This is a fantastic look into his work. This book is the first of 6. At $30 each, it may seem steep, but they're worth every penny. I've got the first 4 now & am reading the second. It's hard to put down.

There are excellent notes about allusions & metaphors in the stories as well as personal notes from Zelazny & other authors at the end of each story. When & where the story was published is also included. The order the stories are presented in is quite well done, too. It's not chronological by writing or publishing. They flow well.

Many of the stories are unpublished or not readily available any more. As a whole, the work promises to include every short that he ever wrote. These are many of his early ones. A couple are partials, but most are complete & as Zelazny preferred them. There is discussion about Zelazny's versus editorial preferences.

There is also a lot of his poetry, much of it previously unpublished. Several poems were published incorrectly, even in the hard to get, "PussyWillow" or "Views of Mt. Fuji". You'll find the corrected versions in this set.

If you're a Zelazny fan, I think this is a must read. I have almost every book he's ever written or edited & there is a lot of material here I've never seen.

I love Roger Zelazny's writing, and have for a few decades now. This is the first of six volumes that cover his entire writing career, and I plan to buy all six. It's the short stories I am after as much as the novels; though the Big Z was an excellent novelist, his short stories are often gems. Even the ones that are now too outdated to be believable as science fiction ("A Rose for Ecclesiastes" and "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" take place on Mars and Venus respectively, and Zelazny wrote them knowing that his window of opportunity to do so was closing) are readable, enjoyable, fifty years on. Zelazny was a well-educated person in terms of both fiction and poetry, and it shows in his work.

If you are new to Zelazny, see if you can find a one-cent+$3.99 copy of "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth," a collection of his short stories that includes both "Doors" and "Rose," and see what you think. If you liked it, this collection might be worth investing in.

If not, well, I've kept my copy of "Doors" for almost 45 years now. It's falling apart. When it does, I'll find another copy, maybe, if I don't have all six of these volumes by then.

Update: I bought two volumes and decided I'd had enough. The extremely extensive annotation of each story is annoying; the annotation of Zelazny's writing to other authors or editors about the stories...I guess I'm a fan of Zelaany's writing, and not really interested in Zelazny himself. I'll buy that second copy of "Doors" when I need it, and that'll be good enough.

If you are going to produce a complete collection of the short stories of one of Science Fiction's greatest writers then this is the way to do it. This is the first of four volumes of a 6-book series, with the final two due to be published next year. They are printed on high quality acid-free paper with a cover by Michael Whelan with each volume progressively revealing more of one long painting packed with allusions to Zelazny's work. The spines also match up to appear as one single image which looks great on the bookshelf.

Apart from the stories, there are introductions by other writers, notes by Zelazny on each story (and poem, for they are there too), notes on the stories by the editors explaining various references, essays by Zelazny, plus a variety of other material `-curiosities'-, unclassifiable bit of Zelany writing- original publication details, biographical and autobiographical pieces. It would be churlish to criticise this book for putting too much in, though not everything will be of interest, though that point should be noticed. Although I like the poetry of Zelazny's prose, poetry itself is not something I have much interest in.

The stories.

They appear in order of publication which is not synonymous with the order in which they were written. I was amazed to learn that the story he wrote first was A Rose for Ecclesiastes but which he held back from submitting due to his being insecure about science already making the story implausible. As if that mattered! Some of the stories have never been collected before but that doesn't mean they are bad stories, rather they are minor ones in the Zelazny canon though this is not synonymous with `without interest'. A few stories in the later volumes are collaborations.

I tend to think that Zelazny works best at novelette or novella length and there are many examples of this including the original magazine versions of The Dream Master as He Who Shapes, and This Immortal as And Call Me Conrad, plus the stories which make up the My Name Is Legion sequence, and many more.

Some authors improve as they get older. Sadly, this wasn't the case with Roger Zelazny. He exploded into action in the 60's and, I'm afraid, never bettered, or even matched, his initial splendid outpourings. He maintained a high standard, of that there's no doubt, and it's arguable but plausible that his later short fiction did reach a higher level than that of his later novels which were, by the standard of his earlier works, a touch pedestrian. No matter, these stories were, are, and will remain a high watermark of Science Fiction.

This is simply an amazing work. NESFA have done the late author very proud indeed and provided a service to his many fans. The editors -David G. Grubbs, Christopher S. Kovacs, and Anne Crimmins- surely deserve some kind of recognition at the 2010 Worldcon for this labour of love.

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

"Threshold" is the first volume in the six-volume set of "The Collected Stories of Roger Zanny" which pulls together all of Zelazny's short works together with commentaries from friends and colleagues and biographical material tracing Zelazny's life and career.

Roger Zelazny was unquestionably one of the finest American science fiction writers of the last half of the 20th century. Delete the words "science fiction" and the statement is still true. Although widely praised are such such novels as "Lord of Light", many readers felt that his genius shone brightest in short stories, novellas, and novelettes. All of those published (and some unpublished) stories -- every one of them -- the well-known and the obscure -- are contained in this magnificent collection, with comments (often from the author) placing each work in context. The stories are arranged in approximate chronological order, with stories from the early Sixties in the first volume, "Threshold". Even at that early stage, Zelazny demonstrated an amazing mastery of his craft, his tales illuminated by language of great poetry.

While the contents themselves would be more than enough to make this collection a "must have", the physical quality of the books is an additional inducement. Each volume contains over 500 pages of superbly legible text printed on hiqh quality acid-free paper. The six volumes are linked together into a single continuity by their dust jackets which together form a single image capturing many of the themes pouring out of Zelazny's words. The set makes an extraordinary handsome addition for any bookshelf.

This review applies to the first 3 volumes of the set (haven't read the others yet)

Roger Zelazny deserves every bit of his status as a legendary SF&F author. At his best (which he often was - see Lord of Light), his prose verged on poetry without ever losing its readability. His short fiction (gathered in several partial collections over the years) was as good, if not better. So, running across a complete collection of his short works is as exciting to an SF fan as finding that a (more) affordable version of the [Jack] Vance Integral Edition is being published. Zelazny and Vance were not only among the top SF writers, but were two of the absolute best for those who love good writing for its own sake.

Which is why the editorial policy behind this collection (published by NESFA) is so puzzling. Curious decisions include:

- stories are not in chronological order, nor in series groups, nor in topical order. Yes, there's a general chronological sequence here, but stories are often presented out of order, for no evident reason.

- Zelazny aspired to be a poet, and there's a lot of his poetry here. Ironically, for a writer whose prose was so beautifully poetic, his actual poetry is pretty poor. The poems are scattered throughout the volumes of the collection - often topically linked with the following story. It's a little hard to argue with the editors on this - several hundred pages of poetry in one place would have seriously weakened one of the volumes in the set. And if the poetry had just been left out entirely, you'd wonder about it, and how good it must have been.

- Several excerpts from novels. Frankly, I just resent this. I HAVE the novels - they're mostly available for purchase. I bought this set for the short stories.

- One little quibble. One the inside back jacket, Michael Whelan gets as much space as Zelazny himself. Yes, he's a famous (if overrated) artist, but hey, he just did the one cover, not the six volumes of content.

Strange sequencing, etc. aside, the collection is well done. There is excellent information on publication dates and how the stories fit the various series. There are many previously unpublished (or underpublished) pieces. There are carefully collated comments from Zelazny about each story, and there are (over-) copious interpretive notes about the allusions in each story. Also, there's a nicely written biographical piece included in each volume. While they're all respectful of Zelazny's talent, they're not sycophantic in tone. There are also introductions by guest notables for each volume - some good, some that lead you to question why the editors selected people who clearly did not know Zelazny well.

Finally - the stories themselves. If you're a Zelazny fan, this collection is well worth your time. Otherwise, it's not your best introduction. Some of the underpublished (e.g. in a fanzine) stuff just isn't that good. And the strange sequencing ends up undercutting the effect of the really great stories that are also here. I'm a long time, committed Zelazny enthusiast, and by Volume 3 of the collection, I'm confident that this is NOT the collection I'd give my spouse in order to share my burning enthusiasm for Zelazny's work. If you're already a fan, though, this will satisfy your completist desires, and give you access to a lot of new work, uneven though it may be.

The first and I would say the best of the 6 volume series - I've just finished the last of the volumes so can state an informed personal opinion. The volume contains some well-known classics, together with early works that show the development of Zelazny. It contains my favorite Zelazny story - He who shapes, together with some of his other best stories (Graveyard heart, Rose for Ecclsiasties, etc). There is more unpublished stories here than the later volumes - some are very good (On the road to Splendoba) while other stories show themes and directions that Zelazny was to follow more successfully later. In particular the previously uncollected Nine starships waiting featured a super-powered assassin who had lost his memory - not a great story but signs of things to follow. The poetry did little for me. The other features include commentary on all the stories, an explanation of some of the more unusual language used in each story, articles by and about Zelazny, and the the first part of the biography based mainly on his own words from articles and interviews. I thought this really placed the stories and novels in context although there was some repetition between the various sections.

Just the idea of collecting all of an important writers works together allows the reader to make a full assessment. Even some of the lesser stories gain importance in the wider picture. This is a wonderful project and will hopefully keep the memory of Zelazny alive.

If you love books, then you know there are some you get since they look good and others you get because there is really good stuff in them. Hats off to the editors on creating a tribute to Roger Zelazny that does both. This volume has some of his most famous early short stories - yes, most have been reprinted elsewhere, but there are some that (even as a Zelazny reader for some 30 years) are rare and I have never seen. All are worth reading - Zelazny writing is not just SF, it is poetry in prose. If you don't know what I am saying, then you never read his work - and you should. As a nit, there is some stuff, like his teen age collaborations, that you have to be a real fan to get thru, but they are generally short and don't detract much from the bulk of much better and important work. I plan to get the whole series - in fact next volume is being ordered today.

These new volumes of Roger Zelazny's prose/poetry (it doesn't really make much sense to seperate the two when considering Zelazny)are beautiful editions of great value to all who value his writing. Zelazny's work will stand the test of time and that's the only real definition I know for classic. His language shines with a more-often-than-not dark light that illuminates more in a few phrases than a merely good writer can take pages, chapters or entire books to convey. He wrote like a great jazz player who makes improbable, improvisational leaps while knowing that those who are really in tune with what he's doing will jump right along with him to always surprising conclusions... conclusions that are never so much endings as multiple forks in the road ahead. Roger Zelazny never typed his words and images, he played them beautifully.

Just a quick note to any one interested; you really need a copy of this beautiful volume.

The presentation is excellent; good quality paper well bound and with a fine cover.

The contents are unsurpassed; the first volume in a chronological presentation of Roger Zelazny's short fiction, illuminated with his own comments and including a long biographical essay.

If you already know Zelazny's work then you should need no further urging to order this now; the stories are a treat and the supplementary material is extremely well chosen.

My highest recommendation.