The collection kicks off strongly with “Permafrost”. Possessing a premise similar to Stephen King’s book The Shining, the story features a man living alone on an Arctic planet overseeing the maintenance facilities through a long winter. Said man a classic Zelazny, he finds a peculiar ice statue in a cave one day, and his personal troubles are revealed. Zelazny working with symbolism nicely through one of the foundation stones of human society (male-female relations), it’s an interesting story at a couple levels, and one of Zelazny’s career best (at least that I’ve read).
But from strong to weak we quickly go with this bit of self-indulgence: “LOKI 7281”. The “story” puts the reader literally into the writer’s head, raising awareness about confidences and doubts in the writing process. And while it does show Zelazny was at least aware of how repetitive some of his tropes and methods are, the “story” is nevertheless a one-off with little substance. The next story, “Dreadsong”, is an attempt at realistically portraying an alien, in this case a dying alien on a moon of Saturn. Mixing in literature and mythology, the final effort is lacking I cohesion.
“Itself Surprised” is a short story set in Fred Saberhagen’s Beserker universe. When a small spaceship of humans encounters a strange piece of alien technology in the wilds of space, they decide to bring it aboard as cargo. But when a Beserker ship comes chasing after it, gun turrets primed for destruction, the crew begin to fight among themselves what to do. The result is sf as average as sf can be. An extremely short story, “Dayblood” is a twist on vampires that works with the assumption some power must exist which prevents vampires from taking over the world. The twist is nice for a brief second, then fades to substance-less tale.
Full on fantasy with magicians and spells and mage battles, “Manna from Heaven” seems a precursor (?) to Dungeons & Dragons for its portrayal of a hardboiled sorcerer and his attempts to stay alive while protecting a woman from evil powers. While Zelazny builds the imagery well, and gives the reader plenty of fireworks, this story still can’t help but be anything more than it is once the last word has been read. Setting the cheese meter to ‘stinking’, “Night Kings” is a Lovecraftian tale of innocent antique shops, their smarter-than-you-think proprietors, and something resembling a Necronomicon. Swiss, gouda, blue—your choice, ensues. Likely the shortest story in the collection (and there is competition), “Quest’s End” uses its +/- 1,000 words to tell of fateful love, with a dragon. If ever there were a story that feels like homework turned in at the last moment…
The last story in the collection is also its most substantial, “24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai”. Where “Permafrost” featured conflict between the sexes from the male point of view, this story looks at things from a female (or at least thereabouts) pov. About a woman on a zen journey through Japan to find her husband and take revenge on him, there is an extended period of tranquility, appropriate to title and setting, that gives way in the final pages to the splash of imagination many readers of sf&f want. Zelazny does not often write female protagonists, and this story, while successful in building scene, tension, and dialogue, still feels like Zelazny writing a male protagonist. This and “Permafrost” form the highlights of the collection.
I suppose this review would not be complete without mentioning the non-fiction included. Firstly, Zelazny takes the time to introduce each story, a brief behind the scenes that is always welcome. And there are three longer pieces. One is the introduction, a fairly self-indulgent ‘thank you’ that doesn’t have much interesting to offer. For readers who enjoyed or who have questions about Zelazny’s novel Eye of Cat, the essay “Constructing a Science Fiction Novel” goes into the origins and methods of creating said story. Unapologetic, it’s a straight-forward read and undoubtedly clarifying for people perplexed by the novel. And finally, closing the collection is “Fantasy and Science Fiction: A Writer’s View”. While Zelazny makes the effort to distinguish science fiction, fantasy, and why there likely shouldn’t be a distinction between the two, the essay nevertheless feels like it needed more rigor, something a bit heavier to be truly substantive.
In the end, Roger Zelazny’s oeuvre is a mix of quality, and this collection reflects that. There are a couple solid stories, a couple stinkers, and a couple that float somewhere in the middle. Ironically, this makes it a good starting point for Zelazny—unless of course, you want the best right off the bat. In that case, I would recommend looking for Lord of Light, The Dream Master, or …This Immortal. Otherwise, only “Permafrost” and “24 24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai” are worth deeper investment. One final comment would be that the collection is not as repetitive as it could have been. Featuring the same gruff, cigarette-smoking, tough-guy male in almost every story, The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth was a more reiterative affair. Frost & Fire has a few, but there is enough variety to not get bored of it.
The following are the ten stories and three pieces of non-fiction collected in Frost and Fire:
An Exorcism of Sorts (essay by Roger Zelazny)
Permafrost
LOKI 7281
Dreadsong
Itself Surprised
Dayblood
Constructing a Science Fiction Novel (essay by Roger Zelazny)
The Bands of Titan
Mana from Heaven
Night Kings
Quest's End
24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai
Fantasy and Science Fiction: A Writer's View (essay by Roger Zelazny)
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