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abdiel47's review against another edition
4.0
The 70s were that last great era for pulp fiction. Short punchy books with authors desperate to create the most imaginative visions ever.
Sign of the Unicorn is less an action packed careening story, and more of a whodunit. It's the turning point of the series where secrets start to be revealed and the author creates wonderful images, the likes of which haven't been seen in fantasy fiction for decades.
Sign of the Unicorn is less an action packed careening story, and more of a whodunit. It's the turning point of the series where secrets start to be revealed and the author creates wonderful images, the likes of which haven't been seen in fantasy fiction for decades.
haramis's review against another edition
5.0
I first read the Amber books 16 years ago. I remembered the first book well enough, but somehow this one was mostly gone, which is too bad because it's pretty great. I suppose that's what I get for reading them back to back then.
The book starts with a wrap-up from [b:The Guns of Avalon|62012|The Guns of Avalon (Amber Chronicles, #2)|Roger Zelazny|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1280215210s/62012.jpg|1105543], but then moves into a tense stand-off between the various family members, followed by transitioning into some really crazy reveals. Now that I've been reminded of the end, I of course remember, but it's nice to still have that jaw-dropping moment all over again and to have yet another layer pulled back. Fantastic book.
The book starts with a wrap-up from [b:The Guns of Avalon|62012|The Guns of Avalon (Amber Chronicles, #2)|Roger Zelazny|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1280215210s/62012.jpg|1105543], but then moves into a tense stand-off between the various family members, followed by transitioning into some really crazy reveals. Now that I've been reminded of the end, I of course remember, but it's nice to still have that jaw-dropping moment all over again and to have yet another layer pulled back. Fantastic book.
ianbanks's review against another edition
4.0
This should feel like a breather as we catch up with Corwin's siblings and find out what happened while he was laid up in Shadow all those years. Turns out that there was a lot of plotting in his absence and it's only continuing. I've always felt that this is the point of the series where it starts to get far too plotty and talky but it's still a good fun read, even with the layered pages of chat and conjecture.
mardukzero's review against another edition
4.0
The plot gets rolling again in this one!
[b:The Guns of Avalon|62012|The Guns of Avalon (The Chronicles of Amber #2)|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1368213721s/62012.jpg|1105543], while having an awesome name, was a decent book that mostly served as setup for the plot that this one takes off with. The intrigue and mystery in this volume was a bit of a shift, but worked well. At times, it felt like a direct predecessor to [a:Jim Butcher|10746|Jim Butcher|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400640324p2/10746.jpg]'s Dresden Files. The worldbuilding continues, and the stakes are escalated.
The end was a cliffhanger that I was not expecting. Have to start the next one right away!
[b:The Guns of Avalon|62012|The Guns of Avalon (The Chronicles of Amber #2)|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1368213721s/62012.jpg|1105543], while having an awesome name, was a decent book that mostly served as setup for the plot that this one takes off with. The intrigue and mystery in this volume was a bit of a shift, but worked well. At times, it felt like a direct predecessor to [a:Jim Butcher|10746|Jim Butcher|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400640324p2/10746.jpg]'s Dresden Files. The worldbuilding continues, and the stakes are escalated.
The end was a cliffhanger that I was not expecting. Have to start the next one right away!
arkron's review against another edition
3.0
Just a couple of pages in and already one murdered Amberite. The usual suspects are the remaining royal family but they had the help of shadow beings.
It seems to be quite different from the previous books with much less action density. Random tells his story which seems to be this book's psychedelic episode with all it's shadow weaving and circulating stones. Some magic (wielding a storm) and politics (view spoiler).
I absolutely didn't understand the chapter with Tir'Na'Nogh (?sp). Maybe I was too tired or it was just too psychedelic, I don't know, but I simply didn't get it. And I don't know why Tir'Na'Nogh - the Irish mythological otherworld - was referenced, here.
We get much more background story of Random and Corwin. I like the eponymous beast!
Besides of that one chapter it was a nice read with lots of interactions between the Amberite princes and astonishingly few action. As such it is an interesting deviation from the previous stories.
I noted a couple of nice citations:
"... but I can't spare any more brothers at the moment." Sums up the juggling between internal politics and external needs of defending Amber.
"While sex heads a great number of lists, we all have other things we like to do in between." I had to ROFL there.
And once again nice literaric references interleaved with morbidity: "... and be playing football with the head while composing a footnote to Clausewitz."
3.5 stars - rounded down to 3 because of the confusing chapter.
It seems to be quite different from the previous books with much less action density. Random tells his story which seems to be this book's psychedelic episode with all it's shadow weaving and circulating stones. Some magic (wielding a storm) and politics (view spoiler).
I absolutely didn't understand the chapter with Tir'Na'Nogh (?sp). Maybe I was too tired or it was just too psychedelic, I don't know, but I simply didn't get it. And I don't know why Tir'Na'Nogh - the Irish mythological otherworld - was referenced, here.
We get much more background story of Random and Corwin. I like the eponymous beast!
Besides of that one chapter it was a nice read with lots of interactions between the Amberite princes and astonishingly few action. As such it is an interesting deviation from the previous stories.
I noted a couple of nice citations:
"... but I can't spare any more brothers at the moment." Sums up the juggling between internal politics and external needs of defending Amber.
"While sex heads a great number of lists, we all have other things we like to do in between." I had to ROFL there.
And once again nice literaric references interleaved with morbidity: "... and be playing football with the head while composing a footnote to Clausewitz."
3.5 stars - rounded down to 3 because of the confusing chapter.
tarabyt3's review against another edition
3.0
All right, it's starting to get interesting now. Still hating Corwin's complete dismissiveness of the women in the story, but the plot finally seems to be gaining some momentum.
crono101's review against another edition
4.0
It just keeps getting better... More complexity, more mystery, schemes upon schemes!
patsy12's review against another edition
3.0
3.5, It was much slower than the previous two books, which I liked but also didn't. I liked it because it provided more backstory to the characters, mind you I don't think Rog needs a liiiitttle more work on his character building (just my opinion, his strong suit is more plot building I think. I think the slow pace was good though because it made the events of the final few chapters feel more important??? They felt more significant than they would have in a fast pace book with a lot of events taking place.
rosava's review against another edition
5.0
Проковтнула за один день. У "Хроніках Амбера" якась неймовірна магія, яка не відпускає і не піддається здоровому глузду.
richardrbecker's review against another edition
5.0
Sign of the Unicorn is an excellent bridge in the Amber series, adding depth to the first to books while setting up the last two books. Where Zelazny truly shines is in providing multiple narrators, none of who can be trusted — especially the one who seems to be working to threaten the perfect kingdom of Amber.
It is one of the most underrated and yet pivotal books of the series, adding a "whodunnit" element and giving voice to several characters, namely Random and Brand. Even so, this is also where some readers lose patience as Zelazny adds more plotting than action until the end — where Corwin heads to Tir-na Nog'th, a mysterious, moonlit Amber-in-the-sky where a dream foreshadows a discovery that none of the his family members could have ever expected.
As the third of five, Sign of the Unicorn will be especially enjoyable to anyone who appreciated more about the differences of each family member. It's also the book where Corwin gives up some of his bravado as he begins to recognize that ruling Amber is a double-edged sword.
It is one of the most underrated and yet pivotal books of the series, adding a "whodunnit" element and giving voice to several characters, namely Random and Brand. Even so, this is also where some readers lose patience as Zelazny adds more plotting than action until the end — where Corwin heads to Tir-na Nog'th, a mysterious, moonlit Amber-in-the-sky where a dream foreshadows a discovery that none of the his family members could have ever expected.
As the third of five, Sign of the Unicorn will be especially enjoyable to anyone who appreciated more about the differences of each family member. It's also the book where Corwin gives up some of his bravado as he begins to recognize that ruling Amber is a double-edged sword.