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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
A decent beginning where I was intrigued by the world building, but the plot did not grip me.
Best first book of a fantasy series that I've ever read.
Maybe I was expecting more? Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more as a new fantasy reader? Who knows, all I know is that I was bored. In contrast to most fantasy novels, which are heavy on the exposition, Nine Princes in Amber starts off with a bang - the narrator awakes with no memory, and we follow him on an adventure as he tries to figure things out.
I found the narrator to be frustratingly blank, even for an amnesia victim. Characterization was shallow at best, and it committed the cardinal sin of a novel - it failed to make me care, one way or another, about a single character.
I can see where it was technically well done, so I gave it three stars. It's one of my husband's favorites, so it mustn't be bad - I think this is just a case of my tastes being different!
I found the narrator to be frustratingly blank, even for an amnesia victim. Characterization was shallow at best, and it committed the cardinal sin of a novel - it failed to make me care, one way or another, about a single character.
I can see where it was technically well done, so I gave it three stars. It's one of my husband's favorites, so it mustn't be bad - I think this is just a case of my tastes being different!
Nine Princes in Amber is a strange mix: Chandleresque protagonist, pulp sensibility, and cinematic, flashy plotting. After reading it, I still can't decide whether Zelazny is a genius or a total hack. This has never happened to me before.
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My dad was always telling me to get into these books cause he enjoyed them as a child and after reading the first one I understand why. It hooked me and i read it basically in one day, cant wait to read the rest of the series.
wow. this is pretty bad, but mostly readable. If you're desperate. I understand that it is a classic of sorts. Maybe with adolescent boys living in the basement and playing dungeons and dragons. A poor man's Tolkein? And it could turn into a really fun series, but I'm not giving it the chance. I'll leave that to my husband who appreciates this genre more than I!
First in a series. The beginning of the saga of Corwin, prince of Amber. The interesting thing about this series is the heirs to the throne of Amber have the ability to manipulate "shadow" worlds and create whatever reality they wish, with the understanding that Amber is the real world and all other places are only a shadow of the real thing.
This was the second or third time I've read this, but it's been so long between each time that now it's like reading a completely new book.
This was the second or third time I've read this, but it's been so long between each time that now it's like reading a completely new book.
I'm not sure why I liked this because it had a lot of things I normally hate, but like it I did. The audiobook narrator is very good and the intro (when the main character has lost his memory and is bluffing his way through the start of the book) is very compelling, just because the protagonist's voice is so strong. As the book goes on it veers more and more towards high fantasy, although I think the fantasy worlds could have been more vividly described. The portrayal of women feels very dated, they're mainly used as accessories, but it's mostly offscreen so... tolerable. The disability portrayal (what there is of it) is pretty minimal and unconvincing, but there are Plot Reasons for this. The character arc is really satisfying so although the end of the book leaves loads unresolved, I didn't mind. The writing style was very easy to read (much more so than, for example, Creatures of Light and Darkness) and there's some fun stuff with magical travel and messaging systems. Overall much better than expected, particularly given it was published in 1970.
im kind of in shock at just how bad this was it was really bad!