Chronicles of Amber
So I finished The Chronicles of Amber, what, a few weeks ago, but have been waiting for my brain to decide what I think of the whole thing (also, been sick, of course, which hasn't helped, but still...)
Well, I really liked Corwin's Saga, with Guns of Avalon probably my favorite of the lot ( Lots more on that, and why (Spoilers for all 10 books from here on) )
Well, I really liked Corwin's Saga, with Guns of Avalon probably my favorite of the lot ( Lots more on that, and why (Spoilers for all 10 books from here on) )
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Wow, dude. Nice post. Now I want to go back and reread the books again. Or maybe try some fanfic at last. ;)
I think the opinion is pretty much universal that the first five books were awesome, and the next five books were tedious. Corwin was a fantastic lead character, and probably the best first-person narrator I've ever read. He had a strong voice, a good sense of humor, a nice balance of humble honesty and insufferable egotism, and one hell of a screen presence. Merlin... was generally just annoying. I think the only reason I made it through the last five books was because I was waiting for Random, Julian, or really any of the original nine princes to show up, even for a couple of pages. I agree with you: Random as king was the best thing about the Merlin series.
I agree, too, that Nine Princes in Amber was a pretty bland title. Actually, when the books were first recommended to me, I almost didn't read them because of that title. I figured it'd be some lame fairy-tale about princes on ( ... )
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Corwin was a fantastic lead character, and probably the best first-person narrator I've ever read. He had a strong voice, a good sense of humor, a nice balance of humble honesty and insufferable egotism, and one hell of a screen presence.
I hadn't thought about that until you mentioned it, but first-person narrators seem to be pretty rare in fantasy (maybe something to do with the level of exposition occasionally required, that's difficult to cram into a first-person narrator's mouth?) -- but Corwin is an excellent one. Even plot points I would have likely found boring otherwise (like traversing the Pattern half a dozen times) were greatly enlivened by his unique and engaging voice. Pity his son doesn't seem to have inherited his dramatic flair...
I think the only reason I made it through the last five books was because I was waiting for Random, Julian, or really any of the original nine ( ... )
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Yeah, it'd be tough to introduce readers to an entirely new universe through the eyes of someone who already lives there. But Corwin's amnesia was a decent plot-device for letting him do all the exposition as he remembered it.
I can definitely see why he and Julian would get along so well
Well, you know, the extra clause to Julian's oath about Brand had to do with Caine. "'One one condition,' Julian said. 'If he was not personally responsible for Caine's death, I will go along with it. Otherwise, no. And there would have to be evidence.'" Also this, from Corwin: "'If Julian were looking for a friendship in the form of another personality close to his own, I can see it. They were a lot alike. I tend to think it was real, because I don't think anybody is capable of deceiving someone about his friendship for years. Unless the other party is awfully stupid, which is something Caine was not.'"
There is not any more canon, beyond the 10 books, is there?There's one book ( ... )
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I hadn't thought about Julian being "considerably less than neat and tidy", but am heartened that it's so.
I think I've seen excerpts from the Visual Guide online (along with the Trumps, I think), but read that it was pretty inaccurate about certain minor things like, oh, Bleys not really being dead. Still, I'll try to find it, now that I know it also contains the "Lifestyles of the Amber Rich and Famous" bit.
Yeah, it'd be tough to introduce readers to an entirely new universe through the eyes of someone who already lives there. But Corwin's amnesia was a decent plot-device for letting him do all the exposition as he remembered it.
My thoughts exactly -- it's one of those rare cases where it can work as an organic part of the story without being disruptive or coming across as pedantic.
Well, you know, the extra clause to Julian's oath about Brand had to do with Caine. Yeah. When I first read it, I thought it was just Julian being Julian, and maybe leaving himself an out to finish off Brand, ( ... )
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I didn't even know you had commented in my journal when I replied to this post. I just wandered in here from axmxz's friends page, completely randomly. Then I went to check my email and thought, "Wow, she replied awfully fast." But in fact I was the one doing the replying, without even knowing it. o_O
By all means, friend away!
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And yay for your Boromir icon(s)! (I can watch the "imaginary phone" one for hours, giggling every time)
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Ahh, so many fic possibilities! Maybe now that _grayswandir_ kicked off the fandom, there will be fic and will be discussion and stuff. It got me writing in any case, heh. :)
Eric/Corwin (what *really* happened there) - That always bugged me too! I'm also almost tempted by the idea that there was Deirdre involved... and the man Corwin saw in Tir-na'Nogth with her was not himself but instead Eric! Mmm, that could make for such a delicious angsty (and porny) fic ( ... )
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I remember when I first read the Corwin chronicles in Russian (around 11 years ago, I was only 9 years old), I thought that it had to be the best book ever. [...] The writing itself was so very different to everything I'd read before that, [...] Zelazny just had a very distinct style, even in translation, and the ideas seemed so grand and epic and placed within an incredibly rich scene. Later, as I reread the books while growing up, I started seeing the faults and things that I knew could have been done better, but I think by that time I was so in love with the world of Amber that the little things didn't matter much. A tangent, but I just had to say that your description above is pretty much exactly what happened ( ... )
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Totally with you on the top three (not sure about the order...). Benedict -- he is easier to admire than to simply like, I guess... I'm rather partial to the (latter) Random, too.
Oh Bleys. [...] He's like... I dunno, Han Solo of Amber, or something. He's a bastard, but he's such a lovable bastard - he has a real personality despite the little amount of screentime that he actually gets.
LOL, yes! I was very disappointed that he was missing for the second set of books as well -- because I like the character, but also because he seems like the sort of person to really spice up the narrative (even though he seems to believe in discretion being the better part of valor...)
I am a very very big fan of Caine/Julian as a pairing, but I'm also extremely curious about their relationship as brothers - as buddies as Corwin called them. I wish there was ( ... )
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Was the translation any good, in retrospect? - There are three or four translations that I've come across through the years and the first one that I read was, thankfully, very good. The publisher was "Ассоциация независимых издателей" and the edition was of 1992. This was, in retrospect, the best translation of the Corwin books, because the ones that I saw in later editions, especially in separate editions of ( ... )
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