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A review by richardrbecker
The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny
4.0
The fifth book in the Chronicles of Amber series ends the original series, but clearly sets up the next set of five. At only 189 pages (one more than the 4th in the series), the book is almost too short for its own good — until you remember that the entire series was originally published as a serial.
For those who read all five, the fifth is among the most revealing and once again brings together myths, legends, religion, and pop philosophy into the mix. Even Corwin's meeting with Ygg (a talking tree mark the border between Order and Chaos) is similar to Dante's meeting with a talking tree in the "Inferno." Ygg is also based on Yggdrasil, a tree that holds up the sky in northern Germanic and Icelandic myths.
It's these allusions that, in part, that helped the series earn a place as a classic of imaginative literature. Where else can one find Earth as a mere shadow between two contrasting "true" worlds, Amber and Chaos? Nowhere.
For those who read all five, the fifth is among the most revealing and once again brings together myths, legends, religion, and pop philosophy into the mix. Even Corwin's meeting with Ygg (a talking tree mark the border between Order and Chaos) is similar to Dante's meeting with a talking tree in the "Inferno." Ygg is also based on Yggdrasil, a tree that holds up the sky in northern Germanic and Icelandic myths.
It's these allusions that, in part, that helped the series earn a place as a classic of imaginative literature. Where else can one find Earth as a mere shadow between two contrasting "true" worlds, Amber and Chaos? Nowhere.