A Rose for Ecclesiastes Review

Up until now, I hadn’t read anything by Roger Zelazny, though I do have Lord of Light on my TBR. I figured, on a whim, that I should read his short story “A Rose for Ecclesiastes” since I had the time. In the end, I really enjoyed it, but I won’t get ahead of myself. Let’s get into the review.

The short story first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1963. It received a nomination for the Hugo Award in 1964. The story follows a man named Gallinger, a linguist on Mars who finally gets the opportunity to meet with the Martian mothers to learn the “high language.” Gallinger gradually learns the language and learns from the Martian sacred texts that Martians became infertile while also sustaining long lifespans. Now determined to die out, the Martians continue exhibiting their fatalistic stance as Gallinger continues learning from them. However, a surprising event occurs that means that the Martians might be able to live on after all.

“A Rose for Ecclesiastes” comes out a bit on the longer side, but I was invested every minute of it. The plot developed at the perfect pace so that I understood the stakes from the beginning and also remained interested in what happened to the characters. I admit, some of the sections moved a little slowly for me. These sections didn’t parse out the prose very much, so it kind of skimmed through a lot of the action before going back to showing what occurred. However, this didn’t happen often. The story also included a lot of description that was very clear. I appreciated that more as more of the Martian culture appeared in the story.

Gallinger also developed into the perfect character for me. He starts off kind of terrible in his own way, full of his own arrogance. But as the story progresses, his heroism shines through. Not to spoil anything, but the ending developed him into a person much bigger than he was. The final climax with him developed into something that really paid off for his character.

I look forward to reading Lord of Light now that I read this. Stay tuned later this week for another blog post. Happy reading!