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humanignorance's review against another edition
1.0
1.5 stars. The main character’s amnesia served no good purpose. Much of the book was travel, with various improbable obstacles in the way, invariably causing gratuitous destruction, again for apparently no good reason. The characters were uninteresting and hard to keep track of. The magic was woefully underexplained. The only plus was that some of the action writing was decent. I have no desire to continue the series.
jonathanpalfrey's review against another edition
3.0
This is a memorable book with some magical images and scenes, but for me the direction it takes is unsatisfactory, and the sequels get worse.
When I think of it, I think of Corwin's picturesque car journey with Random in Chapter 4, through a series of shadow worlds. Zelazny liked the idea of car journeys into strangeness; he used it again in a different way in [b:Roadmarks|939645|Roadmarks|Roger Zelazny|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330347527l/939645._SY75_.jpg|924623].
The idea of the magical tarot cards is original and also appeals to me. But there are other things about the story that appeal to me less.
I like parallel-worlds stories in general, but this one is odd in that they're all presented as inferior shadows of Amber, and that's a concept I don't really like. We're told about the wonderfulness of Amber, but we're not shown what's so great about it.
Then there are the nine princes themselves (and their sisters). How is it that Amber the Wonderful has such a dysfunctional royal family? They've all lived and stayed young for centuries, but they behave like maladjusted teenagers—even Corwin, who's the most normal and most congenial of them from our point of view (rather like Sam in [b:Lord of Light|13821|Lord of Light|Roger Zelazny|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330127327l/13821._SY75_.jpg|1011388]). There's something called maturity that comes with age and experience, but it doesn't come to them.
The princes pursue their adolescent quarrels by raising large armies of anonymous humanoids in the shadow worlds to do battle for them. This ugly and inelegant behaviour takes up chapters 6 to 8 rather drearily; it does nothing for the book, and Corwin is normal enough to be disturbed by it, although he participates in it.
Zelazny also did this tiresome raising-of-armies thing in [b:Lord of Light|13821|Lord of Light|Roger Zelazny|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330127327l/13821._SY75_.jpg|1011388], but in other books I think he mostly depicted individuals acting for themselves, which is better.
This book is worth reading for its picturesque images, and I'd encourage people to read it, but be aware that it has flaws. As for the sequels, I've read some of them in the past but don't plan to reread or review them. I don't recommend them. Better to read Zelazny's other books.
The last time I read this book, I skipped chapters 6 to 8, because I remember roughly what happens in them, and I neither need nor want to read them again. I'm willing to reread chapters 1 to 5, and 9 to 10.
When I think of it, I think of Corwin's picturesque car journey with Random in Chapter 4, through a series of shadow worlds. Zelazny liked the idea of car journeys into strangeness; he used it again in a different way in [b:Roadmarks|939645|Roadmarks|Roger Zelazny|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330347527l/939645._SY75_.jpg|924623].
The idea of the magical tarot cards is original and also appeals to me. But there are other things about the story that appeal to me less.
I like parallel-worlds stories in general, but this one is odd in that they're all presented as inferior shadows of Amber, and that's a concept I don't really like. We're told about the wonderfulness of Amber, but we're not shown what's so great about it.
Then there are the nine princes themselves (and their sisters). How is it that Amber the Wonderful has such a dysfunctional royal family? They've all lived and stayed young for centuries, but they behave like maladjusted teenagers—even Corwin, who's the most normal and most congenial of them from our point of view (rather like Sam in [b:Lord of Light|13821|Lord of Light|Roger Zelazny|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330127327l/13821._SY75_.jpg|1011388]). There's something called maturity that comes with age and experience, but it doesn't come to them.
The princes pursue their adolescent quarrels by raising large armies of anonymous humanoids in the shadow worlds to do battle for them. This ugly and inelegant behaviour takes up chapters 6 to 8 rather drearily; it does nothing for the book, and Corwin is normal enough to be disturbed by it, although he participates in it.
Zelazny also did this tiresome raising-of-armies thing in [b:Lord of Light|13821|Lord of Light|Roger Zelazny|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330127327l/13821._SY75_.jpg|1011388], but in other books I think he mostly depicted individuals acting for themselves, which is better.
This book is worth reading for its picturesque images, and I'd encourage people to read it, but be aware that it has flaws. As for the sequels, I've read some of them in the past but don't plan to reread or review them. I don't recommend them. Better to read Zelazny's other books.
The last time I read this book, I skipped chapters 6 to 8, because I remember roughly what happens in them, and I neither need nor want to read them again.
Spoiler
Corwin persuades a lot of people to die fighting a war for him, which he loses; he's then captured, blinded, and imprisoned by his brother Eric.webjoram's review against another edition
4.0
Esta novela nos cuenta una historia con intrigas familiares, luchas, magia, etc... todo ello para crear un relato de carácter fantástico pero con ciertos tintes de ciencia ficción. La manera en que se nos presenta Ámbar, su relación con el resto de los mundos o universos (llamados Tierras de Sombra) y por último los personajes en torno a los que giran la trama de esta novela y supongo del resto de la saga me parece muy acertada. Otro elemento que me ha gustado de esta novela es que consigue construir toda la historia en una extensión muy breve, apenas 200 paginas, lo cual me parece digno de mención por cuanto el autor utiliza un lenguaje claro y muy conciso que hace ademas que la lectura sea muy rápida.
Una novela muy recomendable y que obviamente pide a gritos que sigamos leyendo el resto de las novelas que componen la saga para conocer la lucha de Corwin por reclamar el trono de Ámbar ¿Lo conseguirá? ;-)
Una novela muy recomendable y que obviamente pide a gritos que sigamos leyendo el resto de las novelas que componen la saga para conocer la lucha de Corwin por reclamar el trono de Ámbar ¿Lo conseguirá? ;-)
adamjmccaffrey's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
kgirl_kkk's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
jjmclellan's review against another edition
3.0
The first book in this series is the most interesting when we learn that our world is just one of an infinite number of shadows cast by the true world Avalon. But after that it seemed to be mostly written for commercial purposes and was full of 'Deus ex machina' moments.
Worst of all, this series distracts readers from Zelazny's vastly better works like 'Lord of Light', 'Creatures or Light and Darkness', 'This Immortal'.
Lord of Light especially is in my top 10 of all time list.
Worst of all, this series distracts readers from Zelazny's vastly better works like 'Lord of Light', 'Creatures or Light and Darkness', 'This Immortal'.
Lord of Light especially is in my top 10 of all time list.
danielv64's review against another edition
It's always nice to go back to something you've read in the past to see what new insights it will bring. Excellent SF/Fantasy that has aged well, except for a few anachronistic sentences like "I dig it".
Zelazny is the LSD of SF writers, read him and PKD to have your whole world rocked.
Zelazny is the LSD of SF writers, read him and PKD to have your whole world rocked.
holli1al's review against another edition
I really enjoy the narrator here, and it's refreshing to have a fantasy novel not bogged down with excess material. I was engaged nearly the whole way through, and Corwin is truly a protagonist whose claim to the throne I can get behind. The only reason I'm not giving this five stars is because if anything, I do think the pacing was rushed overall. I was glad the book didn't dance around big events and that it moved forward rapidly...but it did so, at times, too rapidly. I would've also liked less time dedicated to describing passages in and out of Amber, and even more time spent on Zelazny's truly fantastic character interactions.
murphyc1's review against another edition
5.0
This was my second read. The first was 10 or twelve years ago. I had forgotten much in the time between. I desperately hope that the TV series that's currently in development will eventually reach my screen!