Rating: 
Summary: If you've never read _Nine Princes in Amber_, I envy you...
Review: ...because you are about to experience something I can never experience again: your first encounter with Roger Zelazny's Amber. Like the first kiss from a lover, it is a moment to savor and treasure; and like a lover's kiss, you will want it again and again. I have read the Amber series at least twice a year for the last ten years, and I never tire of it. Buy them all now, you'll want to devour them all.
Rating:
Summary: enthralling
Review: What can I say? Roger Zelazny is a master at dropping you directly into the story and then refusing to hold your hand as you navigate it. The sense of disorientation that one feels when the book opens is one of the best examples of an author making use of the old writing adage "show, don't tell." Zelazny puts us right in the thick of things with Corwin, and I, for one, have not left his side in the scores of times I have re-read this book. Zelazny was a highly intelligent man, and expects his readers to be so as well. As in many of his other works, the references and asides are numerous and often subtle. The prose is succinct, but beautiful, and Corwin is drawn quite evocatively through it. (Interestingly enough, at times it shares a tone with that of the mystery writer, Raymond Chandler (of Big Sleep and Double Indemnity fame). An added treat to anyone who as ever read both 9 Princes and Chandler's Farewell My Lovely, the "breaking out of the sanitarium" scenes are nearly identical.) This was the first Roger Zelazny work I had ever read, almost 10 years ago, and I was an instant fan. Deliciously involved plot, sparingly, yet suberbly, drawn characterizations, and an intelligence and purity of prose make this work not only one of Zelazny's greatest, but one of the entire genre's as well.
Rating: 
Summary: A completely original idea written very well.
Review: The first book of the Amber series, Nine Princes in Amber instantly grabs the reader and keeps him until the final page. After reading this book, one can't help but get the next book in the series. The idea of our Earth being only one of infinite possibilities of reality is absolutely fascinating. The thought of transporting yourself via Tarot trump cards is insanely fascinating. Anyone who reads this book and hates it isn't a true fantasy fan.
Rating:
Summary: The richest, most wildly-innovative fantasy series ever!
Review: "Nine Princes" ranks with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series as the finest fantasy work around; the first person narration from the standpoint of the brilliant, sensitive, vain and learned Prince Corwin makes for an action-packed "hellride" through literature, full of lyrical fire and poignant insight into the human condition. The intrigues of the shifting cabals of Machiavellian princes for the throne of the True City make for a captivating plot, but it's that sense of wonder about the concept of shifting through Shadow and the mystical appropriateness of the Pattern (what a perfect artistic metaphor for everything from the act of writing itself to the primal need of the human condition to impose some order on the chaos of life!) that truly set this series apart from all others! If you're encountering this book for the first time, I envy you, because you're about to set foot upon the fiery trail of Amber's Pattern itself and you will be changed as well as entertained along the way! Wolfe, in the Book of the New Sun, refers to "The Book of Gold", which, read at the right age, will be a cornerstone of your character and insight into the human condition, one you can reread at different times in your life and garner increased levels of meaning and pleasure from. This is the first installment of the Book of Gold...read it and be enraptured. -John Roberson
Rating:
Summary: The Best! A literary triumph.
Review: What can you say after reading a book, much less a series like that? The rest is silence. It is sad to have lost Roger Zelazny. The series is brilliant, and so vivid and surprising at every turn. Roger Zelazny obtained a degree in Medieval History and it shows it the richness and texture of his writing. The literary skill, the flow and the clarity of the prose and imagery is breathtaking. He takes the medium of science fiction/fantasy, and transforms it into a new higher art form, a creation that is totally unexpected and wonderful, and evolved from all that came before.
Rating:
Summary: The Best in Fantasy!
Review: Amber is the only fantasy rationale that ever made sense. Zelazny handles story, character, plot and ideas with aplomb. Stunningly visual. Best characters ever created for a fantasy series, bar none! Like good jazz, these books read very economically; lean and mean and full of brilliant concepts. Don't miss them!
Rating:
Summary: A Very Complicated Game of Tarot, Corwin admits.
Review: For the last time EVERYONE: "it's = it is" and "its = possessive case ie., the snake shed its skin". TAKE NOTE! Back to Amber: this series possibly one of the best high fantasy novels going, along with Tolkien and others. Complicated, uneven, brilliant, darkly humored and very visual. This author paints with words; I read and reread trying to imagine what these worlds LOOKED like. The descriptions are vivid and the story is ancient yet modern. I love it when characters from other worlds stumble into our society. What the thinking is on both sides. Many ripples here: the moon world, the Pattern, our world, under the sea world, the time streams, etc. YOU NAME IT! The best in all these books is like the best parts of an acid trip crystallized and visualized. You get to read it without any chemical backlash and, you get the best of the worlds Zelazny's keen imagination has to offer! There are a lot of furry creature quest and seeking hidden power books out there and finding a good read gets a bit hard sometimes. Not with these! I give a VERY BIG VOTE for these Amber novels.
Rating:
Summary: If you aren't willing to think, don't bother.
Review: The only problem I have with Amber is that Zelazny sadly turned out to be more mortal than his characters; thus it is open-ended, and consists of a mere 10 all-too-brief novels and a handful of short stories. A great loss for us all, for me even more than that of Asimov and Heinlen. This is possibly my favorite novel series, but I really consider it two related tales (Corwin's Chronicles in the first five books, and Merlin's in the last five). I love this series because it takes on a life of it's own. The first person narration really helps with exploring the universe, and provides us with many opportunities for forming our own opinions of what's going on; just the sort of subjectivity I love. Caveat lector, however: If you aren't willing to ponder while reading and afterward, much of the series will be opaque: Shadow, the machiavellian intrigues, the philosophical points raised, the biased first person narration, etc. PS: Check out the RPG books "Amber Diceless Roleplaying" and "Shadow Knight" by Phage Press for many fascinating discussions on various aspects of the books, particularly the characters. Yes, even if you have no interest in roleplaying.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a REAL WORLD!!!
Review: Amber was like a shock to me-I have never read anything more...truthful, more real in it's incredibility than this sci-fi!!! You feel like you live in it and you don't want to get back to this ordinary world! Read it!!!
Rating:
Summary: This book rules!!!!!
Review: This book rules because only recently I have started to read the Amber series. It was what all those other books I read didn't have. It tied in sci-fi and so well, I felt that Earth really was a Shadow.It really was an enjoyable book, and I hope that you will consider reading it. P.S. Corwin is so cute!
|
