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lucardus's review
3.0
Insgesamt nur 3 Sterne, vielleicht einfach zu viel des Guten. Eine Intrige zwischen Familienmitgliedern über 5 Bände, der letzte Band "Courts of Chaos" war zäh und brachte nicht viel Neues ins Spiel, was nicht schon 4 Bände lang in Variationen beschrieben worden ist. Das dies ein Fantasy Masterwork ist, gibt mir zu denken, wenn ich an gradiose Dreiteiler wie Vance's "Lyonesse" denke, die nicht im mindesten zäh waren und voller Witz und Ideen. Die Chroniken von Amber erscheinen hingegen aufgebläht, ohne wirkliche Charaktertiefe und drehen sich um Weltenuntergang und Erschaffung ohne dass ich mir je darüber Sorgen gemacht habe, wer nun stirbt oder ob überhaupt, denn die Hauptprotagonisten sind nun mal beinah wie Götter. Trotz aller Kritik und Enttäuschung gibt es genug positives, um bis zum Ende gelesen haben, wenn auch mit einem deutlich schwachen 5. Band, der nicht viel zu erzählen hat.
sevve's review against another edition
4.0
Długo zastanawiałem się jak ocenić tę książkę. Nie będę ukrywał - w wielu kwestiach zawodzi, ale mimo wszystko bardzo mnie urzekła. Nie czytałem zbyt wiele klasycznej literatury fantasy - dopiero nadrabiam tu braki - więc ciężko mi jest bezpośrednio skontrastować styl Zelaznego do innych klasyków, ale jest to coś zupełnie innego, niż to do czego przyzwyczaja współczesne fantasy. Mi osobiście się to bardzo podoba, ale uważam, że wiele osób boleśnie się od tego odbije.
Jest trochę opisowo, ale to raczej żadnego czytelnika fantasy nie zbije z tropu. To co mam na myśli, to przede wszystkim to, jak Zelazny prowadzi dialogi. Postaci bardzo dużo ze sobą rozmawiają. Nie zawsze są to rozmowy potrzebne. Wręcz przeciwnie - często gadają od rzeczy, wymieniają się informacjami, spostrzeżeniami, opiniami, czy teoriami. Często bardzo błędnymi, albo celowo wprowadzają naszego bohatera (i zarazem nas) w błąd. Jest to główny sposób w jaki poznajemy bohaterów tej serii i jednocześnie główny sposób narracji. W jednym z tomów spędzamy w zasadzie dobre 1/3 tomu w jednym pomieszczeniu z grupą postaci. która przerzuca się argumentami. Czy jest to to zaleta, czy wada, to już zostawiam do subiektywnej oceny, ale dla mnie ta narracja była bardzo angażująca. Zelazny stworzył dosyć zagmatwaną fabułę z wieloma aktorami, rzucił kilka wskazówek, ale razem z nimi równie dużo błędnych tropów. Momentami czyta się to trochę jak kryminał (a przynajmniej tak sobie kryminały wyobrażam, bo nie jestem czytelnikiem tego gatunku :D). Bardzo unikatowy styl.
Mam wrażenie, że w dzisiejszym fantasy bardzo dużo tego dialogowego "filleru" się wycina. Jeśli coś nie buduje świata, nie popycha fabuły do przodu, albo nie ma jakiegoś konkretnego zastosowania, to prawdopodobnie zostanie wycięte. Najczęściej są to dialogi. A ja bardzo lubię dialogi :). Z tego powodu, np. moim ulubionym tomem sagi Wiedźmina jest Chrzest Ognia, co jest chyba bardzo kontrowersyjną opinią. Dajcie mi parę postaci rozmawiających ze sobą wokół ogniska i pewnie będę zadowolony. Oczywiście jest wiele innych aspektów Kronik Amberu, które wypadałoby omówić, na dobre i na złe, ale cały ten mój wywód to jest to co z tej książki zapamiętam i będzie ją dla mnie definiowało.
Jest trochę opisowo, ale to raczej żadnego czytelnika fantasy nie zbije z tropu. To co mam na myśli, to przede wszystkim to, jak Zelazny prowadzi dialogi. Postaci bardzo dużo ze sobą rozmawiają. Nie zawsze są to rozmowy potrzebne. Wręcz przeciwnie - często gadają od rzeczy, wymieniają się informacjami, spostrzeżeniami, opiniami, czy teoriami. Często bardzo błędnymi, albo celowo wprowadzają naszego bohatera (i zarazem nas) w błąd. Jest to główny sposób w jaki poznajemy bohaterów tej serii i jednocześnie główny sposób narracji. W jednym z tomów spędzamy w zasadzie dobre 1/3 tomu w jednym pomieszczeniu z grupą postaci. która przerzuca się argumentami. Czy jest to to zaleta, czy wada, to już zostawiam do subiektywnej oceny, ale dla mnie ta narracja była bardzo angażująca. Zelazny stworzył dosyć zagmatwaną fabułę z wieloma aktorami, rzucił kilka wskazówek, ale razem z nimi równie dużo błędnych tropów. Momentami czyta się to trochę jak kryminał (a przynajmniej tak sobie kryminały wyobrażam, bo nie jestem czytelnikiem tego gatunku :D). Bardzo unikatowy styl.
Mam wrażenie, że w dzisiejszym fantasy bardzo dużo tego dialogowego "filleru" się wycina. Jeśli coś nie buduje świata, nie popycha fabuły do przodu, albo nie ma jakiegoś konkretnego zastosowania, to prawdopodobnie zostanie wycięte. Najczęściej są to dialogi. A ja bardzo lubię dialogi :). Z tego powodu, np. moim ulubionym tomem sagi Wiedźmina jest Chrzest Ognia, co jest chyba bardzo kontrowersyjną opinią. Dajcie mi parę postaci rozmawiających ze sobą wokół ogniska i pewnie będę zadowolony. Oczywiście jest wiele innych aspektów Kronik Amberu, które wypadałoby omówić, na dobre i na złe, ale cały ten mój wywód to jest to co z tej książki zapamiętam i będzie ją dla mnie definiowało.
pandoozled14's review against another edition
2.0
I really liked the first book, but after they started playing around with guns , my interest was rapidly gone.
charlieswrittenadventures's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
3.0
Review of Nine Princes in Amber
This is a tough book to summarize. Let’s just say that Mr. Corey wakes up with amnesia after a nasty car crash and sets out to recover his memory and then to take back what he sees as his.
Starting this was a leap of faith. Corey tells the story and since he doesn’t know anything about what’s going on, neither do we. He’s confused, we’re confused, and I for one was left wondering if it was worth the effort to continue on. Luckily, I decided that since I’d heard so many good things about this author and since the book was only about 150 pages, I really had nothing to lose and possibly a lot to gain. Once I got going with the story and started getting tantalizing pieces about the story behind the story, I was hooked. Even after finishing, I have some questions, but I know that this series has to be worth the ride.
I love Zelazny’s writing. He has a unique voice and some of his descriptions were incredibly original. Of course I didn’t do anything useful like mark them, but here’s one I did find again: “his skin was as porous as an orange rind and the elements had darkened it to resemble a fine old piece of furniture.” Can’t you just picture this guy’s skin?
As much as I liked it, there were a couple of things I didn’t care for. There’s a big old deus ex machina at the end. (Here’s hoping I got hold of the correct phrase) Maybe it will tie in later, but right now it just felt like an easy way out after he had painted himself into a corner.
This isn’t really anything to do with the story, but my copy is chock-full of typos. It’s easy enough to figure out what Zelazny meant most of the time, but there were a few instances where the sentence could work in a couple of different ways. There was at least one time when a few sentences were repeated for no reason. It got really distracting.
I’m going to give this three stars, mostly because of what I just mentioned and because I still have lots of questions about what exactly is going on. I’ll definitely be continuing the series, and who knows? I might bump my rating up later.
The Guns of Avalon
I don't have too much more to add except that the typos were better in this section and I'm hugely surprised that one story arc wrapped up as quickly as it did. I'm glad we got to see a few more members of the family. I really didn't see the big twist coming. It's still three stars and I'll still keep on reading.
This is a tough book to summarize. Let’s just say that Mr. Corey wakes up with amnesia after a nasty car crash and sets out to recover his memory and then to take back what he sees as his.
Starting this was a leap of faith. Corey tells the story and since he doesn’t know anything about what’s going on, neither do we. He’s confused, we’re confused, and I for one was left wondering if it was worth the effort to continue on. Luckily, I decided that since I’d heard so many good things about this author and since the book was only about 150 pages, I really had nothing to lose and possibly a lot to gain. Once I got going with the story and started getting tantalizing pieces about the story behind the story, I was hooked. Even after finishing, I have some questions, but I know that this series has to be worth the ride.
I love Zelazny’s writing. He has a unique voice and some of his descriptions were incredibly original. Of course I didn’t do anything useful like mark them, but here’s one I did find again: “his skin was as porous as an orange rind and the elements had darkened it to resemble a fine old piece of furniture.” Can’t you just picture this guy’s skin?
As much as I liked it, there were a couple of things I didn’t care for. There’s a big old deus ex machina at the end. (Here’s hoping I got hold of the correct phrase) Maybe it will tie in later, but right now it just felt like an easy way out after he had painted himself into a corner.
This isn’t really anything to do with the story, but my copy is chock-full of typos. It’s easy enough to figure out what Zelazny meant most of the time, but there were a few instances where the sentence could work in a couple of different ways. There was at least one time when a few sentences were repeated for no reason. It got really distracting.
I’m going to give this three stars, mostly because of what I just mentioned and because I still have lots of questions about what exactly is going on. I’ll definitely be continuing the series, and who knows? I might bump my rating up later.
The Guns of Avalon
I don't have too much more to add except that the typos were better in this section and I'm hugely surprised that one story arc wrapped up as quickly as it did. I'm glad we got to see a few more members of the family. I really didn't see the big twist coming. It's still three stars and I'll still keep on reading.
fae713's review
Got distracted by new releases on Kindle and never made it back to the paper copy of this series.
sewa90's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
dantastic's review against another edition
5.0
Nine Princes in Amber: Mr. Corey wakes up in a hospital after a car accident with no memory of who he is. After visiting his sister (and fooling her into thinking he still has his memory), he crosses dimensions with his brother Random and eventually regains his memory after walking the Pattern in the city of Rebma, the sister city of Amber. From there, he joins up with his brother Bleys and attacks Amber, intent on stopping his brother Eric from crowning himself king.
Nine Princes in Amber is really good, especially considering all of the background Zelazny manages to cram into less than 150 pages. The twists are unexpected and the machinations of the nine princes of Amber are fairly reallistic. Although I can tell it was inspired by the first book of the World of Tiers series, it's far from being a ripoff. Zelazny started with Farmer's concept of an amnesiac hero who's a member of a group of nigh-immortal lords and taken it into a different direction. I'm looking forward to Guns of Avalon.
Guns of Avalon:Corwin hatches a plan to take Amber with a force bearing automatic rifles along with Ganelon, an old enemy. Along the way he spends time with his brother Benedict and Benedict's great granddaughter Dara. However, he isn't the only one assaulting Amber...
Guns of Avalon was even better than Nine Princes in Amber. I'm really enjoying the court intrigue between Corwin and his siblings. I didn't really see the ending coming until it was too late. Zelazny really knows how to craft a tale.
Sign of the Unicorn: Another of Corwin's family is murdered, Brand is rescued, and more of what actually happened to Corwin prior to the first book is revealed.
The Amber books probably wouldn't work as well if Zelazny hadn't written them in the first person. The way they are, we learn things as Corwin does. The machinations of Corwin's family are the driving force of the story and we get to watch as Corwin peels away lair after lair.
The Hand of Oberon: I'm officially past the point where I can give a synopsis and not give away too many plot points. Suffice to say, Zelazny is quite a story teller and I'm approaching the final novel in this volume with a sense of anticipation I haven't felt since the last volume of The Dark Tower wound up in my mailbox years ago.
The Courts of Chaos: Who stabbed Corwin in the dark? Will Amber be destroyed by the forces of Chaos? Can the Pattern be repaired? Who will sit on the throne of Amber? All of these questions and more are answered in this, the final book of The First Chronicles of Amber.
Zelazny took the aspects of Farmer's World of Tiers he liked the most, namely the immortal family endlessly conspiring against one another and the amnesiac hero, and ran with it. Amber isn't so much a fantasy story as a huge multi-layered mystery. I thought I knew how it would end but I was wrong. I'm officially ranking Amber up there with Moorcock's Elric series (the first six or so) and Stephen King's Dark Tower as my favorite fantasy stories of all time.
Nine Princes in Amber is really good, especially considering all of the background Zelazny manages to cram into less than 150 pages. The twists are unexpected and the machinations of the nine princes of Amber are fairly reallistic. Although I can tell it was inspired by the first book of the World of Tiers series, it's far from being a ripoff. Zelazny started with Farmer's concept of an amnesiac hero who's a member of a group of nigh-immortal lords and taken it into a different direction. I'm looking forward to Guns of Avalon.
Guns of Avalon:Corwin hatches a plan to take Amber with a force bearing automatic rifles along with Ganelon, an old enemy. Along the way he spends time with his brother Benedict and Benedict's great granddaughter Dara. However, he isn't the only one assaulting Amber...
Guns of Avalon was even better than Nine Princes in Amber. I'm really enjoying the court intrigue between Corwin and his siblings. I didn't really see the ending coming until it was too late. Zelazny really knows how to craft a tale.
Sign of the Unicorn: Another of Corwin's family is murdered, Brand is rescued, and more of what actually happened to Corwin prior to the first book is revealed.
The Amber books probably wouldn't work as well if Zelazny hadn't written them in the first person. The way they are, we learn things as Corwin does. The machinations of Corwin's family are the driving force of the story and we get to watch as Corwin peels away lair after lair.
The Hand of Oberon: I'm officially past the point where I can give a synopsis and not give away too many plot points. Suffice to say, Zelazny is quite a story teller and I'm approaching the final novel in this volume with a sense of anticipation I haven't felt since the last volume of The Dark Tower wound up in my mailbox years ago.
The Courts of Chaos: Who stabbed Corwin in the dark? Will Amber be destroyed by the forces of Chaos? Can the Pattern be repaired? Who will sit on the throne of Amber? All of these questions and more are answered in this, the final book of The First Chronicles of Amber.
Zelazny took the aspects of Farmer's World of Tiers he liked the most, namely the immortal family endlessly conspiring against one another and the amnesiac hero, and ran with it. Amber isn't so much a fantasy story as a huge multi-layered mystery. I thought I knew how it would end but I was wrong. I'm officially ranking Amber up there with Moorcock's Elric series (the first six or so) and Stephen King's Dark Tower as my favorite fantasy stories of all time.
minn3h's review
4.0
Zelazny chooses words with exceptional skill, unfortunately his plotting and character development cannot quite keep up with that high bar he sets for himself.
leslierholm's review
5.0
4th or 5th reading, at least. Probably my favorite Zelazny and definitely his opus. It is different from most every fantasy novel I've read. There are no fair maidens, no dragons per se, and I cannot describe the world setting without giving away huge spoilers. If you are looking for something different, this is it.