Rating: 
Summary: Mind-boggling imagination!
Review: This is the lead off in simply one of the greatest, most imaginative, and mind-blowing fantasy series ever written. (What was the late great Roger Zelazny smoking when he released this novel back in 1970?) "Nine Princes in Amber" is the first in a series of ten books chronicling the ever-feuding bloodlines of the House of Amber -- the true kingdom of Order in the Universe -- and the struggle with its eternal nemesis: the Courts of Chaos. The protagonist, Prince Corwin, is both noble & just and wise-cracking & street smart. Zelazny has created a universe so original, and dozens of characters so rich that it truly boggles the mind. And instead of whisking us off to some remote fairyland, he combines modern day Earth (a mere shadow world) with his infinitely rich universe. Where else are you going to find MIB's (Men in Black), a fast food chain called "Kentucky Fried Lizzard Partes" and swordfights all in the same book! Roger, we will sorely miss you.
Rating:
Summary: A great introduction to a great series
Review: Zelazny's launch of the classic Amber series is a great book. This book is almost as much fun as the introduction to a great fantasy series as it is a period piece--I find the Earthbound and Earthlike scenes strangely compelling as being just outside the realm of modern life from Zelazny's 1970 perspective. Corwin is perhaps the best first-person narrator I've ever read: his view is biased, judgemental, but still believable. You see the world through his eyes and gather up the experiences of this man and his many lives. The book should leave you scrambling to buy the others in the series. A word about the series: The first set (the first 5 books) are vastly superior to the second set of 5, which start strong but begin to run out of steam around Book 8 and lead to an extremely unsatisfying conclusion, when Zelazny has nothing but cliches and fantasy conventions to fall back on. Up until that point, though, the series is original and full of life.
Rating: 
Summary: Slim volume leaves questions for later stories to address
Review: Corwin is one of the titular nine princes who vie for the throne of Amber, the one true city, of which the Earth we know and countless other realities are mere reflections. He has been suffering amnesia on our world but recovers his memory and, in uneasy partnership with some of his siblings and outright conflict with others, attempts to wrest Amber from his brother Eric, who has assumed the throne.
The main drawback of this imaginative novel is its brevity. Roger Zelazny's story is epic in scope but he relates it in less than two hundred pages, making for a narrative that is extremely sketchy at times, reading more like a synopsis than a finished novel. At one point, Corwin and his brother Bleys travel to a Shadow world, insinuate themselves into the local culture, become worshipped as gods, and forge an army ready to march on Amber and fight with the zeal of Crusaders in a holy war-all in the space of two or three sentences! In addition, I was never quite clear on the nature of Amber and its powerful ruling family. What does it mean for one world to a "shadow" of another? The brothers seem godlike at the times with their abilities to manipulate the environment of shadow worlds through willpower alone and affect change in Amber itself by pronouncing curses. What does this say about the nature of reality? Ultimately, my opinion of Zelazny's series will depend on how well he addresses these concerns. I am sufficiently intrigued that I look forward to reading more.
Rating:
Summary: A Reading Privilege
Review: I finished this recently and didn't have time to wish there was more to read because I started immediately on Guns of Avalon -- which apart from being a whole other book started like another chapter of Nine Princes (but more about that in another review). While reading Nine Princes in Amber I was struck by how well written it is and what an individual voice Roger Zelazny is able to achieve with this writing. Having read a heavy sampling of Zelazny recently and thinking many of them to be his best work it is clear now why the Amber series caught both his and his audience's attention. This is the quintessential Roger Zelazny. Here we have a super-powerful character, Prince Corwin, with a super-powerful family whom are battling and bickering over the greatest city in the multi-verse, and are willing to go to any lengths to get it. The miracle of this is how Zelazny can make you care about it all, but he does so masterfully. Corwin's amnesiac beginning in a present day Earth is a perfect device to explain to the reader about Amber, its princes, their powers and the nature of Shadow. This exposition is remarkably engaging. It never feels forced. Then it is time to meet a brother-- the rascally Random whom you quickly come to love- and head into Shadow through the forests of Arden, to Rebma-- the undersea reflection of Amber, and finally Amber herself where brother battles brother for the throne. There are many great moments in the few hundred pages that comprise this book, but among the highlights for me are brother Bleys heroic last battle on the steps of Kolvir. Zelazny makes you feel every step that Bleys takes as he fells man after man up the thin twisting treacherous steps to Avalon and the waiting army of sinister brother Eric. Another highlight would be the time Corwin spent in the dungeons of amber blind, helpless and hungry. He conveys well the isolation, the deprivation of senses, and the hopelessness. That such a mighty being could be brought so low is an impressive feat on Eric's (and Zelazny's) part. The cheese and meat and bread and wine that are slipped to Corwin from time to time are well described and made me hungry as I read them. Finally, a meeting with the Mad Dworkin provides a means of escape and a glimpse at an interesting character with another piece of the puzzle. Guns of Avalon picks up exactly where Nine Princes in Amber left off, and has shown no signs of letting the reader down. You will indeed feel privileged to be reading one of the longest and greatest fantasy series. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Warning: Reading this book is expensive and time consuming.
Review: Its been nearly 20 years since I read the Amber series by Roger Zelazny (RIP good man.) The warning above regards the money your gonna spend (immediately) on the rest of the Amber series and how you will spend your time the rest of the week after you have finished Nine Princes of Amber. In fact, you'll wish there was a 24 hour bookstore nearby after reading Nine Princes of Amber get the next book NOW. Folks, this is a Classic (Fantasy and Science Fiction) in every sense of the word, as you may gather from the reviews on this page. Many of the excited reviews from readers are not exaggerations (including my own). I have only one piece of advice for you potential first time readers of Zelazny (particulary this book). Zelazny will put you immediately in his story so be patient. He dispatches with the spoon-feeding of his stories to the neophytes or the uninterested (godbless him). He treats his readers as a "literary adults". If you want a "Once upon a time" book, the Children,s Books section is over to the right, second aisle... 'Nuff said. This book is written in the first person, and the main character wakes up clueless, as will you be (for a while). You will learn as he does the complicated circumstance of his past, present, and future. Reading the reviews gave me goosebumps all over again. Well enough of my babblings, I'm gonna dust off that series again for another read. I suggest you do the same.
Rating:
Summary: This is the best!
Review: Roger Zelazny is a superb writer who draws you in from the begining when you find Corwin in the hospital. I read this series over and over again and it still has not lost the magic that starts the moment you open the book. I recommend this to anyone who wants to encounter the magic and enchantment that Roger Zelanzy weaves into all his books.
Rating:
Summary: Imaginative
Review: A man wakes up in a hospital bed not knowing who he is. That's how it starts, and then the reader is off on a truly imaginative
adventure involving sword fights, battling armies, monsters, the real Earth and possibly an infinite number of false ones, the real King and a pretender, a city under the sea...and it just goes on and on and on. A nifty little novel, even though it's over 30 years old (which is why, before the days of PC, everyone smokes on nearly every page). Even though it's not up to the level of Zelazny's classis _Lord of Light,_ this is still an engrossing book, which nearly everyone will enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to a new universe
Review: Beginning as some other Zelazny books, the main character comes to and realizes all is not well (in a similar manner does Coils begin). He has amnesia and is drugged and stuck in some strange place. Effecting a quick escape, he tracks down a familiar name and encounters a few memory-jogging relatives. From there begins quite an odyssey, the five book series known as the First Chronicle of Amber. These five books tell a grand story of the grand conflict within an ancient kingdom ruled by demi-godlike individuals. Corwin, the narrator and protagonist, is one of these ruling individuals. He is one of the Nine Princes in the book's title, and he is a leading contender for the succession. His brother Eric, however, has his own designs. Corwin works to recover his memory and is embroiled in a conflict for the throne of Amber. There are many mystical aspects to the realm of Amber and the royal family. And considering how darn many there are, he does a great job of personifying them all. Told in the first person, Zelazny of old did a wonderful writing job in this novel. Excellent exposition, great fight scenes, good atmosphere, wonderful descriptions. Easily among the top notch of his novels. The ending is not as grim as the action right after the climax, which is a good respite. Suffice to say that Zelazny does not always leave the heroes to be the grand saviors with all enemies falling before them.
Rating:
Summary: Intoduction to Amber
Review: While I was reading and posting messages in Amazon's old Fantasy & Sci-fi Board, I've crossed several threads discussing The Amber's Saga. With this appetizer I was ready to start catching up with the Saga, but they were ten volumes to pursue. So I postpone the project for future examination. Then I saw The Great Book of Amber containing the whole Saga, and couldn't resist the temptation.
So I proceed to read and enjoy each story. Now I'll review them one by one.
Nine Princes in Amber is a very good introduction to the whole Saga. Corwin awakes with total amnesia. He, and the reader, start a discovery trip from our everyday world to an infinite wide and mysterious Universe. Clues and glimpses are unveiled step by step keeping the reader hooked and wondering what's next.
The bases of the present and future conflicts are shown: the Royal family of Amber, their loves and hatreds, the competition, alliances and treasons among them; Amber is the real world and the rest, including our Earth, are shadow worlds partially reflecting the glory of Amber (a very Platonic construction by the way).
Zelazny writes with unusual wit, following a stile resembling the old Arcturian Chronicles, presenting interlacing stories within the main body of the novel.
Rich, visual, poetic and ... full of action. An enjoyable first step.
Rating:
Summary: A great beginning to a great saga
Review: I started reading Zelazny's Saga of Amber five or six years ago. I never finished the series (i only got about half way through), but it was something I knew I'd pick up at a later date and read (and now I've purchased the Great Book of Amber, which contains all ten books in the saga, and I'm currently reading it). Zelazny published the first book, Nine Princes in Amber, in 1970. And it turned out to be not only well written, but one of the most original ideas in the world of fantasy (like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon series, Jordan's The Wheel of Time, Weiss & Hickman's collaborations, the Dark Elf books of R.A. Salvatore, and so on). The book deals with a family fighting for control of the known world, Amber, and all other worlds, which are 'shadows' of Amber. The reader visits many different worlds, we get swordplay, intrigue, and a cast of great characters. And Zelazny writes in the first person, told from one the brothers, Corwin. But in the beginning, Corwin has amnesia, and doesn't know who he is, or the story of his family. It makes for a great voice and helps keep the reader in a state of suspense and 'knowledgable' confusion, that isn't seen elsewhere in the series, or in many other books. The chronicles of Amber is a highly original, well written series, and Nine Princes of Amber is the best of them.
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