The Chronicles of Amber
Roger Zelazny
1979
This is a part of the Fantasy Masterworks series.
This is a fixup of the original five books of Amber. In tone they are what I would call 'Science Fantasy' though many reviewers see it purely as Fantasy. My take on this is that in the first book of the series travelling between realities is described as a method of adding and subtracting items and even physical rules from the observer's point of view. This is generally done in a fairly orderly fashion though there is a faster way of doing things, otherwise known as a 'Hell Ride'. In both cases, the main thing is to maintain some form of momentum. The fantasy element is introduced in the structure of the Court of Amber - strictly feudal, with the siblings feuding for the right to be king.
In the English edition, the books included in this collection are:
The American edition includes the exploits of Corwin's son, Merlin. In my opinion these are purer fantasy and not so good.
Those stories are:
- Trumps of Doom (1985)
- Blood of Amber (1986)
- Sign of Chaos (1987)
- Knight of Shadows (1989)
- Prince of Chaos (1991)
Nine Princes in Amber introduces us to Corwin, Prince of Amber. But a wounded prince, one who has forgotten who he was. One who was just recovering from an accident that should have killed him; a gunshot that blew out a tyre as he was making a particularly tight turn. One who thought of himself as Carl Corey; one who knew himself to be not as those he lived amongst for he had spent near enough half a millennium fighting in the bloodiest battles that Earth could offer. Battles that had done little more than leave him tired of his continuing life for no wound held its grip for long.
Recovery from the crash is equally rapid but it soon becomes obvious that the head of the clinic meant to be aiding his recovery had been given orders to slow it down. Feigning an injury worse than he was actually suffering, Corey listens to his captors and lays plans against those holding him.
Eventually its time to act and he does so, taking prisoner the woman who paid for his 'treatment'. To his consternation she treats him as someone other than Colonel Corey (Rtd) and the occasional flash of memory broken loose by the electro-shock treatments also confused him, but his sister, as she called herself, seemed to think he knew more than he did and a call from another relation called Random also shocked free more memories.
As soon as Random arrived, the trio found themselves fighting for their lives against creatures that had never graced Earth and Random takes Corwin into Shadow.
A failed attack mounted by another brother sees him in a prison cell in the bowels of the castle that he called home. And minus his eyes that had been burnt out by his older brother, Eric, after Corwin's failed bid to seize the crown of Amber for himself. Naturally Corwin is more than a bit pissed off over this, but given the Amberites abilities to travel in that they only needed to see, it was the only way to hold him, short of killing him, and killing him would only lead to a blood curse on Eric. But Eric had not done enough damage and Corwin is able to draw a picture of a far distant spot before he is hauled from his prison to be mocked once more. Using this picture Corwin is able to escape to a spot where he can recover and regroup.
The Guns of Avalon sees Corwin burning for revenge against Eric and in possession of a secret none of his siblings were aware of - knowledge of a Shadow that could provide a powder that would explode within Amber itself. Along the way, Corwin meets one who calls herself the great granddaughter of Benedict, another of his relatives. He also finds the Black Road that runs all the way to Amber through all the Shadows. Along this road travel strange creatures to savage Amber directly.
Gaining his weapons, Corwin travels up to Amber only to find its armies beset by creatures from the depths of Chaos. Immediately throwing his forces into the fray, Corwin is unable to properly deal with the surprise appearance of Dara and her demand to walk the Pattern so he tells her where to find it and what to do once she has. A mistake that is not obvious under the stress of the fighting!
In The Sign of the Unicorn, although Corwin appears to have a clear title to the crown of Amber (his soldiers are still the only ones who have rifles - for now) he refuses to take it, merely becoming regent for the duration of the emergency. His siblings reckon that he's crazy - after all their father, Oberon, has disappeared and none of them have had contact with him for years though Corwin has the feeling that his is not as absent as the evidence suggests.
The Hand of Oberon begins to open out the various conspiracies that Corwin has inadvertently put his foot into, and an unpleasant mix it proves to be as well. It seems that a trio of his siblings had been conspiring with Dark Forces but one (so he says) has had second thoughts which had led to his imprisonment. It would seem that one of his co-conspirators did not feel like being unmasked as the former prisoner ended being knifed in the back.
A missing Lord is revealed!
As The Courts of Chaos opens, it appears that Chaos will have it's way and Amber will be destroyed by the continuous struggle between the various sons of Oberon in their contention for the throne. As the real traitor in their midst is revealed, mad schemes to repair the damage are launched and a Kingdom is offered and refused.
This is a part of the Fantasy Masterworks series.
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Page created by John Fairhurst
Page created 2010