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A review by wouterk
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
4.0
I was not prepared. I've read Zelazny before and I know he has inspired writers like Gaiman and GRR Martin, but I somehow thought this was going to be Zelazny's take on classical fanatasy with moral clarity and the good guys winning. Boy, was I wrong. I might've been misled by goodreads labelling it as YA and the sweet name of amber, but this was a great and very new experience.
Nine Princes of Amber follows Corwin as he wakes up with memory loss in a hospital. And somehow within 175 pages this ends up in an epic battle to reach and besiege Amber.
What I loved about the writing is the fact that Zelazny uses the amnesia well as a writing tool. Rather than it being a convenience to not go into all kinds of details, it is used for the reader to become invested in the world building. We want to know what's going on and that means that Corwin has to find out that he is named Corwin, why he's in the hospital and later on what Amber is and what the hell is going on. What was also fun is that sometimes Corwin breaks the first wall, like he's telling you, the reader, his story.
But like I said, I was not prepared. This book is gritty and dark and extremely political. It is somehow reminiscent of story beats in A Song of Ice and Fire, with backstabbing and political play to get or gain influence with the throne of amber. Those who lose suffer quite cruel fates and punishments and many relatively innocent people are sacrificed.
Also, I was not prepared for how its time influenced these books. First and foremost, people are continuously smoking. It is like the key activity outside of furthering the plot. Second I was not prepared for the joke referring to the Eichmann trial (very dark, though I can appreciate it). Third, there's some scenes that clearly refer to the culture of liberal consumption of drugs and each other.
All in all, a very interesting read with a large story told in a short book. Curious to contiue.
Nine Princes of Amber follows Corwin as he wakes up with memory loss in a hospital. And somehow within 175 pages this ends up in an epic battle to reach and besiege Amber.
What I loved about the writing is the fact that Zelazny uses the amnesia well as a writing tool. Rather than it being a convenience to not go into all kinds of details, it is used for the reader to become invested in the world building. We want to know what's going on and that means that Corwin has to find out that he is named Corwin, why he's in the hospital and later on what Amber is and what the hell is going on. What was also fun is that sometimes Corwin breaks the first wall, like he's telling you, the reader, his story.
But like I said, I was not prepared. This book is gritty and dark and extremely political. It is somehow reminiscent of story beats in A Song of Ice and Fire, with backstabbing and political play to get or gain influence with the throne of amber. Those who lose suffer quite cruel fates and punishments and many relatively innocent people are sacrificed.
Also, I was not prepared for how its time influenced these books. First and foremost, people are continuously smoking. It is like the key activity outside of furthering the plot. Second I was not prepared for the joke referring to the Eichmann trial (very dark, though I can appreciate it). Third, there's some scenes that clearly refer to the culture of liberal consumption of drugs and each other.
All in all, a very interesting read with a large story told in a short book. Curious to contiue.