★★★☆☆ Didn't see that coming...

People Person

Trent Zelazny

I've been working my way through the Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, which includes a multi-part biography. Thus I was aware that Roger had a son named Trent, and when this novella popped up in my Goodreads feed with a four-star rating, I made the obvious guess, which turns out to be correct. Trent Zelazny is Roger Zelazny's son. Now, while it is by no means guaranteed that the children of a talented artist will themselves be talented, it does happen. For instance, there is the almost infinite brood of musical Bachs, and Alexander Dumas Pere and Fils. You can probably think of a bunch more examples. The names Hillerman and Shaara come to my mind.

So, when I saw that this novella was only 52 pages, satisfying my curiosity was an obvious choice. People Person was published in 2013 and seems to have been Trent Zelazny's last or nearly last published work, not counting a few contributions to anthologies. It is not awful, in my opinion, but not really great. Nothing much happens for a while, then suddenly something unexpected happens, and then the story is over, except for a brief few words of nothing much happening.

I don't regret reading it, especially given its brevity, but I will probably not be seeking out other works by this Zelazny.

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