Knight of Shadows (Amber Ser. 9)

Rating:
Summary: Flair, fantasy, humor.
Review: Bias alert. I should start this review by saying that I am not sure that Zelazny could write a bad book. Non-Zelazny fans may disagree.

Merlin is very clearly the son of Corwin. He is irreverent about the holy ghosts of Amber and Chaos. He hits his head against the rules (and sometimes even wins). Despite an overly-long sequence in a strange testing ground between shadows, Zelzany still infuses this book with the manic strangeness and humor that are part of what make him such a wonderful writer. As noted, virtually none of the Amber novels can be read stand-alone or out of sequence. You are going to have to read the books before this one to get the background. And you are going to have to read the ones after this to get an explanation. An enjoyable task, luckily.

Rating:
Summary: Unfinished
Review: I have read the entire series of amber novels and this book left more unfinished business behind than all the others. Masterfully written by Zelany it filled me with couriousity makeing it a diffucult book to put down. Upon reading the final words I immeadieatly jumped on the net to see if there was a eleventh book. Finding there was not I was dishartend. This book capped of a sereis of spine-tingling adventure in an unusual way leading down to the best showdown ever. Now that I have completed this seris I think I shall go and read them over again. I would recomend these books to anyone I already have several of my freinds reading the series.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, funny, is this real life perhaps!
Review: Son of Corwin (Amber series) goes to college in USA (Earth-shadow) and gets into all sorts of strange adventures. Merlin's computer (is this a throw-back to Illuminatus) is a great help or is it? Or should I say he? If you liked the Amber series you'll enjoy this. It is different. Merlin isn't Corwin and has a lot more naivitie (may irritate some readers) but it's the hero going out into the world to find ... what? Himself? His father? Who's trying to kill him? The world jumping is different from shadow-walking. I reccommend readers trying some world jumping themselves - it's amazing what can happen!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best in all of bookdom.
Review: The Chronicles of Amber are the most masterfully written books in all of bookdom. I really enjoy reading them. I have read them all and keep reading them when i finish. I just can't stop thinking how good they are. I am hoping for another series. When I read the first five, I was blown away. That someone had the imagination to create such a magical world and call ours a shadow, was something I did not think possible. Not that I could have thought of it. Roger Zelazny, i believe, is the best author of science fiction/fantasy in the world. In the back of my mind, i always though that maybe he actually was someone from Amber. That he came here to tell a story about his life or his reletives. Having the power of the Pattern or the Logrus would be a great asset. I could sure use a pizza right about now. It would help if i didn't have to pay for it either. If I could just put my hands in the air and pluck it out of the nether...hehehe...

Rating:
Summary: Not on par with original Amber books
Review: Though you will not put the book down because of Mr. Zelazny's writing style. Do not expect the normal skilled plotting and crafted characterizations of the original Amber books. This book cannot stand alone...it leaves you hanging.

Merlin, son of Corwin, who was the hero of the original series, narrates this sequence, and here continued to accidentlly make his way through encounters with new powers that are completely incompatible with the original mythos. Those who are allied with each other will not speak with each other. While their enemies somehow know everything. Most of the important action happens offstage, and promised explanations never materialize.

So I would suggest you only read this book if you are a fan of the Amber series and have read the others that come before it.