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nithou's review against another edition
4.0
La saga reprend de l'intérêt avec ce tome ci, alors que ce cycle était plus doux que le premier. On s'enfonce à nouveau dans les intrigues, les mystères et les complots. Le personnage principal devient extrêmement intéressant par sa dualité et l'univers d'Ambre prends de plus en plus forme.
brettp's review against another edition
4.0
Finished "Blood of Amber" by Roger Zelazny. We get to learn more, but at the same time I don't want to go into details. Read the series. It's well worth it.
Interestingly enough, though, the Mad Hatter and the hookah-smoking caterpillar made an appearance in this one, and I just coincidentally finished reading, for the first time, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I picked up on the parallel immediately as a result. Pretty funny!
Interestingly enough, though, the Mad Hatter and the hookah-smoking caterpillar made an appearance in this one, and I just coincidentally finished reading, for the first time, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I picked up on the parallel immediately as a result. Pretty funny!
jdhobbes's review against another edition
4.0
Rereading the whole series. For this time through, I'm actually listening to the audiobooks. The really fun part is that the later books (starting from Trumps of Doom) are narrated by Wil Wheaton.
I remember being much more enthralled by these books when I originally read them 20 years ago, but they're still entertaining. By this point in the series, the narrative is becoming a bit strained, but my recollection is that it picks up again. Let's see if I'm right!
I remember being much more enthralled by these books when I originally read them 20 years ago, but they're still entertaining. By this point in the series, the narrative is becoming a bit strained, but my recollection is that it picks up again. Let's see if I'm right!
ianbanks's review against another edition
3.0
The first really ordinary novel in the series. Merlin travels around the place and uncovers new clues about WHAT'S GOING ON. I'm feeling a disconnect with some of the characters (notably Flora) because they behave differently around Merlin than they did around Corwin. Plus the atmosphere in Amber feels a lot more secure and cozy, thanks to the demise of Brand and his schemes two books ago. We also get a bigger look at the world of Amber outside the castle, which is a great idea - the idea that Amber is a kingdom ruled by godlike immortals in an idyllic but mysterious setting is being thoroughly demolished here. Unfortunately the result is a bit too generic "Fantasylandia." I used the word "urbane" to describe Merlin in the last book and it serves to describe the setting here also. We also get a few nudges about Corwin and what may have happened to him. But it's all a bit "meh" despite the fact that I finished it in one big gulp and still found it quite readable and entertaining - plenty of bones but no real meat.
evanbernstein's review against another edition
2.0
I picked this up immediately after the other one because I was sick with a stomach bug and wanted something simple. I had to interrupt reading it with something else because it just kind of grated on me and bored me. I don't really like the writing style and am unsure if I'm going to finish the series. I don't like how the entire plot is wrapped up inside the one characters head as he hems and haws all the whirling schemes. So often he makes a choice that makes no sense to his character, simply because the author wanted the plot to move that way. But at which time someone is trusted or not trusted is completely inconsistent and so many times that answers and questions get left unasked because the author just just doesn't want to say yet. I felt that I was completely manipulated in the plotting and it is frustrating to the point of not caring.
cheezvshcrvst's review against another edition
3.0
There's a lot of Amber-naysayers that methinks take these books far more seriously than they ought to. Insomuch as my humble opinion is seated (on a rock perhaps, pointed at a nice cloudless direction with lots of sunshine and mischievous mountains (this is all unnecessary)), this, the 2nd Merlin novel, is an excellent, if, as per usual with the series, brief adventure that does much by way of adding texture to the plot and pushing the story forward, even if it seems to neglect its characters a bit. Merlin, particularly, seems to carry himself with an almost unjustified sense of determination that we, the readers, seem to be not asked so much as told to just go with. This can easily be rectified if one takes into consideration the flashbacks that shine some light on Merlin's coming of age in the Courts of Chaos and (and to me this is the important thing) if one keeps in mind that Merlin is indeed the son of Corwin - meaning a high degree of self-confidence and willingness to plunge into the unknown, confident he is prepared enough to meet his end or else, preferably, overcome his obstacles. For me, this novel once made me immediately take more interest in Merlin's story and that was enough for me to enjoy the book (and, inevitably, the remainder of the Chronicles) and, upon this reread, has done so again.
capellan's review against another edition
3.0
This second book of the second Amber quintet ends with me still less invested in Merlin than I was in Corwin, but at least ol' Merle is a lot more active here than in the previous volume. He actually feels like he is pursuing his own ends here rather than just kind of being in the places where the story happens to occur, because other people have capital-P Plans for him.
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