The Changing Land

The Changing Land
	Cover of first edition (paperback)
Author	Roger Zelazny
Cover artist	Michael Herring
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Fantasy
Publisher	Del Rey
Publication date	1981
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	245
ISBN	0-345-25389-2
OCLC	7338977
Preceded by	Dilvish, the Damned

Last updated June 19, 2021

The Changing Land is fantasy novel by American writer Roger Zelazny, first published in 1981. The novel resolves the storyline from the various Dilvish, the Damned, short stories (collected in 1982 as Dilvish, the Damned ). It was nominated for the Locus Award^[1] Elements of the story intentionally reflect the work of H. P. Lovecraft, Frank Belknap Long, and William Hope Hodgson, including the Hounds of Tindalos, here called the "Hounds of Thandalos", The House on the Borderland , and the appearance of the Old Gods.

Plot summary

The novel picks up several months after the events in the last chapter of Dilvish, the Damned . The Castle Timeless, one of several fortresses belonging to Dilvish's arch-enemy, Jelerak, is currently inhabited by the "mad" Old One Tualua. Tualua is undergoing one of the "changes" common to his kind, which in this case causes the land surrounding the castle to be subject to all sorts of chaotic, unpredictable, and often-deadly effects. A number of wizards, hoping to tap into Tualua's vast power, attempt to pass through this maelstrom and reach the castle. Watching events from the outside are members of the Society of Magic.

Dilvish, determined to avenge himself against Jelerak, appears and attempts to breach the magical barriers, hoping to find his arch-enemy inside. Accompanied by his companion Black, a demon-like being in the shape of a black metal horse, they rescue a wizard, Weleand, from being drowned in an acid pit. Soon after they meet a young Elven girl, Arlata, frozen by one of magical winds. Weleand unfreezes her by transferring the condition to Black, and escapes. Dilvish is then captured by one of the caretakers of the castle, Baran of the Extra Hand, and thrown into the dungeon with several captured wizards.

Escaping the dungeon, Dilvish wanders the castle, eventually finding Semirama, a woman from long ago resurrected by Jelerak to be one of the caretakers (along with Baran). Semirama has managed to build a rapport with the demi-god Tualua, and has caused the demi-god to feign madness to disrupt the lands around the castle with chaos. This is part of Baran's plan to usurp Jelerak's power, the disruption being one of the things preventing outsiders reaching the castle. Baran has also placed magical guards on other entry points, such as a mirror that can act as a portal.

Black manages to sneak into the castle in his human form, and encounters Jelerak, who was disguised as Weleand, about to sacrifice an unconscious Arlata as a means to gain control of Tualua. Meanwhile the escaped wizards manage to disable the maintaining spell which keeps the castle anchored in normal time, causing everyone in the castle to become temporarily unconscious. The entire castle and its inhabitants are rapidly accelerated into the far future, so far that they reach the end of time. Here they encounter the Elder Gods, who appear as gargantuan beings the height of the stars, gambling with dice, apparently for the right to control the outcome of the contest beneath them.

Baran is killed by one of the wizards, and both Jelerak and Tualua are claimed by the Elder Gods, the former as their prisoner and the latter as one of their own. Semirama, her resurrection canceled by the Elder Gods' capture of Jelerak, collapses into dust, her soul now inhabiting the alternate universe of mirrors in the castle, where she meets up with an ancestor of Dilvish's, Selar.

The Elder Gods re-attach Castle Timeless to the flow of time, and it passes through the beginning of the universe, where the magicians have to do battle with the "Hounds of Thandalos". The fortress eventually comes to rest at its original point in history.

Dilvish is initially enraged by the denial of his desire for vengeance, but then realizes that Jelerak will receive justice at the hands of the Gods, whom he has openly defied. Dilvish decides to go back to his homeland with Arlata, who is the granddaughter of one of Dilvish's former loves in that land.

With the help of a Society member, the survivors escape through the mirror portal.

Characters

Dilvish, the main protagonist, is of mixed Elvish and human parentage. He is on a quest to kill the wizard Jelerak, who consigned him to Hell. He is not a magician as such, but he does know all the "Awful Sayings", which are tremendously powerful black magic spells. Using one of these spells is like setting off a nuclear weapon, so will only use them as a last resort. He knows enough magic to help the other imprisoned magicians in the fortress to maintain a "demon trap" in their cell, protecting them from the demons who roam the fortress and occasionally help themselves to a snack from among the prisoners. He also wears "elf boots" which allow him to maintain his footing on any surface.
Black, the demon horse on which Dilvish rides. Black is made entirely of metal and can breathe fire from his nostrils. He is intelligent and speaks to Dilvish as they negotiate the land around the fortress. Under some circumstance, he can become a burly bearded man in a kilt.
Baran of the Extra Hand is a wizard who has taken control of the fortress and is using the demi-god Tualua to keep outsiders at bay until he can figure out a way to control Tualua without using Semirama, the resurrected Elf queen. Baran has control of a magic giant hand that appears from a magical plane to attack his enemies. After Baran is killed the hand appears and carries him back to its home.
Semirama is a beautiful Elvish queen who once loved an ancestor of Dilvish. Tualua will respond to her voice only. She has been dead for centuries, but was resurrected by Jelerak to control Tualua.
Tualua is a vile demi-god, apparently a mass of tentacles, who lives in a pit full of fecal matter inside the fortress.
Melbriniononsadsazzersteldregandishfeltselior is a demon, consisting of mismatched body parts such as pieces of amphibians and arthropods, who roams the castle but can be commanded by Baran and Semirama. His name was an attempt by his parents to make him proof against summoning by wizards, since the wizard must be able pronounce the name properly in order to make the summoning and control the demon. Unfortunately Baran's native language is agglutinative, so the name presents no problems for him. Black encounters his fellow demon while in human form and kills him, much to the demon's surprise.
Arlata is an Elvish quester trapped in the changing land around the fortress. She is the granddaughter and look-alike of Dilvish's long-ago sweetheart Fevera. Freed by Weleand, who is really Jelerak, she is later captured by Jelerak for a sacrifice to help him control Tualua.
Jelerak is a powerful black magician temporarily reduced in power by attacks from some of his former followers, who returns to his fortress to regain power by controlling Tualua, the demi-god.
Holrun is a young ambitious member of the ruling Council of Magicians, who has resigned in protest at the handling of the Castle Timeless matter. In fact he has done this for show, and to give himself a free hand, hoping to exploit the situation for his own ends. He locates a spell protecting the Castle from intrusion by magical means, using a form of remote viewing. Using his skills, he inserts his own spell within the protecting spell, which allows him to form his own gateway into the Castle. At the conclusion, Dilvish and Arlata use this gateway to escape.

Notes

↑ "1982 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-09-27.

Related Research Articles

Shazam is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by both Fawcett Comics and DC Comics.

Raistlin Majere is a fictional character from the Dragonlance series of books created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Raistlin played an extensive role in the two main series of books, particularly in Dragonlance Legends in which he was both primary protagonist and antagonist. He is twin brother to Caramon Majere, half-brother to his protective sister Kitiara uth Matar, and a significant member of the Heroes of the Lance. In the animated movie adaptation, Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Raistlin was voiced by Kiefer Sutherland.

Dilvish, the Damned is a collection of fantasy stories by American writer Roger Zelazny, first published in 1982. Its contents were originally published as a series of separate short stories in various fantasy magazines. Prior to publication, Zelazny's working title for the book was Nine Black Doves. The working title was later re-used for the fifth volume of The Collected Short Stories of Roger Zelazny collection, as a tribute to Dilvish. The storyline begun in this collection was resolved in the novel The Changing Land, which was published before the other Dilvish stories appeared in book form.

Nox is an action role-playing game developed and published by Westwood Studios and Electronic Arts in 2000 for Microsoft Windows. It details the story of Jack, a young man from Earth who is pulled into a high fantasy parallel universe and has to defeat the evil sorceress Hecubah and her army of necromancers to return home. Depending on the player's choice of character class at the beginning of the game, the game follows three largely different linear storylines, each leading to its unique ending. In the multiplayer, players can compete against each other in various game modes such as deathmatch and capture the flag, while the freely downloadable expansion pack NoxQuest added a cooperative multiplayer mode. The game was generally well received by critics and the media.

Akazukin Chacha is a Japanese shōjo manga series by Min Ayahana. It was serialized by Shueisha in the manga magazine Ribon from 1991 to 2000 and collected in 13 bound volumes. The series is loosely based on the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood and follows the adventures of a fumbling student magician named Chacha, who habitually wears a red hooded cloak, as she seeks the truth about her family and defend the kingdom against its enemies.

Felix Faust is a fictional supervillain who appears in stories published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in 1962 as an adversary of the Justice League of America.

The Dying Earth is a collection of fantasy short fiction by American writer Jack Vance, published by Hillman in 1950. Vance returned to the setting in 1965 and thereafter, making it the first book in the Dying Earth series. It is retitled Mazirian the Magician in its Vance Integral Edition (2005), after the second of six collected stories.

The Wizard is a type of magical character class in certain role-playing games, including role-playing video games. Wizards are considered to be spellcasters who wield powerful spells, but are often physically weak as a trade-off. Wizards are commonly confused with similar offensive spellcasting classes such as the Warlock and the Necromancer. However, a Wizard's power is based on the arcane and a Warlock or Necromancer's power is based on darkness or death. Some exceptions exist as to Necromancers being different than Wizards, as in Dungeons And Dragons, Necromancer is a subclass of Wizard. Wizards are primarily based on wizards from assorted fantasy literature. Other terms used to describe the classification include Mage, Magician, and Magic User.

A Spell for Chameleon is a fantasy novel by British-American writer Piers Anthony, published in 1977 by Ballantine Books/Del Rey Books. It is the first book of the Xanth series.

Magic in Middle-earth is the use of supernatural power in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth. Tolkien distinguishes ordinary magic from witchcraft, the latter always deceptive, stating that either type could be used for good or evil. Both sides used magic in the War of the Ring.

The study of magic in the Greco-Roman world is a branch of the disciplines of classics, ancient history and religious studies. In classical antiquity, including the Hellenistic world of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, historians and archaeologists view the public and private rituals associated with religion as part of everyday life. Examples of this phenomenon are found in the various state and cult temples, Jewish synagogues, and churches. These were important hubs for ancient peoples, representing a connection between the heavenly realms and the earthly planes. This context of magic has become an academic study, especially in the last twenty years.

A magician, also known as a mage, warlock, witch, wizard/wizardess, enchanter/enchantress, sorcerer/sorceress or spell caster, is someone who uses or practices magic derived from supernatural, occult, or arcane sources. Magicians are common figures in works of fantasy, such as fantasy literature and role-playing games, and enjoy a rich history in mythology, legends, fiction, and folklore.

Master of the Five Magics is a fantasy novel by Lyndon Hardy, first published in 1980. It is the first of a trilogy set in the same world; the second book is Secret of the Sixth Magic and the third Riddle of the Seven Realms. The books feature different characters, but each explores the same system of magic in successively more detail. It may be an early example of hard fantasy.

The Magic Kingdom of Landover series is a series of six fantasy novels by Terry Brooks following the adventures of a former trial lawyer named Ben Holiday, and the collection of friends and enemies that he encounters when he purchases a magical kingdom.

The Magician King is a new adult fantasy novel by Lev Grossman, published in 2011 by Viking Press, the sequel to The Magicians. It continues the story of Quentin Coldwater, interweaving it with the story of his high school crush, Julia, who learned magic outside of the standard school setting and joined him in Fillory.

References

Levack, Daniel J. H. (1983). Amber Dreams: A Roger Zelazny Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood-Miller. pp. 21–22. ISBN 0-934438-39-0.

External links

The Changing Land at Worlds Without End

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[WWE-1982-1] "1982 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-09-27.

[1]