Shannon's Reviews > Nine Princes in Amber

Man, all the good stuff has been said to let me be brief:

OVERALL FEELING: One of my favorite fantasy pieces; sort of starts out as a PI man who lost his memory and has to figure out that he's the prince of another world.

CONCEPT: What if Gods who looked like people created this world and all the other worlds through their Godly thoughts? And what if their father disappeared and there was a fight for the throne which shook all the worlds? And what if this Godly war led to doorways being opened which should not have opened which could kill off these Gods?

MARKETING APPEAL: The Amber series is greatly loved; I imagine that it sold well; it took a first person point of view of a wise cracking PI type fantasy hero who discovered the realm of Amber; a conflict of sibling gods who are out for dominance and then discover a great evil. Superbly written.

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FAVORITE METAPHORS: “The night was bargaining weakly with the sun. The rising sun cast billions of bright shards into the foaming swell of the waters, and our eyes were dazzled by their dance so that we could not see beneath the surface.”

“The devil danced in his blue eyes . . . “

“I saw the fleet, sailing on a great ocean the color of blood. FAVORITE ACTION PASSAGE: As soon as we came to a halt, I flung open my door and leaped out --- barefooted yet! ... it!”

“ We pushed on, slowly, and there was blood on every step for as far back as I could see. There's a moral there, somewhere.”

FAVORITE DESCRIPTIVE PASSAGE: “It was about eight o'clock when the cab deposited me on a random corner in the nearest town. I paid off the driver and walked for around twenty minutes. Then I stopped in a diner, found a booth and had juice, a couple of eggs, toast, bacon and three cups of coffee. The bacon was too greasy.”

“Very, very much would they pay. An anger, a terrible one, flared within the middle of my body.”

“Answers? None.”

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DIALOGUE: I really liked the dialogue. It was terse and to the point with witty remarks all over the place, as well as some deep insights. Does a good job of not telling too much in the dialogue. No one is an idiot or constant talker. All, are sort of street smart. Corwin also has this fatalist attitude that I like. At times, he wonders as to the words he uses which makes it feel only more so that you are involved in the discussion with him (even if you can't talk back and ask questions). Good threats, too.

"Blood!" I called out. "Give me blood and vengeance this day, my warriors, and you will be remembered in Amber forever!" And as a man, they raised their weapons and cried out, "Blood!" And gallons --- no, rivers --- of it were let that day. We destroyed two more of Caine's raiders, replenishing our numbers from those of the survivors of our own fleet. As we headed toward a sixth, I climbed the mainmast and tried to take a quick count.

"Catch them, you fool!" And he did.

All I have to say is that Zelazny is my my favorite fantasy writer next to only one other writer: George Martin who is known for his incredible A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series. This is surely one of the best series in fantasy even though it was written in the 1970s.

Note that the book directly after this one is Zelazny's “The Guns of Avalon”. A three part graphic novel was created from this tale in the 1990s and talks of a movie have been in the work for, well, decades.

CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE: A minus to A; STORY/PLOTTING: A minus to A; FRESHNESS (for its time): A to A plus; SETTING/TONE: B plus to A minus; NARRATIVE FIRST PERSON FLOW: A minus; OVERALL GRADE: A minus to A; WHEN LAST READ: 2001 (read three times) (revised review early April 2012).