени чувства от книгата. Най-вече не ми стана ясно защо още в анотацията се издава една от ключовите развръзки в книгата. Сега, когато знам доста повече за историческата част на книгата, пак ми е странно, но осъзнах, че първият сблъсък между Хасан ас-Сабах и Тома Амне не е ключов за историята.
Двамата автори рисуват една алтернативна картина на битките за светите земи, където променят изхода само на една битка и това променя нашата действителност с някой минимални, но много важни за сюжета подробности. Например, за разлика от много добрите игри, но изключително слаби книги по „Кредото на Хашешина“, тук имаме обяснение как хашешините не са смазани от Чингиз Хан и са оцелели до наши дни. Не искам да издавам сюжета, повече от колкото е направено на задната корица, но решението на Зелазни и Томас е много елегантно, а развръзката е изненадваща и доста забавна.
Втората полоивна на дванадесети век Саладин вдига целия мюсюлмански свят, за да разкара всички християни от Светите земи. Самите кръстоносци са разкъсвани от вътрешни кавги, породени от алчност и високомерие. На този фон, двама магьосници ще са отговорни за бъдещето на Йерусалим, като и двамата нямат много общо с враждуващите страни. Тома Амне е магьосника на Тамплиерите, които отказват участие в битката при Антиохия, а Хасам ас-Сабах е самият Старец от планината, чийто орден никога не се замесва пряко в конфликтите. И все пак сблъсъкът между двамата ще реши съдбините на човечеството извън тривиалните време и пространство. А Локи? Локи седи и чака своя час, за да се освободи от проклятието поставено му от боговете. Как ще го направи? С измама, естествено.
Много добра и забавна книга, макар вътре да ми липсва типичния за Зелазни хумор. Има го, но е на ниво цялостна структура на произведението. Стила на писане на Томас, който е водещ тук е доста лек и четивен, но не е Зелазни.
А, издразни ме, че името на втория автор от тази колаборация не е споменати никъде, даже и с малки букви. Зелазни е известен с успешните си съвместни проекти и написването на името на Томас Т. Томас едва ли щеше да смъкне продажбите.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

November 06, 2004

This is a book from the nadir of Zelazny's life and career as a writer. It's a much better book, though still heavily flawed, if the chapters with the flash backs are skipped. The flashbacks are written out of chracter for Zelazny's usual style of writing so I can only guess that they are Thomas T. Thomas's contribution to this book. The story itself isn't much different than the second half of the Amber series, namely that of Merle and his semi-sentient computer. Zelazny usually doesn't bother with a lot of back story and in his better pieces, Tom Gurgen would have known by about page 30 that he was somehow tied to Loki. He'd have his powers and be trying to figure out why he had them, who wanted them and who he should aly himself with. But here the pacing is off and all the really typical (and good) Zelazny stuff doesn't happen until the last thirty pages of the book!

[Alazzar · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can tell a book is really good when you start skimming the moment you reach the denouement.

Unfortunately, that pretty much describes all of The Mask of Loki for me: it was downhill from page 1.

In the beginning, things were interesting. Then they dragged on. And dragged on some more. And dragged on some mooooooore.

(On the plus side, I got very accurate scientific descriptions of things I didn't actually care about. So that was a nice way to spend several pages in a row, on numerous occasions.)

This book was mostly written by Thomas T. Thomas, and he said at the beginning of the collaboration with Zelazny that he didn't much care for fantasy fiction and preferred to write hard SF. It definitely shows, because this book could have been 100 pages shorter without having lost anything important--Thomas just really likes describing things in excruciating detail.

The story unfolds in two timelines: one with crusading knights and one with a futuristic jazz-piano player. The latter was more interesting than the former, because holy crap, I can only read about knights marching for so long before I need to see some sort of action--be it physical, emotional, whatever.

On the one hand, The Mask of Loki is not a good book. On the other hand, at least it isn't Flare .

[Daryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Towards the end of his 3-decade+ career (this book came out in late 1990, Zelazny died in'95), Zelazny did a lot of collaborations. Unlike his earlier pairings with Fred Saberhagen, this novel doesn't read much like a Zelazny book at all, and it makes me wonder how much he contributed to it. The writing is mostly stilted and, as other reviewers have pointed out, it tends to drag on and on and gets bogged down in details. The basic plot does sound Zelazny-esque: in medieval times, a crusading knight and Saracen sorcerer are involved in a battle, which then repeats throughout history, as the knight gets reincarnated again and again, and the Saracen becomes essentially immortal, living 900+ years. The novel flips between the near-future story (where the reincarnated knight Thomas doesn't realize who he is) and the original Crusades-era conflict, interspersed with several intervening stories of various incarnations, although that wasn't clear at all to this reader until closer to the end. I struggled to get through this novel and found it mostly boring, with a few occasional bright spots in the writing and story that I'll attribute to Zelazny (or at least his influence). Definitely my least favorite of any book with Zelazny's name on it. I'm torn between one or two stars, so say one-and-a-half, rounding up.

[Mert · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 Stars (%77/100)

Some parts were just WOW but there were also some parts, especially in the beginning, that I got really confused and that is due to Zelazny's writing style. You are simply thrown into the story and since Zelazny likes to combine sci-fi and mythology, it becomes even more complicated. The narration goes back and forth between the past, 12th century, and the future, or the present we could call it. However, this is also what made me like Zelazny in the first place. On top of that, Norse Mythology is my all-time favorite and Loki is the one I like the most. Yet, the slow start and complicated narration might not be for everyone. The ending and the last few chapters were phenomenal and if you like Zelazny, you should definitely give this one a chance. If you are new to him, I would probably suggest This Immortal or Lord of Light.

[Steven]

Like many other Goodreads reviewers of this book, I found myself slogging through after a bit, and while in parts I could feel as if I were reading the Zelazny of old, so to speak, with flashes of arcane-complexity, those weren't nearly as sustained enough to make me feel I was going to enjoy myself much... and indeed, there you go. Some reviewers have mentioned how he did -- as with this book -- a lot of collaborations late in life, when he knew he was dying and wanted to leave his family more comfortable. I have no idea whether that's true, but it would be a nice narrative-excuse to forgive him for producing this otherwise un-innovative work. I do love Zelazny so, otherwise...

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. It had some great elements; but the story seemed ... less coherent than it might have been. I felt mostly felt like it was pulling from mythology that I was familiar with and that could have used a little more detail. Why is Loki fighting the Saracen; why the centuries-long battle and why doesn't Tom realize who he is?

So there were a lot of questions that I felt could have been answered and would have allowed me to enjoy the book more.

It was fine and entertaining, but not as satisfying as I would have liked. And the ending wasn't as tight as I would have liked. I felt that there could have been a better resolution.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of Zelazny's best. Of course, it was written later in his career and was written with another author, and being a huge Zelazny fan, I had to read it. It's a library donation instead of going on my bookshelf.

[Bobby Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. Surprising, since I hated the other novel Zelazny and Thomas co-wrote (FLARE).

[宸瑋 楊]

vvvvxcz

[Петър Керкелов · Rating 2 out of 5]

Явно трябва да се примиля, че съм прочел отдавна всичко на Зелазни, което си е струвало да се прочете.

[Sylvie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intéressant sur la période des croisés, et les rapports entre templiers, hospitaliers... mais certains passages sont confus et la fin un peu décevante

[Vincent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lecture de la traduction en français.
Malgré quelques bons passages, le rythme du livre est trop décousu (dommage, car c'est généralement la force de Zelazny à mon sens) et l'intrigue est trop peu détaillée avec des thèmes intéressants mais simplement survolés. Le style oscille souvent entre détails techniques style hard-SF et de la fantasy plus classique, et cela est déroutant.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big Zelazny fan from way back - reading him when at school - but this book puzzled me. It's co written with another author and so that can make a difference but this was quite disjointed throughout and ended rather lamely. The quality of the writing is great but it was like a series of vignettes showing you how to write well rather than a coherent whole book. That's why only 3 stars when most of his books would get a 4 or 5 from me.

[dustin league · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thus far my least favorite Zelazny book, but not a bad book in its own right. The pacing is much slower than Zelazny's usually writes. The scenes set during the Crusades following Thomas Amnet (about 1/2 of the book) are the best while the near-future events tend to plod for awhile before ramping up to a pretty good conclusion.

[Howard Brazee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second Zelazny collaboration that I have read recently that had GoodReads only list one author. Interestingly, the other one was listed as a Saberhagan work. I wonder if that indicates who is the primary author. When Roger knew he was dying, he collaborated a lot, hoping to provide for his family after he died.

[Mike S · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my least favorite Zelazny book, I attribute that to the collaboration with Thomas. While parts of the story were really well done (which I attribute to Zelazny), it dragged in a lot of spots, I don't think I'll be reading anything by Thomas in future. I think this is a case where the movie would most definitely be better than the book.

[Andreas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pointless action/adventure novel in which gods and sorcerers walk the present day earth.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1534

[Hao · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Zelazny book, but not nearly on the same scale as Lord of Light. The characters seemed to fall flat, and the story's pay off was not satisfying, and abrupt.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average. I amused myself trying to figure out which bits were from Zelazny, but my best guess is that they are fairly sparse.

[Sashko Liutyj]

дивна річ: непередбачувана і не надто динамічна.
має бути якийсь багатошаровий зміст, але ліньки його досліджувати

[Charl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. Not his best work, but still enjoyable.