Hi, what's your name?

Ours is Shmoop. That totally tells you everything you need to know about us, right? Like, just by our name you can tell we're smart, funny, well-read, and totally the life of a party. What does your name say about you?

Not sure where we're going with this? 

Well, then say hello to Roger Zelazny's science fiction epic, Lord of Light. Published in 1967, this novel tells the tale of Sam, a man who goes by a variety of names and styles himself as a homemade Buddha to rebel against a set of rulers who have, in turn, styled themselves as the gods and goddesses of Hindu mythology. It's all in the name in this one.

Set on an alien world, Zelazny's novel weaves science fiction tropes like resurrection machines, high-tech weapons, and alien beings with the mythologies and religions of Buddhism and Hinduism. The result is something that is not quite fantasy and not quite science fiction, while still being both. And the result was a pretty big hit for Zelazny.

Lord of Light was award the Hugo award for best novel in 1968 and nominated for a Nebula that same year (the equivalent of winning an Academy award and getting a nod from the Golden Globes, too). The book went on to inspire many other mash-ups of fantasy, mythology, and science fiction including Neil Gaiman's American Gods and possibly even video games. As for Zelazny, he went on to write many more books, including a mash-up featuring Egyptian mythology and the grand ten-part series The Chronicles of Amber.

In other words, when it comes to Zelazny, his name is pretty much synonymous with epic myth-bending brain snacks. So grab your copy of Lord of Light and get munching.

Political corruption, wealth inequality, cronyism, corporate greed, social disparity… Every one of these is an important issue that has been debated and re-debated over the years. They affect all of our lives, whether we're living the high life as the social cream rising to the top or drowning under the burden of the everyday.

Too bad these topics can also be immensely boring to talk about. Seriously, have you watched C-SPAN? Snooze. We'd rather watch the folks from the Capitol any day. Oh but wait—then we'd also have to be down to watch people brutally kill each other for sport. Hrm… A conundrum.

Thankfully, there's Lord of Light, which tackles all of the above issues. But in order to prevent a snooze-fest, these issues have been mixed into an action-filled tale of Hindu gods and goddesses choosing sides in a battle to determine the future of their society.

The battle scenes are basically what you'd get if Lord of the Rings and Star Wars had a baby, and that baby was trained in the martial art of awesome by Bruce Lee everyday until he grew up. Yeah. And while these epic battles are busy keeping you entertained, the novel critiques social ills that remain relevant in a post-Occupy Wall Street world. Lord of Light may not ultimately provide a solution to any of these problems, but it will engage you with them, helping you see them in your own society.

Hey, that's more than we can say for C-SPAN. And you don't even have to fend for your life in the arena.