David McCloskey

Oh, now it makes sense.

Now it makes perfect sense.

This is where, yeah, exactly, fade to black, is that I tried really, really hard to summarize the plot in a coherent way.

I will attempt it and I will try to do this punchily, okay?

So Lord of Light-

is set on a planet colonized by some remnants of Earth.

These people have found themselves on a strange planet surrounded by hostile indigenous races and had to carve out a place for themselves or perish to increase their chances of survival.

The crew has used chemical treatments and electronics to mutate their minds and create enhanced self-images or aspects

that, quote, strengthened their bodies and intensified their wills and extended the power of their desires into attributes, capital A, which fell with a force like magic upon those against whom they were turned.

The crew has also developed a technology to transfer a person's soul electronically to a new body.

Again, very Silicon Valley.

Yeah, yes.

Yeah, exactly.

Well, this is what – I mean, so we're ragging on this screenplay.

I mean, the novel won the Hugo.

I mean, this novel was a big deal in the sci-fi world of the 1960s.

So this reincarnation by mind transfer has created a race of potential immortals and allowed the former crew members –

to institute something like the Hindu caste system with themselves at the top.

Eventually, the crew used their now amazing powers to subjugate or destroy the native non-human races, whom they characterize as demons, while setting themselves up as gods in the eyes of the many generations of colonist progeny.

Wow.