My thanks to WF Howes for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘Roadmarks’ by Roger Zelazny, narrated by Matt Godfrey. My apologies for the late feedback.

Originally published in 1979, this work of science fiction is considered a Masterwork of the SF genre.

It follows the journey of Red Dorakeen along the Road, which runs from the unimaginable past to the far future. Those who travel the Road have access to the turnoffs leading to all times and places and even to alternate time-streams. At the opening of the tale, a black decade has been declared against Red, which means that ten assassins will be targeting him.

Roger Zelazny certainly packs a lot into ‘Roadmarks’ modest length. The structure is unusual in that it moves between two chapter headings: Two and One. In the One chapters the focus is upon Red Dorakeen and in the Two chapters it is upon various assassins as well as Dorakeen’s son, Randy, who is seeking the father he never knew and is directed to the Road.

Randy has inherited a copy of Walt Whitman’s ‘Leaves of Grass’, which is actually a microdot computer that is arrayed in the form of a book. Red has his own version in the form of ‘Flowers of Evil’ by Charles Baudelaire. Both are rather chatty AIs, and contribute a great deal to the story as Leaves and Flowers respectively.

There are also a number of other memorable supporting characters including Mondamay, the potter; the mysterious Leila, who is prescient and accompanies Randy; a Tyrannosaurus Rex that was plucked out of its time; the Dragons of Bel'kwinith, who may have created the Road; and a variety of historical figures who travel the Road.

This was rather a quirky, kaleidoscopic tale and it took me a while to get into the story though once I did I was enraptured by its strangeness and charm.

Matt Godfrey is an award winning audiobook narrator with almost two hundred titles to his credit, including many in the SF/F genres. He has a good vocal range and moved seamlessly between ‘Roadmarks’ various characters.

Overall, finishing ‘Roadmarks’ it was easy to see how it gained its Masterworks status. It had plenty of action, adventure, philosophy, and humour.

I don’t often stop an audio book but after 5 chapters I still have zero idea what’s going on who the characters are and the narrators voice is grating on my nerves when the female (I think) voice is done. Been a long long time since I have heard such a truly awful book.

Roger Zelazny is one of those authors that other writers speak of with huge respect and affection, therefore is someone I have always intended to read. So I was delighted to encounter this newly released audiobook, narrated by Matt Godfrey, who does a very good job at portraying the fragmented action and providing a suite of nicely different voices for the character cast.

It took me several goes to get into this one, as initially I assumed I’d begun listening somewhere other than the start of the book. Zelazny drops us right in the middle of the action – in media res if you want the correct literary phrase. It didn’t help that the book starts at Chapter 2 and then moves onto Chapter One. And I had to pay close attention, as the narrative timeline jumped all over the place – and as I was listening, it was quite a hassle to flip back and forth to remind myself exactly where I was. Fortunately the narrator’s recitation speed was on the slower side of normal, for which I was thankful – I frequently slow the narration speed by 0.25 or 0.50, particularly if the reader isn’t using a British accent.

The story is about travellers on a road that takes them through Time as well as Space. There are only two chapters in the book and Chapter One features our main protagonist, Red Dorakeen, who has been on the Road for a long time and is clearly looking for something or someone vital. Zelazny is a writer with talent and the confidence to break all sorts of rules that are designed to help the reader – and a lot of the time, he triumphantly succeeds. I was quickly hooked and quite happy to spend a lot of the time not really sure exactly what was going on. The scene setting, characterisation and fluidity of the writing was sufficiently skilful that it was an enjoyable experience following the fractured timeline and going with the flow. I’m definitely going to be reading more by this talented writer. It didn’t hurt that there are some lovely flashes of snarky and dry humour in amongst the tension and danger.

It would scored higher if I didn’t feel that the ending was rather sloppily executed. And as I tend to have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about disappointing endings – I have knocked off a point. It wasn’t that it was the wrong ending exactly – but I sensed that by the time he’d got there, Zelazny’s attention and creative energy had been diverted to another project, so he didn’t show the same care and attention in the writing that was evident at the beginning. But I’m still mightily glad I picked this one up and it comes highly recommended. While I obtained an arc of Roadmarks from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

An interesting Sci-fi with humans, dragons, robots etc. You have to listen without distraction or you'll lose where you are in the book saying that I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I received this audiobook from W H Howes via Netgalley for a review.

Originally published in 1979, "Roadmarks" stands up to the test of time. The story feels a little bit fragmented, but I'm convinced that's entirely deliberate on Roger Zelazny's part. I can't say I connected with any of the characters, and that didn't matter. I enjoyed the narrator's voice, but I'd like to read the book myself to see if my mind puts a different spin on things. I'm not disappointed.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

La tiranía de las novedades es una expresión que se aplica bastante bien a la elección de mis lecturas, aunque algunas veces me rebelo contra ella para redescubrir algún libro que se pasó desapercibido en su momento, o directamente es más viejo que yo, como es el caso de Roadmarks, de Roger Zelazny. Aprovechando que existe versión en audiolibro, me puse con esta obra de ciencia ficción que podría estar escrita perfectamente en la actualidad, no ha envejecido casi nada.


Hace poco reseñé Last Exit y me ha llamado mucho la atención leer Roadmarks, que parece claramente una precursora de la nueva obra de Max Gladstone después y no antes.

La idea en la que se basa Roadmarks es una carretera en la que se viaja en el tiempo, hacia el futuro si vas en una dirección y hacia el pasado si vas en la contraria. Esta idea, escrita hace más de 40 años, ya debió de ser rompedora en su momento, pero si además le añadimos el carácter experimental del libro, del que hablaré a continuación, la mezcla es explosiva. Y hay dragones, por si faltaba algo.

Los capítulos de la novela se dividen en dos tipos: unos que siguen una narración más o menos lineal y otros que son tramas secundarias que influyen en la historia pero que están totalmente desordenadas, por lo que es labor del lector ver qué posición ocupan dentro de la línea del tiempo. Esta tarea, no es fácil, pero lo es aún menos con el formato audiolibro, ya que todo queda a merced de la memoria del lector, porque es más complicado ir saltando de capítulo y viendo donde encaja cada pieza con un audio que con un libro físico o digital.

La narración de Matt Godfrey es estupenda, te sumerge en la lectura y facilita la comprensión con su forma de interpretar a cada personaje. Pero, como ya he dicho antes, no me parece que Roadmarks sea un libro al que le favorezca especialmente el formato.

Zelazny también hace gala de su portentosa imaginación en cada capítulo del libro. Prácticamente en el comienzo nos encontramos con T-Rex teledirigido que simplemente está ahí porque supongo que le haría gracia en ese momento, no tiene más relevancia en la historia. Me gusta también cómo explica la posibilidad de que se altere la historia conocida hasta ahora como distintas salidas de la carretera y cómo las que se alteraron en su momento fueron quedando en desuso y ahora son prácticamente intransitables.

El nudo de la novela trata sobre Red Dorakeen, un viajero de esta autopista infinita que es incapaz de dejar de viajar porque tiene interés una búsqueda, aunque realmente no sabe lo que está buscando. Y, también por razones desconocidas, un antiguo socio lanza una compleja operación buscando su muerte, para lo cual dispone de 10 oportunidades. No quiero entrar más en la trama por no destripar el libro, aunque tratándose de Zelazny es difícil que se vea venir el desarrollo de la historia.

Una lectura entretenidísima y una justa reedición de un clásico de la ciencia ficción que sigue vigente hoy en día.