A Farce to Be Reckoned With

The play’s the thing in this comic fantasy from the authors of Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming and If at Faust You Don’t Succeed

It’s that quiet time between Millennia, and the demon Azzie is becoming bored and restless. Then inspiration hits. On a devilish sabbatical in Europe, Azzie discovers that morality plays are all the rage. He decides to strike back by producing an “immorality play,” in which seven nondescript human pilgrims will be allowed by magic to attain their hearts’ desires.

But the forces of Good are determined to close the play before it opens. New characters suddenly start romancing the stage, such as a Grateful Dead–listening Cyclops, and Azzie’s own protagonists begin changing their hearts’ desires on the slightest whim. This is one theatrical production that could do without an angel—and there’s even worse news waiting in the wings. . . .

“Zelazny and Sheckley make for a synergy that’s just about unequaled in . . . fantasy humor.”—Minneapolis Star TribuneRoger Zelazny burst onto the SF scene in the early 1960s with a series of dazzling and groundbreaking short stories. He won his first of six Hugo Awards for Lord of Light, and soon after produced the first book of his enormously popular Amber series, Nine Princes in Amber. In addition to his Hugos, he went on to win three Nebula Awards over the course of a long and distinguished career. He died on June 14, 1995.