

Andrzej Sapkowski considered Zelazny his spiritual teacher, whose work inspired him to write his first novel.

Neil Gaiman said Zelazny was the author who influenced him the most, with this influence particularly seen in Gaiman’s literary style and the topics he writes about. Aldiss as “an earthshaking new kind of” writers, and leaders of the New Wave. Delany, whose novel Nova and many of his short stories were written “partly in response to Zelazny’s eruption into the field.” In 1967 Algis Budrys listed Zelazny, Delany, J. Roger Zelazny’s stories inspired other authors in his generation including Samuel R. The tension between the ancient and the modern, surreal and familiar was what drove most of his work.

His crisp, minimalistic dialogue also seems to be somewhat influenced by the style of wisecracking hardboiled crime authors, such as Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. Zelazny included many anachronisms, such as cigarette-smoking and references to modern drama, in his work. In his stories, Roger Zelazny frequently portrayed characters from myth, depicted in the modern or a future world. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nominations) and the Hugo Award six times (also out of 14 nominations), including two Hugos for novels: the serialized novel …And Call Me Conrad (1965), subsequently published under the title This Immortal (1966) and then the novel Lord of Light (1967). Roger Joseph Zelazny (1937 – 995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for The Chronicles of Amber.
