Roadmarks

infobox Book |
name = Roadmarks
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cover of first edition (Hardcover)
author = Roger Zelazny
illustrator =
cover_artist = Darrell K. Sweet
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Science fiction novel
publisher = Del Rey
release_date = 1979
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
pages = 185 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-345-28530-1
preceded_by =
followed_by = "Roadmarks" is a science fiction novel written by Roger Zelazny during the late 1970s and published in 1979.

The novel postulates a road that travels through time, with a nexus placed every few years where a handful of specially gifted people are able to get on and off. While there is a plot involving a series of assassination attempts on the protagonist, the novel's main strengths are the unique nature of the setting, character development, and the short vignettes on each of the would-be assassins.

The book has few references to technology. There are two semi-sentient electric devices that appear, that are implemented as physical books (with printed pages).

It has been out of print for some time.

Plot summary

In "Roadmarks", the central theme is time travel using a highway that links all times and all possible histories. The narrator and protagonist, Red Dorakeen, runs guns to the Greeks at Marathon, trying to secure their victory over the Persians, which in his timeline did not occur.

All the chapters are titled either "One" or "Two", beginning with "Two", perhaps to emphasize the 'time travel' theme, with all "One" chapters featuring Red Dorakeen, and all "Two" chapters featuring secondary characters. These are Red's natural son Randy, newly introduced to the Road; a bevy of would-be assassins attempting to kill Red, some of whom are comic references to pulp characters like Doc Savage and his enemy John Sunlight, or real people, including Adolf Hitler and Jack the Ripper; and Leila, a woman whose fate is bound to Red's in mysterious ways.

The "One" storyline is fairly linear, but the "Two" storyline jumps around in time and sequence, first bringing in Randy and Leila without introduction, then later showing Randy's introduction to the Road and meeting with Leila, who has just abandoned Red following an incident in the "One" timeline. All comes clear in the final chapter, however. Roger Zelazny figured out the order of the "Two" by stapling the pages of each chapter two together, then throwing them all in the air and the order he picked them up was the order he printed them. He said he was fairly pleased by the result.

There are a number of interesting humorous touches and allusions in the story. These include a dragon who falls in love with a tyrannosaur, an ancient Sumerian who buries artifacts later to be found by himself as archaeologist, and the brief appearances of pulp heroes and real people.

References

*cite book | last=Levack | first=Daniel J. H. | title=Amber Dreams: A Roger Zelazny Bibliography | location=San Francisco | publisher=Underwood/Miller | pages=59-60 | date=1983 | isbn=0-934438-39-0