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Title Creatures of Light and Darkness

Cover of first edition (hardcover)
Author	Roger Zelazny
Cover artist	James Starrett
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Science fiction novel
Publisher	Doubleday
Released	1969
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages	187 pp
ISBN	ISBN 0-575-07344-6

Creatures of Light and Darkness is a 1969 science fiction novel by Roger Zelazny. Long out of print, it was republished at the end of 2006.

Contents 1 Plot introduction 2 Plot summary 2.1 Background 2.2 Places 3 Curiosities 3.1 The Agnostic's Prayer 4 References 5 External link

It is set in the far future, with humans on many worlds. Some have god-like powers, or perhaps are gods - the names and aspects of various Egyptian Gods are used. Elements of horror and technology are mixed, and it has points in common with Cyberpunk.

Creatures of Light and Darkness was originally conceived and written as nothing more than a writing exercise in perspective by Roger Zelazny, yet when published turned into one of Zelazny's more popular books. Some fans believe that this novel was conceived as a roman à clef about the Social Security Administration at Woodlawn, Maryland, where Zelazny worked.

Unlike other books by Zelazny, such as Lord of Light or the The Chronicles of Amber series, this novel is more poetic in style, and contains less straight-forward action. However, like other novels, Zelazny incorporates ancient myth, in this case from Egyptian and some Greek myth, and weaves ultra-futuristic technology with fantasy elements.

The Universe was once ruled by the god, Thoth, who administered the different forces in the Universe to keep things in balance. In time, he delegated this administration to his "Angels" (other god-like beings) who were each in charge of different "stations", or forces in the Universe. Such stations included the House of the Dead, the House of Life, the House of Fire and so on.

At some point, Thoth awakened a dormant, malevolent force on a distant planet. This dark force, called the Thing That Cries In The Night, is so powerful and malevolent, that it nearly obliterates Thoth's wife and threatens to consume the galaxy. Thoth works to contain and destroy the creature, and in so doing, neglects his duties in maintaining the Univerise. The Angels become rebellious and use the absence of Thoth to fight amongst each other for dominance

Thoth's son Set, who through an anomaly in Time is also his father, fights the creature across a devastated planet. Just as Set is about to destroy the creature, he is attacked by the Angel Osiris who unleashes the Hammer That Smashes Suns, a powerful ray that nearly kills Set and the creature. Thoth's brother, Typhon, who was helping Set in the battle, vanishes without a trace and is presumed dead. (Typhon appears as a black horse-shadow, without a horse to cast it. He contains within himself something called Skagganauk Abyss, which resembles a black hole, not a term in common use at the time.)

The Thing That Cries In The Night survived the blast, and so Thoth, who has been meanwhile utterly overthrown by his Angels, has no choice but to contain the dark force until he can find a way to destroy it. He also revives the personality of his wife and keeps her safe on a special world known only to him, where the seas are above the atmosphere, not below them. He also scatters Set's weapons and armor across the Universe for safe-keeping in the event that Set can ever be found. Having been overthrown, he is now dubbed The Prince Who Was A Thousand by all in the Universe.

Some of the surviving Angels either hide among the peoples of the Universe as "immortals", but others, like Osiris and Anubis take over the House of Life and the House of Death respectively. Other stations are abandoned, and Osiris and Anubis are the only two power brokers in the Universe now. Osiris cultivates life where he can, while Anubis works to destroy it.

The geography of this universe contains curious places :

1. The House of Life, ruled by Osiris, contains a room in which Osiris has reduced various people in his past into furnishings. These furnishings can speak (or scream) via wall-mounted speakers.
   • A skull (with brain) for a paperweight.
   • An enemy whose nervous system is woven into a rug. Osiris enjoys jumping on the rug.
2. In the House of the dead, numerous dead people of the Six Intelligent Races lie on invisible catafalques until Anubis requires them to go through the motions of pleasure—eating, drinking, dancing, making love—without any real enjoyment.
3. The planet Blis is filled to bursting with people who are inexhaustibly fertile and do not know death. Indeed, one man agrees to commit suicide in front of an audience, for money to be given to his family, because most people on Blis have never seen a death.
4. on fog-shrouded D'donori, warlords raid each others solely to capture prisoners, who will be vivisected by the town scrier, or augur.
5. on an unnamed planet, the sea is above the atmosphere. Here, the Prince Who Was a Thousand keeps Nephthys, his wife, who was disembodied and cannot survive on a normal planet. Another inhabitant of this world is an unnamed saurian who greatly resembles Puff the Magic Dragon.
6. in a cave, a dog worries a glove that has seen better centuries. The three-headed canine is apparently Cerberus.

In one scene, a "scrier" (or augur) tries to read the future by disemboweling and examining the entrails of a professional rival. He misses an important detail, and his victim screams "I will not have my innards read by a poseur!"

Wakim, aka Set the Destroyer, seeks the gear he lost a thousand years. One item (which has seen better centuries) is currently hidden in a cave and guarded by a three-headed dog.

Osiris has reduced old enemies, lovers, and others to elementary forms. He holds the skull (and brain) of a former lover in his hands. She taunts him until he throws her skull against the wall, smashing it and giving his victim release from further torment.

Osiris has captured another enemy and woven his nervous system into the fabric of a rug. He amuses himself by jumping up and down on it, listening to the screams of his victim via loudspeakers on the walls.

The blind Norns, the best smiths in the universe, await the arrival of Thoth, for whom they have built the Star Wand, a powerful weapon. Their fee: artificial eyes, which Thoth will install himself, because he is a skilled surgeon. He is also a skilled anesthetist. Unfortunately, the Norns are physiologically incapable of unconsciousness, so each begs to be operated on last. There is considerable screaming. After each has received his new eyes, he lovingly regards his tools, until his neighbors, envious of his advantage, blind him, as is their legal right.

The Steel General (like the Tin Woodman) has had his organic body replaced with stainless steel, but wears a ring made from his last coat of skin. He has alternated many times between flesh and metal: in flesh phases, he wears a steel ring, from his last metal skin; in metal phases, he wears a ring made from his last organic skin. He rides an eight-legged mechanical horse with diamond hooves and plays a banjo labeled "This machine kills fascists," as did the guitar of Woody Guthrie. He seems to be a distant reincarnation of Guthrie. He is the spirit of rebellion, which can never be killed.

The Steel General, Set, and some others practice a novel martial art called temporal fugue. A fighter, seeing that his enemy is ready to attack, projects himself behind his enemy--in space and in time--so as to strike him from behind. Of course, the enemy does the same thing. When both warriors use the technique, recursively, things get complicated. Each character is replicated over a hundredfold, at various times in the past and future, thus putting a strain on the space-time continuum. The poor planet they are fighting on is prone to earthquakes during a fugue battle.

Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that you be forgiven for anything you may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Conversely, if not forgiveness but something else may be required to ensure any possible benefit for which you may be eligible after the destruction of your body, I ask that this, whatever it may be, be granted or withheld, as the case may be, in such a manner as to insure your receiving said benefit. I ask this in my capacity as your elected intermediary between yourself and that which may not be yourself, but which may have an interest in the matter of your receiving as much as it is possible for you to receive of this thing, and which may in some way be influenced by this ceremony. Amen.

This prayer is uttered by one of the main characters, Madrak, to shrive a man about to commit suicide for money (given to his family).

• Levack, Daniel J. H. (1983). Amber Dreams: A Roger Zelazny Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood/Miller, 25-26. ISBN 0-934438-39-0. 

• Link to the Agnostic's Prayer
• Amazon Books review