peapod_boston's review against another edition
3.0
Continuing my late night Zelazny re-reads, I've started the second Amber series. I haven't read these since I was a teenager, and I was curious if they held up. The tone is radically different from the first Amber. Where they had a mythic undertone, this is much more direct. There is no mystery to Amber anymore, and even Chaos holds few secrets. Instead, the puzzle is the complex world of lies, betrayal, and magic that Merlin suddenly wakes up to after a blissful youth on Shadow Earth.
Not as engaging as the first books, they retain a breezy pleasure that makes them good light reading.
Not as engaging as the first books, they retain a breezy pleasure that makes them good light reading.
titusfortner's review
4.0
I'm enjoying this mystery more than the one in the first cycle. So far I'm enjoying the protagonist more as well.
cheezvshcrvst's review
5.0
Fun, compelling, and much better written than Nine Princes. It's difficult to rate these books individually, so I go about basing my opinions of each on how enjoyable of a read they are. Nothing in this novel is out of place and the exposition doesn't bog down the narrative at all and Merlin is a very solidly conceived character. I'm glad I decided to re-read these books.
gugge's review
3.0
Too many questions left at the end of the book. It's too early to know whether the second 5 books of the Amber Chronicles will be as mind-blowing as the first 5.
emilyanne29's review
4.0
I don't know why it took me a while to realize it was about merlin. I think I must have missed something. I enjoyed corwin's narration/story more but this was still good once I caught on to what was happening.
dukegiesbrecht's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
abhrasach's review against another edition
Great in audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton.
evanbernstein's review against another edition
3.0
I'm still not really sure how I feel about this whole series or Zelazny's writing. Things never feel quite flushed out and you always know that someone hasn't told you everything they know leaving you and the main character in the dark for no good reason. It always feels like contrived suspense. Also, I don't know how these were published as single books, the omnibus makes more sense since no book really has an ending except books 5 & 10.
I'll read this series more slowly over the year, between other books (except that I picked up the sequel because I was sick)
I'll read this series more slowly over the year, between other books (except that I picked up the sequel because I was sick)