Nine Princes in Amber

This one's a bit odd. There is some great epic story woven in it but it's buried under poor story telling and decent characterization.

I liked Corwin but the whole amnesia thing was ridiculous. Not knowing who he is, he bluffed his way half way through this book with some insanely high stakes - his own life. It was done to explain how the world works as it's usual for characters with amnesia. But couldn't it be the other way around somehow? Like he would pretend he has amnesia but he really remembers everything? Or something like that.

Then there are the vague shadows and magic system which make little sense. Basically stuff is possible or impossible based on plot requirements. There are deus ex machinas as well.

I'm reading SF Masterworks edition and there were quite a few typos in the book which is odd since the book is more than 50 years old. You'd think they would've fixed it by now. There were letters missing or words contained typos. Once there were two sentences that repeated themselves with unique third sentence following. As if the draft wasn't edited and author forgot to cross one out. I don't know. So weird to see them in a modern printing of such old story.

But despite that I was intrigued enough to continue in hopes that this series will improve. This book is short enough that I'm willing to invest more of my reading time to this series.

Characters were interesting, this family drama upon which fate of the universe potentially lies. All of the characters are flawed in some way though I don't fully understand why everyone is suppose to dislike Random. Corwin makes for a good flawed, charming and selfish protagonist and given what he's against and his found love of humanity it's easy to sympathize with him.

If this book was aimed at 13yo kids in the 70's then it had fulfilled its purpose well but for today's standards it's out of date. Especially for adults. Which leaves me wondering if it's the 60 and 70 year olds of today that still sing praises for this series because they grew up with it. I can't fathom anyone giving this more than 3* unless it's out of nostalgia.

Originally Posted at FanLit.

???I???d get what I needed and take what I wanted and I???d remember those who helped me and step on the rest. For this, I knew, was the law by which our family lived, and I was a true son of my father.???

When Corwin wakes up in a private hospital after driving his car over a cliff, he has no idea who he is. When he realizes that he has healed too fast and that he???s being drugged so he???ll stay unconscious, he decides that he better find out what???s going on.
The truth is strange: Corwin is one of the nine princes of Amber, the one true world, but for centuries he???s been exiled in the Shadowland we call Earth. The accident has actually dislodged the spell that his brother Eric was using to keep him out of Amber because Corwin is the biggest threat to Eric???s sovereignty there.

Nine Princes in Amber is the first (rather short) installment in a long epic that describes, from Corwin???s perspective and later his son???s, the struggle of his family to deal with both their internal treacheries and the evil forces that assail them from the forces of Chaos. In Nine Princes in Amber, Corwin must figure out who he is, assess his resources, gather some allies, wonder whether his father is dead or alive, and make a move on the throne of Amber. Here we learn what Corwin has been doing for centuries on Earth, meet several of his siblings, discover the way in and out of Amber, meet a race of people who live under the sea, and discover some of the special powers of Corwin???s family.

Ah??? Corwin???s family??? if you can call them a ???family.??? Corwin???s own description for them is ???Machiavellian,??? and that about covers it. Corwin and his brothers and sisters are clever, sophisticated, sarcastic, and extremely ambitious. They constantly scheme and plot to outmaneuver each other as they vie for political power. If you knew these people in real life, you???d probably hate them, but in Zelazny???s hands they???re kind of charming. These are people who plan to live forever, have the ability to design their own worlds to plunder, are incapable of trust, and have no reason to think about anyone other than themselves. In the end, Corwin rages against his brother and makes a rash decision that will negatively affect Amber???s future.

THE CHRONICLES OF AMBER was highly imaginative when it was published in the 1970s and it remains fresh and original today. The magic system is creative, Zelazny???s writing style is solid, the story is fast-paced, exciting, and mature. Plot twists and cliffhangers make it hard to stop reading. You???ll definitely want to have The Guns of Avalon, the second book in the series, ready to go as soon as you finish Nine Princes in Amber.

Nine Princes in Amber is a re-read for me because Audible Frontiers has recently produced THE CHRONICLES OF AMBER on audio ??? something I have been waiting years for. They???ve chosen one of their best narrators for Zelazny???s most famous work: Alessandro Juliani. He???s got the perfect voice and style to play Corwin, so I???m really pleased with this production. If you???re an audio reader, you???ll definitely want to download this classic!

The story starts with the protagonist Corwin in a hospital bed and without any memories. He had suffered an car accident and although he could not remember anything, he knew that he had to get out of there.

Not wanting to betray his condition, lest others try to lie him, he bluffs his way throughout the book until he can find out who to trust. As he finds his sister, a thought comes to his mind: he may not know recollect much, but he is certain of one thing: never trust anyone, specially if they are your kin.

He begins to suspect that his accident may have been a murder attempt, and try to figure it out which brother or sister was responsible, and why. What's so important about him?

I wanted to give this a 4 because it is so rare for me to like something, and this is slightly above average.

This book is a bit light on Fantasy, since it mostly passes on our contemporary world.