Editing Roger Zelazny (section)

==Themes==
In his stories, Zelazny frequently portrayed characters from [[myth]], depicted in the modern or a future world. Mythological traditions his fiction borrowed from include:

* [[Chinese mythology]], in ''[[Lord Demon]]'' (with Jane Lindskold)
* [[Egyptian mythology]], in ''[[Creatures of Light and Darkness]]''
* [[Greek mythology]], in ''[[This Immortal|...And Call Me Conrad]]''
* [[Hindu mythology]], in ''[[Lord of Light]]''
* [[Navajo mythology]], in ''[[Eye of Cat]]''
* [[Norse mythology]], in ''[[The Mask of Loki]]''
* [[Psychoanalysis]], [[King Arthur|Arthurian mythos]], [[Norse mythology]] and [[Kabbalah]], in ''[[The Dream Master]]''

Additionally, elements from [[Norse mythology|Norse]], [[Japanese mythology|Japanese]] and [[Irish mythology]], [[Arthurian legend]], and real history appear in ''[[The Chronicles of Amber]]''. ''[[A Night in the Lonesome October]]'' involves the [[Cthulhu Mythos]].

Another recurring motif of Zelazny's is the "absent father" (or father-figure). Again, this occurs most notably in the [[The Chronicles of Amber|Amber]] novels: in the first Amber series, the protagonist Corwin searches for his lost, god-like father [[Oberon]]; while in [[Chronicles of Amber#The Merlin Cycle|the second series]], which focuses on Corwin's son Merlin (not to be confused with the Arthurian [[Merlin]]), it is Corwin himself who is strangely missing. This somewhat [[Freud]]ian theme runs through almost every Zelazny novel to a smaller or larger degree. ''[[Roadmarks]]'', ''[[Doorways in the Sand]]'', ''[[Changeling (novel)|Changeling]]'', ''[[Madwand]]'', ''[[A Dark Traveling]]''; the short stories "Dismal Light", "Godson", "The Keys to December"; and the ''Alien Speedway'' series all feature main characters who are either searching for or have lost their fathers. Zelazny's father, Joseph, died unexpectedly in 1962 and never knew his son's successes as a writer.<ref>"...And Call Me Roger": The Literary Life of Roger Zelazny, Part 5, by Christopher S. Kovacs. In: ''The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume 5: Nine Black Doves'', NESFA Press, 2009.</ref>

Two other personal characteristics that influenced his fiction were his expertise in [[martial arts]] and his addiction to tobacco. Zelazny became expert with the [[épée]] in college, and thus began a lifelong study of several different martial arts, including [[judo]], [[aikido]] (which he later taught as well, having gained a black belt), [[tai chi]], and ''[[baguazhang]]''. In turn, many of his characters ably and knowledgeably use similar skills whilst dispatching their opponents. Zelazny was also a passionate cigarette and pipe [[smoking|smoker]] (until he quit in the early 1980s), so much so, that he made many of his protagonists heavy smokers as well. However, he quit in order to improve his cardiovascular fitness for the martial arts; once he had quit, characters in his later novels and short stories stopped smoking too.<ref name="AndCall" />

He also often [[Experimental literature|experimented with form]] in his stories. The novel ''[[Doorways in the Sand]]'' practices a flashback technique in which most chapters open with a scene, typically involving peril, not implied by the end of the previous chapter. Once the scene is established, the narrator backtracks to the events leading up to it, then follows through to the end of the chapter, whereupon the next chapter jumps ahead to another dramatic ''non-sequitur''.

In ''[[Roadmarks]]'', a novel about a road system that links all possible times, places and histories, the chapters that feature the protagonist are all titled "One". Other chapters, titled "Two", feature secondary characters, including original characters, [[pulp hero]]es, and real historical characters. The "One" storyline is fairly linear, whereas the "Two" storyline jumps around in time and sequence. After finishing the manuscript, Zelazny shuffled the "Two" chapters randomly among the "One" chapters in order to emphasize their non-linear nature relative to the storyline.<ref name="AndCall_b">"...And Call Me Roger": The Literary Life of Roger Zelazny, Part 4, by Christopher S. Kovacs. In: ''The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume 4: Last Exit to Babylon'', NESFA Press, 2009.</ref>

''[[Creatures of Light and Darkness]]'', featuring characters in the personae of Egyptian gods, uses a narrative voice entirely in the [[present tense]]; the final chapter is structured as a [[play (theatre)|play]], and several chapters take the form of long poems.

Another common stylistic approach in his novels is the use of ''mixed genres'', whereby elements of each are combined freely and interchangeably. ''[[Jack of Shadows]]'' and ''[[Changeling (novel)|Changeling]]'', for example, revolve around the tensions between the two worlds of magic and technology. ''[[Lord of Light]]'', perhaps one of his most famous works, is written in the classic style of a mythic fantasy, while it is established early in the book that the story itself takes place on a [[Space colonization|colonized planet]].<ref>"...And Call Me Roger"": The Literary Life of Roger Zelazny, Part 2, by Christopher S. Kovacs. In: ''The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume 2: Power & Light'', NESFA Press, 2009.</ref>