Isle of the Dead

Isle of the Dead is a science fiction novel by Roger Zelazny published in 1969. It is inspired in part by the eponymous painting. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1969, and won the French Prix Apollo in 1972. Francis Sandow is the last surviving human born in the 20th century. An early space colonist, he spent long centuries of space travel in suspended animation, and then suddenly woke in a far future world where everythin... more

Isle of the Dead is a science fiction novel by Roger Zelazny published in 1969. It is inspired in part by the eponymous painting. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1969, and won the French Prix Apollo in 1972. Francis Sandow is the last surviving human born in the 20th century. An early space colonist, he spent long centuries of space travel in suspended animation, and then suddenly woke in a far future world where everything had changed. Desperate for something to hold to, he sought out a mentor, who happened to be a member of a slowly dying alien race, the Pei'ans. Under this tutelage, Sandow eventually became a telepath and "worldscaper". Worldscapers have the ability to create and/or terraform planets. The process of becoming a worldscaper culminates in a mystic rite called Naming that binds the mortal to one of the gods in the Pei'an pantheon, and it is believed that the worldscaper is actually acting as an avatar for the god. There are only twenty seven... less