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Corwin -the main character- is faced with an extremely hard task. He regains consciousness in an unfamiliar room. He doesn't know where he is, how he got there, or even who he is.
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| ..... After escaping from what turned out to be a private hospital he begins his quest. Gradually, and careful not to expose his lack of information, he meets different people who seem to know him. With great skill and an enormous amount of luck he manages to hide his memory problems and from the people that he meets, he learns who he is and what happened to him to bring him to the hospital. He practically experiences rebirth, he learns from the mistakes of his "previous" life and attempts to fix everything that went wrong in his absence. The book is packed with conflicts. However probably the hardest one is competing with his family for various powerful objects. In particular his step-brother, Prince Eric who does his best to prevent Corwin from going through a super powerful Labyrinth that according to Random, Corwin's brother and only ally, should restore his remaining memory gaps. | |||
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.....
It is almost impossible to describe the setting of this story, mainly because
it changes constantly. There seems to be an unlimited number of different
realms, that Corwin along with his royal relatives
is able to change at will. He doesn't only get to travel different cities
and countries, but different worlds and universes in whole. But since I
have to describe at least one setting, I guess I would choose Amberville,
the home reality to Corwin and most of his
relatives. Amber was created by a
rebellious
Oberon and a magician Dworkin
who both escaped from Chaos - the ultimate
beginning of all things. According to the book, Amber
is a most breathtaking place which radiates enormous magical powers and
fuels most of the magical devices and powers used by the characters in
the story, even if they were a thousand realities away. Amber
is almost constantly under attack by the creatures of Chaos,
that want to subdue this new rebellious super reality. Although there is only ONE Amber, it's not totally unique, each reality possesses its own reflection of Amberville, and some are more like it then the others. Amber in a sense is also a reflection, a reflection of Chaos. But since Amber was ultimately the first reality reflection ever, it became just as powerful, but a complete opposite counter part of Chaos in the nature of its force. Between them there are all kinds of different sub reflections / sub realities of each. All of the realms are more like one side of power then the other (Amber or Chaos), except for the boundary line which is relative and doesn't belong to any reality. Crossing the boundary either way means to be overpowered by the side that you end up on. |
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| .....The
book is a nonstop high speed roller coaster with surprises and excitement
behind each and every corner. Choosing the most existing moment would be
just as hard as choosing the setting; but since I have to choose SOMETHING,
I would make it the part when Corwin walks
the magical Labyrinth for the first time after
his "resurrection". As I mentioned earlier Corwin
had to cross that Labyrinth in order to regain
some of the powers that he didn't already regain, and also to fix some
memory gaps that he had left remaining. There isn't anything else special
about it but the way that author described it. If a reader has a good imagination,
this episode may become a breathtaking view. The description draws a picture
of each and every step that Corwin takes,
each turn he makes, and each test he encounters. .....Since it's not an ordinary Labyrinth but a one of magic and mental barriers, every single move is a test of its own, and crucial to the walkers survival. And in the end of the Labyrinth - a precious reward, a doorway to anywhere in any world or universe, Corwin uses that reward to visit the castle of Amberville for the first time after his rehabilitation. |
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| .....Was
the ending satisfying? Hell no. After finishing the "Nine
Princes of Amber" I went on to the next book in the series
"Chronicles of Amber". I read most
of them. I stayed with the story up to the point of Corwin's
final leave, from there on a new story begins with Corwin's
son - Merlin - as the hero. He was
a product of a one day encounter of Corwin and
Dara - daughter of Chaos.
I stopped reading because I found his quest extremely boring, but before
that, straight from the beginning to the very end, the tale was a nonstop
thrill ride. Filled with mean beasts, magic powers, love, friendship, betrayals,
deaths, beautiful scenery and nonstop sword fights.
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The Amber books series:
The First Chronicles of Amber: (Corwin)
- Nine Princes in Amber (1970)
- The Guns of Avalon (1972)
- Sign of the Unicorn (1975)
- The Hand of Oberon (1976)
- The Courts of Chaos (1978)
The Second Chronicles of Amber: (Merlin)
- Trumps of Doom (1985)
- Blood of Amber (1986)
- Sign of Chaos (1987)
- Knight of Shadows (1989)
- Prince of Chaos (1991)
I recently found a rather convenient way of getting all of these timeless works in a single purchase: fight spam
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