The Chronicles of Amber

Roger Zelazny

1979

This is a part of the Fantasy Masterworks series.


This is a fixup of the original five books of Amber. In tone they are what I would call 'Science Fantasy' though many reviewers see it purely as Fantasy. My take on this is that in the first book of the series travelling between realities is described as a method of adding and subtracting items and even physical rules from the observer's point of view. This is generally done in a fairly orderly fashion though there is a faster way of doing things, otherwise known as a 'Hell Ride'. In both cases, the main thing is to maintain some form of momentum. The fantasy element is introduced in the structure of the Court of Amber - strictly feudal, with the siblings feuding for the right to be king.

In the English edition, the books included in this collection are:

  • 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 American edition includes the exploits of Corwin's son, Merlin. In my opinion these are purer fantasy and not so good.

    Those stories are: