The Dragons of Bel'kwinith's Encounter with Marquis de Sade

Roadmarks by Roger Zelazny

Reviewed by Aaron DeWeese

  

This out of print Zelazny novel is a little jade gem! 

I have not read yet Baudelaire or Whitman, though I have been eying "Flowers of Evil" for some time now.  I will enjoy it all the more because of the cybernetic Flowers. 

I loved almost everything about this book—the cigar and pipe smoking, the way the chapters fell under either a One or Two, the travel upon the road of time, the memorable characters, the famous "guest characters" (Hitler, de Sade, Doc Savage, an ancient Sumerian, a crusader), the idea of a black decade and the ensuing flavorful assassins...  The only things that I did not care for too much were Reyd's son Randy—in his quest for his daddy, and the ending of the book.  It felt rushed and not thought out very well compared to the rest of the novel. 

I was fascinated to learn that Zelazny had shuffled the "Two" chapters and inserted them randomly in the "One" chapters, even if the publisher had him later sort out a couple.

I certainly will be looking forward to reading more Roger Zelazny in the future.