Type of Read:
Fantasy
Plot Summary:
Corwin is a Prince of Amber, a mystical place full of beauty and intrigue. Actually, Amber is the only true place there is. Everything else is a Shadow (including Earth). The first book starts out with Corwin waking up from some accident with no memory of who he is or was. He gathers clues until he remembers that he isn't from this world, but from a parallel universe. He has the ability to walk through universes and shape his surroundings until he comes home to Amber. Only then he learns that he might not be as welcome as he would have hoped.
The second book is about Corwin's recovery from the events in the first book and he now has to face the consequences his rash (but justified) decisions. He must face darkness and evil as he battles for the throne of Amber.
Strengths:
As I read this book, I kept thinking of the one philosophy class I took as an undergraduate. I had to rack my brain (and then Google) the theory and re-discovered the Theory of Forms. So you don't have to resort to Google like I did, here is the basics of Forms: There is one 'true' object for everything. I might be typing at a computer, but it just a shadow of a computer. The 'real' computer is somewhere in the netherworld. (Okay I made up the netherworld, but I can't remember what my prof said and Wikipedia was no help).
Remember Plato's story of the people who were imprisoned in the cave and only saw the shadows playing on the cave's wall? Even if you released them and showed them the light of the world, they would think the real world was fake and their shadow world was real. This is how Amber is. Most people live their lives in the shadow world (I guess including us) never knowing about Amber. If they do know about it, it is mystical like Atlantis or Camelot.
Now I'm not much into philosophy, but it was interesting to see how Zelazny used the Theory of Forms to shape his fantasy world. It made the fantasy world smart and somewhat believable, even when things didn't quite make sense. (I know I felt smart reading it and knowing that it was based off a philosophy concept...even if I didn't know which one)
Anther strength was the writing. As I read, I didn't feel as if I was reading an author writing, I felt like I was reading a character talking. And, man, Zelazny got away with a lot of things authors don't even try these days. For example (don't worry not a spoiler...) about twenty pages into the second book he says the name of his sword. Through the entire first book this sword wasn't even mentioned, but suddenly he has it and it has a special name. But he calls himself out on it. He puts a side note that says (paraphrasing) "I know I haven't mentioned it before, but this is my sword's name so if I mention it again, you'll know what I'm talking about." Simple but so brilliant!
Weaknesses:
I think the biggest weakness is the pace of the books. They are very short (150 pages) so it is understandable that the plots start fast and end fast. Unfortunately, the story lags at some points. Corwin is very internal and broods, A LOT. So most of the second book he's either brooding or plotting and then the last 30 pages he's fighting.
Another weakness is the book artwork. I know you're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover...but come on! Could it get any cheesier? I know it was written in the 70s but they could have done better. That doesn't even look like Corwin and the two big cats are mentioned in one paragraph in the second book...maybe one day they will reboot the series and come up with a better cover. (I actually laughed out loud when I picked this up from the library. Of course it would look like this. Could I be anymore nerdy?)
Opinion and Recommendation:
This was an interesting read. It wasn't my favorite and I don't feel compelled to finish the rest of the chronicles, but I'm glad I read it. It was on NPR's top 100 fantasy/science fiction books. So I thought I would give it a try. It was neat seeing how culture has changed. For example, Corwin smokes like a chimney. Even Amber has cigarettes! Now days, smoking is very frowned upon and isn't really mentioned in novels these days (unless you're Constantine). I would check this book out from the library if you want a quick read in between other books.
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