Author | Philip K. Dick and Roger Zelazny |
---|---|
Cover artist | John Cayea |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre | Science fiction |
Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 1976 |
Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
Pages | 182 |
ISBN | 0-385-04527-1 |
OCLC | 2188373 |
813/.5/4 | |
LC Class | PZ4.D547 De PS3554.I3 |
Deus Irae is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel started by American author Philip K. Dick and finished with the help of American author Roger Zelazny. It was published in 1976. Deus irae, meaning God of Wrath in Latin, is a play on Dies Irae , meaning Day of Wrath or Judgment Day. This novel was based on Dick's short stories "The Great C" and "Planet for Transients".
Dick started the novel, then realized he did not know enough about Christianity to finish it. He asked science fiction editor and author Ted White to collaborate on the manuscript with him, but after reviewing the manuscript, White never began the work.
Zelazny found the manuscript in White's home in early 1968, read it, then contacted Dick about working on the project. Work proceeded sporadically over several years as each author, in turn, forgot about the book. At one stage, Zelazny's cat took the opportunity to urinate on the original manuscript. The novel was completed quickly, though, in the spring of 1975 after the publisher, Doubleday, demanded either the manuscript or a repayment of the advance paid to Dick. The editor discovered that Zelazny had sent photocopies of a number of the manuscript pages and demanded the originals as per Doubleday's policy; much to Zelazny's chagrin, he had to send in pages stained with cat urine. Zelazny said later that he always wondered what the editor made of them. [1] [2] [3]
After 1982, the world experienced a devastating nuclear war. Fallout and radiation has caused widespread mutations to human and animal populations alike. There is a new messianic religion, akin to gnosticism. The members of this religion, known as the Servants of Wrath or SOWs, worship the creator and detonator of the war's ultimate weapon, Carleton Lufteufel (from the German words "Luft," meaning "air," and "Teufel," meaning "Devil"), ex-chairman of the Energy Research and Development Agency of the United States of America - ERDA/USA.
In Charlottesville, Utah, there are ample debates between the Servants of Wrath and the diminishing congregations of Christians left in existence.
The Servants of Wrath's faith is based on an "anger-driven" traditional perception of godhood, compared to that of the Christian survivors, and it is from this that the book derives its name- deus irae, Latin for "God of Wrath". Tibor McMasters is an armless, legless cyborg phocomelus artist who has been commissioned to paint a mural of Lufteufel, though nobody knows where Lufteufel lives, or what he looks like.
The Servants of Wrath leadership ask McMasters to find Lufteufel and capture his divinity in a mural, and McMasters embarks on a "pilg" (pilgrimage) to do so. [4] En route, we learn about the absence of national communications systems after the widespread destruction caused by nuclear warfare. McMasters and other seekers encounter mutant lizards, birds and insects who have evolved sentience, as well as the "Big C", a decaying artificial intelligence that also survived the war; it survives by consuming humans for their trace elements.
While trying to remove shrapnel from his forehead, Lufteufel loses consciousness from loss of blood, at which point his intellectually challenged "daughter", Alice, tries to remove some of the blood using a shirt. This leaves a bloody imprint on the fabric. Alice keeps the shirt because it is the only remaining likeness of his face, leaving her with the only true relic of the God of Wrath, evoking the Christian legend of the veil of Veronica and the artifact known as the Shroud of Turin.
Going under the name “Jack Schuld” (German for "guilt"), Lufteufel kills a dog belonging to McMasters, and McMasters murders Lufteufel without realising his identity. After his death, Alice is visited by Lufteufel's "spirit" . He does not speak, but he helps Alice by "lifting the fog in her brain", removing her disability. She sees that his spirit is finally at peace. Alice is not the only human to experience a theophany related to Lufteufel's passing. Another survivor has a vision of a "Palm Tree Garden" equivalent to the Garden of Eden. This implies that Lufteufel may have been a gnostic demiurge, an evil earthbound deity who believes itself omnipotent, but whose abilities are constricted compared to "higher levels" of divinity.
However, McMasters has no knowledge of Lufteufel's death or of the alleged visions related to his death. He is tricked by his (Christian) companion Pete into using an elderly dying alcoholic vagrant for the likeness of Lufteufel for the commissioned church mural, which is prominently featured in leading Servants of Wrath institutions. The mural's survival is a tacit argument that religious belief is often based on mythological accretions, which may not be valid interpretations of decisive events in the history of that faith.
Roger Joseph Zelazny was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for The Chronicles of Amber. He won the Nebula Award three times and the Hugo Award six times, including two Hugos for novels: the serialized novel ...And Call Me Conrad (1965), subsequently published under the title This Immortal (1966) and then the novel Lord of Light (1967).
The Chronicles of Amber is a series of fantasy novels by American writer Roger Zelazny. The main series consists of two story arcs, each five novels in length. Additionally, there are a number of Amber short stories and other works. While Zelazny's will expressly forbade sequels by other authors, four posthumous prequels authorized by Zelazny's family were authored by John Gregory Betancourt.
Jack of Shadows is a science fantasy novel by American author Roger Zelazny. It was serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1971 and published in book form that same year.
Creatures of Light and Darkness is a 1969 science fiction novel by American writer Roger Zelazny. Long out of print, it was reissued in April 2010. The novel 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.
Nine Princes in Amber is a fantasy novel by American writer Roger Zelazny, the first in the Chronicles of Amber series. It was first published in 1970, and later spawned a computer game of the same name. The first edition of the novel is unusually rare; the publisher pulped a significant part of the original print run in error when the order went out to destroy remaining copies of Zelazny's older book Creatures of Light and Darkness.
The Guns of Avalon is fantasy novel by American writer Roger Zelazny, the second book in the Chronicles of Amber series. The book continues straight from the previous volume, Nine Princes in Amber, although it includes a recapitulation.
Roadmarks is a science fantasy novel by American author Roger Zelazny, written during the late 1970s and published in 1979.
Dreamscape is a 1984 American dark science-fiction adventure film directed by Joseph Ruben and written by David Loughery, with Chuck Russell and Ruben co-writing. It stars Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, Max von Sydow and Christopher Plummer.
Today We Choose Faces is a 1973 science fiction novel by American writer Roger Zelazny. As originally constructed, Part 1 was an extensive flashback which followed Part 2, but the order of the sections was changed at the request of editor David Hartwell, who felt that the novel worked better in chronological order. Zelazny later wrote, “I was younger then & more in need of the money at the time & couldn’t afford to argue [with] him about it. I still prefer it the way I wrote it.”
The Dream Master (1966), originally published as a novella titled He Who Shapes, is a science fiction novel by American writer Roger Zelazny. Zelazny's originally intended title for it was The Ides of Octember. It won the 1965 Nebula Award for Best Novella.
Here There Be Dragons is a children's book by American writer Roger Zelazny. It is one of two stories he wrote for children, the other being Way Up High, and one of three books without heroic protagonists. The two children's books were first published with separate dust jackets but sold only in shared slipcases bearing the title Here There Be Dragons/Way Up High . One thousand copies of each book were produced in 1992 signed by Zelazny with illustrations by Vaughn Bodē.
NESFA Press is the publishing arm of the New England Science Fiction Association, Inc. The NESFA Press primarily produces three types of books:
To Die in Italbar (1973) is a science fiction novel by American writer Roger Zelazny. To Die in Italbar follows Mr. H, a man who needs only to touch someone to heal or hurt them, during a deadly galactic pandemic.
The 32nd World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Discon II, was held on 29 August–2 September 1974 at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., United States.
"Planet for Transients" is a 1953 science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick. The story was originally published in the October–November 1953 issue of Fantastic Universe. The story also appears in We Can Remember It for You Wholesale . The author's original title for the story was "The Itinerants".
Underwood–Miller Inc. was a science fiction and fantasy small press specialty publishing house in San Francisco, California, founded in 1976. It was founded by Tim Underwood, a San Francisco book and art dealer, and Chuck Miller, a Pennsylvania used book dealer, after the two had met at a convention.
"The Great C" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine in 1953. It has since been republished several times in collections such as Beyond Lies the Wub in 1988. Parts of the work, along with Planet for Transients, were later used in the full-length novel Deus Irae. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which a young man is sent from his tribe every year to visit a godlike computer capable of mass destruction and try to stump it with three questions. The story was adapted into an animated virtual reality film in 2018 by Secret Location.
This Immortal, serialized as ...And Call Me Conrad, is a science fiction novel by American author Roger Zelazny. In its original publication, it was abridged by the editor and published in two parts in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in October and November 1965. It tied with Frank Herbert's Dune for the 1966 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Way Up High is a children's book by American writer Roger Zelazny. It is one of two stories he wrote for children, the other being Here There Be Dragons, and one of three books without heroic protagonists. One thousand copies of each of the two books signed by Zelazny were published in 1992 with illustrations by Vaughn Bodē.
This is a partial bibliography of American science fiction and fantasy author Roger Zelazny.