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dantastic's review against another edition
4.0
Merle Corey's got several problems. He's secretly Merlin, a Prince of Amber. His father Corwin has been missing for years. Oh, and someone tries to kill him every April 30th for reasons unknown. The story starts with Merle getting ready to leave Shadow Earth behind and devote himself to working on his Ghostwheel when an old girlfriend he goes to say goodbye to winds up dead. The trail leads Merle to a conjurer and then back to Amber, where he learns he isn't the only Amberite whose had attempts on his life. But what does his friend Luke have to do with things?
It took me almost a calendar year to finally start reading the second Amber seriers. So far, I'm liking it a lot. Having read the first series, it's a little easier to follow due to knowing something of Amber's workings already. The mystery of Luke was pretty well done. I like that the bullets Corwin had created in Guns of Avalon came back into play. I also like that Merlin isn't a Corwin duplicate.
Like I said, so far I'm enjoying the second chronicles of Amber. It's like visiting with an old friend. On to the next one!
It took me almost a calendar year to finally start reading the second Amber seriers. So far, I'm liking it a lot. Having read the first series, it's a little easier to follow due to knowing something of Amber's workings already. The mystery of Luke was pretty well done. I like that the bullets Corwin had created in Guns of Avalon came back into play. I also like that Merlin isn't a Corwin duplicate.
Like I said, so far I'm enjoying the second chronicles of Amber. It's like visiting with an old friend. On to the next one!
bkoser's review against another edition
4.0
Started off feeling like Nine Princes in Amber-lite, but I got into it eventually. Like the first five-book Amber series, I'll somewhat reserve judgment until I get to the end.
neglet's review against another edition
A re-read, but the first time in a decade or so. And I realize this book uses a technique that I’ve come to loathe: characters deliberately withholding information to artificially create “suspense.” So while we sympathize with Merlin as he tries to figure out who is behind the regular attempts on his life, we’re continually frustrated when each person he encountered withholds information. So we don’t really get that twisty political intrigue that I love from the series, plus Merlin is continually reacting instead of acting.
Interesting, though, that this first Merlin volume parallels the first Corwin volume by having him imprisoned by a relative. It will be interesting to see if the parallels continue from there.
Interesting, though, that this first Merlin volume parallels the first Corwin volume by having him imprisoned by a relative. It will be interesting to see if the parallels continue from there.
hidekisohma's review against another edition
3.0
So i saw this book at a half-price book store on clearance and i figured, eh, what the hell. i haven't read a book in this series before, but it was short, cheap, and i liked the style he wrote in, so i thought i'd give it a shot. There were definitely some positives in this book such as the afformentioned writing style. it was short, sweet, and didn't rely too heavily on descriptors. As for the story itself, despite being the sixth in the series i understood what was going on pretty fast. Magical guy lives in the real world, every day on April 30th, something tries to kill him and it's now April 30th. He has a protector spell on his arm and he can make things called "Trumps" which are cards that act like teleporters to a specific place. Not too hard to get.
The book was crazy short. like 180 pages short, and this is where the problems begin show. First of all, without spoiling, the book ends on a cliffhanger. I'm sitting here going, "well, yeah, maybe if your book wasn't 180 pages, you wouldn't have to end it on a cliffhanger." It definitely feels like he probably should have just combined books 6 and 7 together (book 6 is 180 pages and book 7 is 210) you probably could have made that one book bro.
While descriptions aren't abound he sure does love sitting down and talking to people in this book. That seems to be a very prevalent thing with this author. Eating with someone at a restaurant and talking. That's a lot of this book.
However, maybe that's a reason this book is only 180 pages. Because it's so short, these scenes don't overstay their welcome. if he doubled the length with descriptions in these scenes i probably would have dropped it.
The main character is...all right. He's not very notable and doesn't really have a very interesting personality, but at least he doesn't irritate me. He's just kind of a blank slate. It's kind of sad that i'm happy for a blank slate at this point in my urban fantasy novels. After dealing with Captain Gary Stu in the Nightside series and Chauvenist Mcgee Harry Dresden, it's nice to have a character that's bland. Oh how my standards have fallen.
Because of how short the books are and the fact that it ended on a cliffhanger, i'm definitely going to read at least one more book to see where this particular plot goes. overall, not bad for a random book in a random series. Not great, but short enough to not be annoying and with a moderately interesting magic system. solid 3/5.
The book was crazy short. like 180 pages short, and this is where the problems begin show. First of all, without spoiling, the book ends on a cliffhanger. I'm sitting here going, "well, yeah, maybe if your book wasn't 180 pages, you wouldn't have to end it on a cliffhanger." It definitely feels like he probably should have just combined books 6 and 7 together (book 6 is 180 pages and book 7 is 210) you probably could have made that one book bro.
While descriptions aren't abound he sure does love sitting down and talking to people in this book. That seems to be a very prevalent thing with this author. Eating with someone at a restaurant and talking. That's a lot of this book.
However, maybe that's a reason this book is only 180 pages. Because it's so short, these scenes don't overstay their welcome. if he doubled the length with descriptions in these scenes i probably would have dropped it.
The main character is...all right. He's not very notable and doesn't really have a very interesting personality, but at least he doesn't irritate me. He's just kind of a blank slate. It's kind of sad that i'm happy for a blank slate at this point in my urban fantasy novels. After dealing with Captain Gary Stu in the Nightside series and Chauvenist Mcgee Harry Dresden, it's nice to have a character that's bland. Oh how my standards have fallen.
Because of how short the books are and the fact that it ended on a cliffhanger, i'm definitely going to read at least one more book to see where this particular plot goes. overall, not bad for a random book in a random series. Not great, but short enough to not be annoying and with a moderately interesting magic system. solid 3/5.
angelikareadsavariciously's review against another edition
3.0
3.5. The author is great at hooking you in right at the end.
peapod_boston's review against another edition
3.0
Continuing my late night Zelazny re-reads, I've started the second Amber series. I haven't read these since I was a teenager, and I was curious if they held up. The tone is radically different from the first Amber. Where they had a mythic undertone, this is much more direct. There is no mystery to Amber anymore, and even Chaos holds few secrets. Instead, the puzzle is the complex world of lies, betrayal, and magic that Merlin suddenly wakes up to after a blissful youth on Shadow Earth.
Not as engaging as the first books, they retain a breezy pleasure that makes them good light reading.
Not as engaging as the first books, they retain a breezy pleasure that makes them good light reading.
titusfortner's review against another edition
4.0
I'm enjoying this mystery more than the one in the first cycle. So far I'm enjoying the protagonist more as well.
cheezvshcrvst's review against another edition
5.0
Fun, compelling, and much better written than Nine Princes. It's difficult to rate these books individually, so I go about basing my opinions of each on how enjoyable of a read they are. Nothing in this novel is out of place and the exposition doesn't bog down the narrative at all and Merlin is a very solidly conceived character. I'm glad I decided to re-read these books.
gugge's review against another edition
3.0
Too many questions left at the end of the book. It's too early to know whether the second 5 books of the Amber Chronicles will be as mind-blowing as the first 5.