To Die in Italbar
Encyclopedia
To Die in Italbar is a science fiction
novel
by 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 novel contains a cameo by Francis Sandow, the protagonist of Isle of the Dead
, but it is not a sequel. Zelazny originally wrote this book hastily to fulfill a contract when he became a full-time writer in May 1969, and the publisher declined to publish it then. He revisited the manuscript in 1972 and added about 25% new material, including the cameo of Sandow to "jazz up" the novel. It was finally released in 1973. He bemoaned the book ever after, calling it his "worst novel" and noting, “If I could kill off one book it would be To Die in Italbar. I wrote that in a hurry to make some money after I quit my job.”
, writing in F&SF, found the novel greatly inferior to Zelazny's previous novels, although he acknowledged that if evaluated simply as "preposterous adventure," it was a well-written "superior specimen" marked by "fast action," "strong emotion", "colorful characters," and its author's "fertile imagination."
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Roger Zelazny
Roger Zelazny
Roger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...
. 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 novel contains a cameo by Francis Sandow, the protagonist of Isle of the Dead
Isle of the Dead (novel)
Isle of the Dead is a science fiction novel by Roger Zelazny published in 1969. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1969, and won the French Prix Apollo in 1972. The title refers to the several paintings by Swiss-German painter Arnold Böcklin...
, but it is not a sequel. Zelazny originally wrote this book hastily to fulfill a contract when he became a full-time writer in May 1969, and the publisher declined to publish it then. He revisited the manuscript in 1972 and added about 25% new material, including the cameo of Sandow to "jazz up" the novel. It was finally released in 1973. He bemoaned the book ever after, calling it his "worst novel" and noting, “If I could kill off one book it would be To Die in Italbar. I wrote that in a hurry to make some money after I quit my job.”
Reception
Sidney ColemanSidney Coleman
Sidney Richard Coleman was an American theoretical physicist who studied under Murray Gell-Mann.- Life and work :Sidney Coleman grew up on the Far North Side of Chicago...
, writing in F&SF, found the novel greatly inferior to Zelazny's previous novels, although he acknowledged that if evaluated simply as "preposterous adventure," it was a well-written "superior specimen" marked by "fast action," "strong emotion", "colorful characters," and its author's "fertile imagination."