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Post by verhaden on Feb 3, 2020 17:43:05 GMT -6
There's a hometown bookstore I like to browse occasionally -- though probably not as often as I should since my Kindle is so handy -- and the proprietor always has a great selection. I bought my first two Clark Ashton Smith books there (Zothique and Xiccarph), as well as my first REH book (The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian) and more. My wife and I were downtown this past weekend and I finally broke down and bought two books that have caught my eye for the past five years: The Chronicles of Amber Vol. I and II. It's the hardcover set with the Boris Vallejo artwork on the dust jacket. I believe this contains the five books of the Corwin cycle. Anyway, the shop owner smiled when I brought them to the counter and said "You know he was from Euclid, right?"
I've been trying to read more, but with two kids I'm finding the only peace I can get is during my lunch break at work. Still, Zelazny writes in a very brisk, modern style (at least if you consider the 70s modern) and I've been easily able to parse through the first three chapters of the Nine Princes of Amber. He cuts right to the chase, doesn't he? I'm trying to go into this as blind as I can, but I don't think Corwin or his siblings are very good people.
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Post by mgtremaine on Feb 5, 2020 7:43:50 GMT -6
Love Zelazny's style, IMHO you are in for a treat I hope you savor every page. [If you enjoy them there is a lot of good Zelazny to recommend out there Jack of Shadows, Lord of Light, Creatures of Light and Darkness, the Delivsh series.... I could go on but I'm a big fan]
-Mike
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artikid
Level 3 Conjurer
Artist for hire
Posts: 70
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Post by artikid on Feb 5, 2020 14:07:00 GMT -6
Aaaaah... Everything I could say is a spoiler XD
Amber is probably one of my favorite series ever. You are in for a treat!
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Post by verhaden on Feb 5, 2020 17:43:05 GMT -6
I have to admit that I enjoyed the amnesia setup a bit more than what follows. Zelazny doesn't delve into a great deal of exposition, even after the Pattern, and I miss feeling lost along with Corwin. Still, the concept of Amber, Chaos, and the infinite Shadow worlds is very intriguing. I wonder if we'll learn more about Dworkin? Somehow I doubt it.
I can appreciate everything being told from Corwin's POV, but I can't help but wonder how cool it would be to have Game of Thrones-style character chapters instead. A small chapter from Flora's perspective after Corwin shows up, a first-person perspective of Deirdre's escape attempt? What was going through Eric's head after his fight with Corwin? Random's palpable discomfort being in Rebma? It's almost ripe for fan-fiction.
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Post by Finarvyn on Feb 10, 2020 4:43:18 GMT -6
Like artikid, the Chronicles of Amber is one of my all-time favorite series. You are in for a treat. I discovered Amber one summer when I was tired of buying series of books and then not reading all of them, so I was determined to buy a book and read it, then go back. I had looked at an Amber book previously when my sister bought it for my birthday, but it wasn't the first one so I had little interest. I found a local bookstore with the whole set but was determined only to buy them one at a time. Blew through book one and rushed back to get the next. And the next. And eventually everything they had. The series just blew me away. Then, nearing the end of summer the family went to a bunch of cabins near lake Erie for a weekend. The cabins all had names painted on them and ours was "Amber." It was clearly a sign. I re-read the whole series again every couple of years. You have the Corwin books but there are also five more books about his son, Merlin. Most folks don't like the Merlin books as much as the Corwin ones, but they do add in a lot of depth about the Amberverse. Zelazny also wrote a few short stories after the Merlin books and clearly had a notion of writing a third series, but he passed before he could get it underway. John Betancourt wrote some (IMO very mediochre and a pale copy of Zelazny's style) prequel novels but most folks dislike them intensely. I figure that some Amber is better than no Amber and so I've read them several times. Except that they were planned as a trilogy, which changed to a 5-book series and then the company went bankrupt before #5 was written so it will never be done, so I've never read #4 either. Probably too much information, but bottom line is that Amber is a great series. And it's on Gary's "Appendix N" list, too.  |
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Post by Finarvyn on Feb 10, 2020 4:47:22 GMT -6
I can't help but wonder how cool it would be to have Game of Thrones-style character chapters instead. A small chapter from Flora's perspective after Corwin shows up, a first-person perspective of Deirdre's escape attempt? What was going through Eric's head after his fight with Corwin? Random's palpable discomfort being in Rebma? It's almost ripe for fan-fiction. A couple of thoughts here: (1) As I understand it, Zelazny's original concept was to write a book from Corwin's perspective and then follow up by the same events told by a different character for each book of the series. (2) In 2016 word came out that the guy in charge of Walking Dead bought the TV rights to Amber with the thought that it could be the "next Game of Thrones" and I suspect that it would have looked something like what you describe -- parts told from each point of view instead of one long first-person narrative. Sadly, no word has come of this project since then.  |
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Post by verhaden on Feb 10, 2020 8:32:42 GMT -6
Blazed through Guns of Avalon and was finished with it Friday evening. Enjoying the setup and escalation of conflict.
***
Let’s hope the Walking Dead project is dead on its feet. Odds are it would only be a pale shadow imitation.
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Post by Finarvyn on Feb 10, 2020 8:39:32 GMT -6
Let’s hope the Walking Dead project is dead on its feet. Odds are it would only be a pale shadow imitation. Honestly, I can't decide. I'd love for Amber to hit the big screen or small screen someday. The SciFi channel was supposed to have the rights for years and nothing happened. While it may be "a pale shadow imitation" (nice wordwork there, by the way) it may be better than nothing. Or it may not. As I said, I can't decide.  On the other hand, it's frustrating to realize that Roger Zelazny died in 1995 or so and the franchise has slowly been sinking ever since. Other than the Betancourt novels there haven't been any new Amber products to watch or read or buy for a couple of decades now. The ADRP role playing game hasn't gotten any support. A rumored Amber CCG never materialized. Nothing but crickets chirping. |
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Post by mgtremaine on Feb 10, 2020 10:56:25 GMT -6
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Post by Finarvyn on Feb 10, 2020 20:52:26 GMT -6
I have this series as well, but I confess that I haven't taken the time to read them cover-to-cover. Instead I have just cherry-picked certain sections and stories, mostly with a focus on Amber. |
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Post by doublejig2 on Feb 10, 2020 21:16:05 GMT -6
The cabins all had names painted on them and ours was "Amber." It was clearly a sign. Synchronicity if you're a Jungian; or, just cool beans! Or, both...  |
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Post by mgtremaine on Feb 11, 2020 7:05:06 GMT -6
I have this series as well, but I confess that I haven't taken the time to read them cover-to-cover. Instead I have just cherry-picked certain sections and stories, mostly with a focus on Amber. Understable it's a pile of reading. I highly suggest one reading through them all from 1 -> 6 , someday when your life is slower pace and you have great stretches of morning quiet and nice cup of coffee. It's a really interesting progression and the non-fiction details are insightful. Somewhere buried in there is a letter from Ken St. Andrea to Zelazny asking question about the magic items in Amber. -Mike |
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Post by Finarvyn on Feb 11, 2020 13:09:51 GMT -6
Retirement is probably only a few years away, so that's a potential one-sitting reading plan for me.  |
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