Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,737
edits
Lord of Light: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| (One intermediate revision by the same user not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{work}}
'''''Lord
The novel's basic premise (modern sci-fi characters in a Hindu/Buddhist world) is summed up in the opening lines:
Line 8:
Also inspired a song by [[Hawkwind]].
{{tropelist}}
* [[Ancient Astronauts]]: And they're ''human'' astronauts, at that.
* [[Anthropomorphic Personification]]: Yama believes that the gods have become truly divine by identifying themselves so thoroughly with a single concept, such as love, war, or death, that they become it. [[Shut UP, Hannibal|Sam thinks he's full of it.]]
* [[Apotheosis]]: Explored during the story, although whether the "gods" really ''are'' gods is a matter of some contention. Regardless, the ''process'' of becoming one is simple in concept, though quite difficult in execution:
{{quote|Godhood is more than a name. It is a condition of being.... Being a god is the quality of being able to be yourself to such an extent that your passions correspond with the forces of the universe, so that those who look upon you know this without hearing your name spoken.... One rules through one's ruling passion. Those who look upon gods then say, without even knowing their names, "He is Fire. She is Dance. He is Destruction. She is Love."}}
* [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]]: Sam's exile to Nirvana: his ''atman'' is transmitted along self-perpetuating radio-waves. He's quite upset when he's brought back.
* [[Back from the Dead]]:
* [[Bad Habits]]: Sam privately admits that he's merely posing as the Buddha, and doesn't believe the dogma he preaches.
* [[Baleful Polymorph]]: The gods' favorite means of punishing dissenters in their ranks is to transfer the minds of the offenders into the bodies of animals, instead of people.
Line 96 ⟶ 98:
* [[Stop Worshipping Me!]]: Sam doesn't insist on it, but he certainly does nothing that would encourage it.
* [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]]: Actually, sufficiently advanced ''humans''.
* [[
* [[Trickster Archetype]]: Sam is a classic.
* [[The Unfettered]]
Line 104 ⟶ 106:
* [[The World Is Not Ready]]: The antagonists use this as a justification for keeping their vast technology restricted to a tiny portion of the population. The protagonist calls them on it by asking why they've been actively quashing the spontaneous invention of technology.
* [[A Worldwide Punomenon]]: The entire ''book'' was written for the single purpose of a single pun.
**
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Nebula Award]]
[[Category:Literature of the 1960s]]
[[Category:Science Fiction Literature]]
▲[[Category:Lord of Light]]
| |||