ebil's review
4.0
(This listing, and this review, is for the short story itself and not the Zelazny anthology of the same name.) Very interesting, rich prose that warrants multiple workings-over from time to time; lovely classic monster-hunting story. I've been neglecting Zelazny's work more than a classic SF fan should and running across this story has whet my appetite for sure. One star off for the climax and payoff seeming set before the actual climax, which was abrupt in comparison, but I don't presume to know better than the Nebula people :)
una_10bananas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
phileasfogg's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of my favourite short story collections. I haven't read all of Zelazny, but most of my favourites among his works are in here. (I also really liked Nine Princes in Amber.) Generally I prefer shorter short stories - twenty pages or less - but the stories in this book are an exception: the longer the better.
I doubt Zelazny wrote much that was better than these five stories:
- A Rose for Ecclesiastes
- This Moment of the Storm
- This Mortal Mountain
- The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth
- Devil Car
With honourable mentions to:
- Divine Madness
- The Man Who Loved the Faioli
I did wonder about the title story's title. Huh? It reads like a quotation, but googling it only produced references to the Zelazny story and book.
I doubt Zelazny wrote much that was better than these five stories:
- A Rose for Ecclesiastes
- This Moment of the Storm
- This Mortal Mountain
- The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth
- Devil Car
With honourable mentions to:
- Divine Madness
- The Man Who Loved the Faioli
I did wonder about the title story's title. Huh? It reads like a quotation, but googling it only produced references to the Zelazny story and book.
krakentamer's review against another edition
4.0
This is the second time that I've attempted to read Zelazny. I'd previously tried [b:Lord of Light|13821|Lord of Light|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1330127327s/13821.jpg|1011388], but had to move it to my DNF shelf, as it was too much 60's mysticism. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with this collection, but not all stories were winners. I noticed that there was a ROUGH inverse relation between the length of a story and the number of stars I rated it. Maybe I only enjoy him in short doses?
By far, the best story here was Divine Madness, which has also moved into my list of all-time favorite short stories. Others of particular note: The Keys To December and The Monster and the Maiden.
The DNF's were usually caused either by too much hippy-trippy or too slow of a pace.
The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth: 3 Stars
The Keys to December: 5
Devil Car: 5
A Rose for Ecclesiastes: DNF
The Monster and the Maiden: 5
Collector's Fever: 5
This Mortal Mountain: 4
This Moment of the Storm: DNF
The Great Slow Kings: 5
A Museum Piece: 5
Divine Madness: 5
Corrida: 5
Love Is an Imaginary Number: 4
The Man Who Loved the Faioli: 3
Lucifer: 4
The Furies: DNF
The Graveyard Heart: DNF
If I average all ratings, it's 3.46. Disregarding the DNF's, it's 4.46. So I'll split the difference and rate it 4 stars. I have another Zelazny collection ([b:The Last Defender of Camelot|13822|The Last Defender of Camelot|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1422107785s/13822.jpg|1105534]), but will wait a bit before I take it up.
By far, the best story here was Divine Madness, which has also moved into my list of all-time favorite short stories. Others of particular note: The Keys To December and The Monster and the Maiden.
The DNF's were usually caused either by too much hippy-trippy or too slow of a pace.
The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth: 3 Stars
The Keys to December: 5
Devil Car: 5
A Rose for Ecclesiastes: DNF
The Monster and the Maiden: 5
Collector's Fever: 5
This Mortal Mountain: 4
This Moment of the Storm: DNF
The Great Slow Kings: 5
A Museum Piece: 5
Divine Madness: 5
Corrida: 5
Love Is an Imaginary Number: 4
The Man Who Loved the Faioli: 3
Lucifer: 4
The Furies: DNF
The Graveyard Heart: DNF
If I average all ratings, it's 3.46. Disregarding the DNF's, it's 4.46. So I'll split the difference and rate it 4 stars. I have another Zelazny collection ([b:The Last Defender of Camelot|13822|The Last Defender of Camelot|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1422107785s/13822.jpg|1105534]), but will wait a bit before I take it up.
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
4.0
The Doors of His Face, The Lamp of His Mouth","Roger Zelazny","1596871423","review","The title story is the best one. But Zelazny is terrific in all of them.
dllman05's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
codeeater's review against another edition
3.0
Die Türen seines Gesichts: *** 1/2
Dezemberwelt: ****
Der Teufelswagen: ****
Die 2224 Tänze des Locar: ****
Der Drache und die Jungfrau: ***
Der Sammler: ***
Die Graue Schwester: ***
Sturm über Tierra del Cygnus: *** 1/2
Die großen, trägen Herrscher: **
Museumsstück: **
Göttlicher Wahnsinn: ***
Corrida: **
Liebe ist eine imaginäre Zahl: **
Der Mann, der die Faioli liebte: ***
Luzifer: ***
Dezemberwelt: ****
Der Teufelswagen: ****
Die 2224 Tänze des Locar: ****
Der Drache und die Jungfrau: ***
Der Sammler: ***
Die Graue Schwester: ***
Sturm über Tierra del Cygnus: *** 1/2
Die großen, trägen Herrscher: **
Museumsstück: **
Göttlicher Wahnsinn: ***
Corrida: **
Liebe ist eine imaginäre Zahl: **
Der Mann, der die Faioli liebte: ***
Luzifer: ***
alexanderpaez's review against another edition
3.0
Me apetecía leer algo retro, old school scifi, y que fueran relatos. Y Zelazny es un autor que, en general, me gusta mucho por su sentido del humor. Los relatos de este libro son un WTF constante, y de la mitad no he sacado nada en claro. No sé qué pensar.
nwhyte's review against another edition
http://nhw.livejournal.com/382479.html[return][return]I think this was Zelazny's first published collection? Mostly stories from his peak early years in the 1960s; includes perhaps his two best pieces from that era, the title story (which I didn't like at all on first reading it as a teenager, but which has grown on me since) and "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" which remains a favourite.[return][return]The incredibly weak ending of "This Mortal Mountain" grates a bit more than before, and a couple of the other single-idea stories seem a bit overextended. But I liked rereading "The Keys to December", "This Moment of the Storm" and "The Man Who Loved the Faioli".[return][return]For some reason iBooks have decided to combine the stories published in the original collection of this name in 1971 with those included (along with "The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth" and "A Rose for Ecclesiastes") in Four For Tomorrow, a collection published in 1967. (They also transferred the dedication "To My Mother" from Four For Tomorrow rather than the original "To Alan Huff".) The two extra stories are "The Furies", which remains excellent (though knowing Zelazny's later works as we now do, we can see ideas recycled from it into both To Die In Italbar and Eye of Cat) and "The Graveyard Heart", an eccentric choice, eighty pages in which nothing much happens, and poorly proofread to boot (especially the few German phrases, which are horribly mangled).[return][return]Anyway, glad I put some time into rereading this.
arkron's review against another edition
4.0
Fisher, climber, cowboy romanticism, terraforming, a proto-amber and other stories.
My favourite ★★★★★ story was
No ★ or ★★ for me were
Contents:
My favourite ★★★★★ story was
- A Rose for Ecclesiaste
No ★ or ★★ for me were
- The Great Slow Kings
- Corrida
Contents:
- ★★★★ for The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth • (1965) • fisher story on Old Venus - review
- ★★★1/2 for The Keys to December • (1966) • terraforming for Cold Cats - review
- ★★★ for Devil Car • (1965) • Wild West romanticism with A.I. cars - review
- ★★★★★ • A Rose for Ecclesiastes • (1963) • fatalisms of Old Marsians - review
- ★★ for The Monster and the Maiden • (1964) • two-pager faery story, a twist about the eponymous topic
- ★★★1/2 for Collector's Fever • (1964) • three-pager funny, bizarre SF about trying to collect an intelligent stone. Nearly 100% dialogue but with an interesting world-setting.
- ★★★ for This Mortal Mountain • (1967) • mysticistic climbing turning real - review
- ★★★ for This Moment of the Storm • (1966) • storm watcher leads a city through the perils of a storm - review
- ★★ for The Great Slow Kings • (1963) • satirical and witty story about reptile Gods taking years for simple conversations, witnessing civilizations fade away while they try to come up with answers. "Masters," suggested Zindrome, "the half-life of radioactive materials being as ephemeral as it is, I regret to report that only one spaceship is now in operational condition."
- ★★★ for A Museum Piece • (1963) • an artist decides to flee the world, exhibiting himself as a statue in a museum. Others do similar. Satirical, witty, absurd story.
- ★★★★ for Divine Madness • (1966) • reverse time love story - review
- ★ for Corrida • (1968) • a man awakes as the bull in a tauromachia; thankfully only two pages long
- ★★★★ for Love is an Imaginary Number • (1966) • proto-Amber - review
- ★★★ for The Man Who Loved the Faioli • (1967) • A month. A month, he knew, and it would come to an end. The Faioli, whatever they were, paid for the life that they took with the pleasures of the flesh.
- ★★1/2 for Lucifer • (1964) • the eponymous lightbringer (from "lux"+"ferre") brings back life to a city in the form of electricity, if only for a few moments