Scan barcode
pandoozled14's review against another edition
2.0
I really liked the first book, but after they started playing around with guns , my interest was rapidly gone.
charlieswrittenadventures's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
3.0
Review of Nine Princes in Amber
This is a tough book to summarize. Let’s just say that Mr. Corey wakes up with amnesia after a nasty car crash and sets out to recover his memory and then to take back what he sees as his.
Starting this was a leap of faith. Corey tells the story and since he doesn’t know anything about what’s going on, neither do we. He’s confused, we’re confused, and I for one was left wondering if it was worth the effort to continue on. Luckily, I decided that since I’d heard so many good things about this author and since the book was only about 150 pages, I really had nothing to lose and possibly a lot to gain. Once I got going with the story and started getting tantalizing pieces about the story behind the story, I was hooked. Even after finishing, I have some questions, but I know that this series has to be worth the ride.
I love Zelazny’s writing. He has a unique voice and some of his descriptions were incredibly original. Of course I didn’t do anything useful like mark them, but here’s one I did find again: “his skin was as porous as an orange rind and the elements had darkened it to resemble a fine old piece of furniture.” Can’t you just picture this guy’s skin?
As much as I liked it, there were a couple of things I didn’t care for. There’s a big old deus ex machina at the end. (Here’s hoping I got hold of the correct phrase) Maybe it will tie in later, but right now it just felt like an easy way out after he had painted himself into a corner.
This isn’t really anything to do with the story, but my copy is chock-full of typos. It’s easy enough to figure out what Zelazny meant most of the time, but there were a few instances where the sentence could work in a couple of different ways. There was at least one time when a few sentences were repeated for no reason. It got really distracting.
I’m going to give this three stars, mostly because of what I just mentioned and because I still have lots of questions about what exactly is going on. I’ll definitely be continuing the series, and who knows? I might bump my rating up later.
The Guns of Avalon
I don't have too much more to add except that the typos were better in this section and I'm hugely surprised that one story arc wrapped up as quickly as it did. I'm glad we got to see a few more members of the family. I really didn't see the big twist coming. It's still three stars and I'll still keep on reading.
This is a tough book to summarize. Let’s just say that Mr. Corey wakes up with amnesia after a nasty car crash and sets out to recover his memory and then to take back what he sees as his.
Starting this was a leap of faith. Corey tells the story and since he doesn’t know anything about what’s going on, neither do we. He’s confused, we’re confused, and I for one was left wondering if it was worth the effort to continue on. Luckily, I decided that since I’d heard so many good things about this author and since the book was only about 150 pages, I really had nothing to lose and possibly a lot to gain. Once I got going with the story and started getting tantalizing pieces about the story behind the story, I was hooked. Even after finishing, I have some questions, but I know that this series has to be worth the ride.
I love Zelazny’s writing. He has a unique voice and some of his descriptions were incredibly original. Of course I didn’t do anything useful like mark them, but here’s one I did find again: “his skin was as porous as an orange rind and the elements had darkened it to resemble a fine old piece of furniture.” Can’t you just picture this guy’s skin?
As much as I liked it, there were a couple of things I didn’t care for. There’s a big old deus ex machina at the end. (Here’s hoping I got hold of the correct phrase) Maybe it will tie in later, but right now it just felt like an easy way out after he had painted himself into a corner.
This isn’t really anything to do with the story, but my copy is chock-full of typos. It’s easy enough to figure out what Zelazny meant most of the time, but there were a few instances where the sentence could work in a couple of different ways. There was at least one time when a few sentences were repeated for no reason. It got really distracting.
I’m going to give this three stars, mostly because of what I just mentioned and because I still have lots of questions about what exactly is going on. I’ll definitely be continuing the series, and who knows? I might bump my rating up later.
The Guns of Avalon
I don't have too much more to add except that the typos were better in this section and I'm hugely surprised that one story arc wrapped up as quickly as it did. I'm glad we got to see a few more members of the family. I really didn't see the big twist coming. It's still three stars and I'll still keep on reading.
fae713's review against another edition
Got distracted by new releases on Kindle and never made it back to the paper copy of this series.
sewa90's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
dantastic's review against another edition
5.0
Nine Princes in Amber: Mr. Corey wakes up in a hospital after a car accident with no memory of who he is. After visiting his sister (and fooling her into thinking he still has his memory), he crosses dimensions with his brother Random and eventually regains his memory after walking the Pattern in the city of Rebma, the sister city of Amber. From there, he joins up with his brother Bleys and attacks Amber, intent on stopping his brother Eric from crowning himself king.
Nine Princes in Amber is really good, especially considering all of the background Zelazny manages to cram into less than 150 pages. The twists are unexpected and the machinations of the nine princes of Amber are fairly reallistic. Although I can tell it was inspired by the first book of the World of Tiers series, it's far from being a ripoff. Zelazny started with Farmer's concept of an amnesiac hero who's a member of a group of nigh-immortal lords and taken it into a different direction. I'm looking forward to Guns of Avalon.
Guns of Avalon:Corwin hatches a plan to take Amber with a force bearing automatic rifles along with Ganelon, an old enemy. Along the way he spends time with his brother Benedict and Benedict's great granddaughter Dara. However, he isn't the only one assaulting Amber...
Guns of Avalon was even better than Nine Princes in Amber. I'm really enjoying the court intrigue between Corwin and his siblings. I didn't really see the ending coming until it was too late. Zelazny really knows how to craft a tale.
Sign of the Unicorn: Another of Corwin's family is murdered, Brand is rescued, and more of what actually happened to Corwin prior to the first book is revealed.
The Amber books probably wouldn't work as well if Zelazny hadn't written them in the first person. The way they are, we learn things as Corwin does. The machinations of Corwin's family are the driving force of the story and we get to watch as Corwin peels away lair after lair.
The Hand of Oberon: I'm officially past the point where I can give a synopsis and not give away too many plot points. Suffice to say, Zelazny is quite a story teller and I'm approaching the final novel in this volume with a sense of anticipation I haven't felt since the last volume of The Dark Tower wound up in my mailbox years ago.
The Courts of Chaos: Who stabbed Corwin in the dark? Will Amber be destroyed by the forces of Chaos? Can the Pattern be repaired? Who will sit on the throne of Amber? All of these questions and more are answered in this, the final book of The First Chronicles of Amber.
Zelazny took the aspects of Farmer's World of Tiers he liked the most, namely the immortal family endlessly conspiring against one another and the amnesiac hero, and ran with it. Amber isn't so much a fantasy story as a huge multi-layered mystery. I thought I knew how it would end but I was wrong. I'm officially ranking Amber up there with Moorcock's Elric series (the first six or so) and Stephen King's Dark Tower as my favorite fantasy stories of all time.
Nine Princes in Amber is really good, especially considering all of the background Zelazny manages to cram into less than 150 pages. The twists are unexpected and the machinations of the nine princes of Amber are fairly reallistic. Although I can tell it was inspired by the first book of the World of Tiers series, it's far from being a ripoff. Zelazny started with Farmer's concept of an amnesiac hero who's a member of a group of nigh-immortal lords and taken it into a different direction. I'm looking forward to Guns of Avalon.
Guns of Avalon:Corwin hatches a plan to take Amber with a force bearing automatic rifles along with Ganelon, an old enemy. Along the way he spends time with his brother Benedict and Benedict's great granddaughter Dara. However, he isn't the only one assaulting Amber...
Guns of Avalon was even better than Nine Princes in Amber. I'm really enjoying the court intrigue between Corwin and his siblings. I didn't really see the ending coming until it was too late. Zelazny really knows how to craft a tale.
Sign of the Unicorn: Another of Corwin's family is murdered, Brand is rescued, and more of what actually happened to Corwin prior to the first book is revealed.
The Amber books probably wouldn't work as well if Zelazny hadn't written them in the first person. The way they are, we learn things as Corwin does. The machinations of Corwin's family are the driving force of the story and we get to watch as Corwin peels away lair after lair.
The Hand of Oberon: I'm officially past the point where I can give a synopsis and not give away too many plot points. Suffice to say, Zelazny is quite a story teller and I'm approaching the final novel in this volume with a sense of anticipation I haven't felt since the last volume of The Dark Tower wound up in my mailbox years ago.
The Courts of Chaos: Who stabbed Corwin in the dark? Will Amber be destroyed by the forces of Chaos? Can the Pattern be repaired? Who will sit on the throne of Amber? All of these questions and more are answered in this, the final book of The First Chronicles of Amber.
Zelazny took the aspects of Farmer's World of Tiers he liked the most, namely the immortal family endlessly conspiring against one another and the amnesiac hero, and ran with it. Amber isn't so much a fantasy story as a huge multi-layered mystery. I thought I knew how it would end but I was wrong. I'm officially ranking Amber up there with Moorcock's Elric series (the first six or so) and Stephen King's Dark Tower as my favorite fantasy stories of all time.
minn3h's review against another edition
4.0
Zelazny chooses words with exceptional skill, unfortunately his plotting and character development cannot quite keep up with that high bar he sets for himself.
leslierholm's review against another edition
5.0
4th or 5th reading, at least. Probably my favorite Zelazny and definitely his opus. It is different from most every fantasy novel I've read. There are no fair maidens, no dragons per se, and I cannot describe the world setting without giving away huge spoilers. If you are looking for something different, this is it.
mikehex's review against another edition
3.0
I pulled these off my shelf to re-read in between other new books. Each of the 5 stories is pretty short so it makes for a nice change of pace.
However, I can't say that I enjoyed them. The political/family intrigue that I remember takes a back seat behind the questions of reality that Zelazny obviously wanted to write about. And the way he handles it just didn't interest me, especially since a lot of it is written in the staccato "hellride" way. The first time was interesting but then I ended up skimming those sections and probably missed the key point.
The family business was still interesting, but was just a much more minor part of the stories.
However, I can't say that I enjoyed them. The political/family intrigue that I remember takes a back seat behind the questions of reality that Zelazny obviously wanted to write about. And the way he handles it just didn't interest me, especially since a lot of it is written in the staccato "hellride" way. The first time was interesting but then I ended up skimming those sections and probably missed the key point.
The family business was still interesting, but was just a much more minor part of the stories.
jhouses's review against another edition
2.0
¡Testosterona!, ¡litros de testosterona!, ¡hondonadas de Testosterona! Nuestro héroe es duro como Bond, fuma, bebe, lucha con el sable, es capturado, se fuga, fuma, bebe, alza un ejercito, fuma, bebe (creo que también folla en algún momento, pero a lo Bond, un par de miradas, un gesto y fundido a negro....) promete venganza...
La saga de Ambar que compré y leí en mi juventud y conservo con cariño -a pesar de que hay unas cuantas páginas en blanco en mi edición- no parece haber resistido bien el paso del tiempo. En su momento me encantó por su originalidad y rápido ritmo y me sorprendió su fantasía directa, alejada de la lírica de Tolkien y menos psicodélica que Moorcock. Sin embargo ahora hecho en falta un poco más de desarrollo de personajes. pensándolo bien, Dashiell Hammet no parece el mejor modelo para una historia de Alta Fantasía. Es como la cocina de Fusión, sorprende pero al final no llena.
Al menos son cortos y quizá al avanzar la saga la cosa mejore (lo que es no acordarse de nada, ojalá me pasase con otros libros). La tercera estrella se la doy por la nostalgia más que nada.
La saga de Ambar que compré y leí en mi juventud y conservo con cariño -a pesar de que hay unas cuantas páginas en blanco en mi edición- no parece haber resistido bien el paso del tiempo. En su momento me encantó por su originalidad y rápido ritmo y me sorprendió su fantasía directa, alejada de la lírica de Tolkien y menos psicodélica que Moorcock. Sin embargo ahora hecho en falta un poco más de desarrollo de personajes. pensándolo bien, Dashiell Hammet no parece el mejor modelo para una historia de Alta Fantasía. Es como la cocina de Fusión, sorprende pero al final no llena.
Al menos son cortos y quizá al avanzar la saga la cosa mejore (lo que es no acordarse de nada, ojalá me pasase con otros libros). La tercera estrella se la doy por la nostalgia más que nada.