Nine Princes in Amber (Mass Market Paperback)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Avon Books (1972)
• ASIN: B000GRKLQU
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #546,482 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crazy, Complex, and Well Worth the Time, April 25, 2009

By	C. E. Bergan - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A man wakes up alone in a hospital with no recollection of who he is or why he is there. He learns that he has survived a car crash and no one can explain why his terrible injuries are already healed. And things start getting weirder from there.

This is the first book in Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. Each book is short, but bursting to the seams with character development, plot twists, and top of the line narration. Each book is totally absorbing and compelling, and you are never quite sure who you can trust today. This brings the fight for succession to the throne to an epic level, and the way Zelazny crafts magic in his universe is fascinating.

Remember - every city is a reflection of Amber.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Prince without Memory., June 5, 2008

By	Maximiliano F Yofre "Maxi" (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

While I was reading and posting messages in old Amazon's Fantasy & Sci-fi Board, I've crossed several threads discussing The Amber's Saga. With this appetizer I was ready to start catching up with the Saga, but they were ten volumes to pursue. So I postpone the project for future examination. Then I saw The Great Book of Amber containing the whole Saga, and couldn't resist the temptation.

So I proceed to read and enjoy each story and I will review them one by one.
Nine Princes in Amber is a very good introduction to the whole Saga.
Corwin awakes with total amnesia. He, and the reader, start a discovery trip from our everyday world to an infinite wide and mysterious Universe. Clues and glimpses are unveiled step by step keeping the reader hooked and wondering what's next.

The bases of the present and future conflicts are shown: the Royal family of Amber, their loves and hatreds, the competition, alliances and treasons among them; Amber is the real world and the rest, including our Earth, as shadow worlds partially reflecting the glory of Amber (a very Platonic construction by the way).

Zelazny writes with unusual wit, following a stile resembling the old Arcturian Chronicles, presenting interlacing stories within the main body of the novel.

Rich, visual, poetic and ... full of action.
It is a very enjoyable first step!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

4.0 out of 5 stars A fly in amber, June 29, 2009

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Don't you just hate it when you wake up from a coma and discover that your scheming, murderous siblings are trying to bump you off? That's the problem Corwin has at the start of Robert Zelazny's "Nine Princes in Amber," the tightly-written opener of his ten book Amber series. It's a lean, noir-influenced fantasy tale, and its main problem is that it unexpectedly stops.

A man wakes up in a hospital and strong-arms his way out -- he doesn't know who he is or where he came from. But then he finds a woman, Flora, who says she's his sister, and the reluctant amnesiac starts to piece together his past -- his name is Corwin, he has several siblings (most of whom he has a not-so-pleasant relationship with). And the word "Amber" -- it brings something to mind, but he can't quite remember what.

Corwin gets a bit of help from his brother Random, after he saves Random from a bunch of Shadow creatures. Their cruel elder brother Eric is crowning himself king of Amber after the disappearance of their father, but all the siblings are catfighting for the throne and the power of the one true world of Amber. Corwin and a few of his allied brothers band together with their armies and navies, determined to stop Eric -- but with disastrous results.

The Amber series is more like two long novels than ten short ones, and the big blinking "To Be Continued" at the end of "Nine Princes in Amber" is proof enough of that. It doesn't finish the story, but just stops. Even though that's frustrating, it stops in a fairly satisfying place -- there's no cliffhanger, just the question of what Corwin will do next in his quest against his treacherous brother and his other siblings. And how, of course.

Zelazny is known for having spare, snappy writing. And he's in peak form in "Nine Princes." His descriptions are minimalist, but very vivid (someone's weathered skin is "porous as an orange rind"), and his dialogue is sharp and to the point with nary a wasted word. And he has a good handle on his fantasy world, whipping up mind-bending idea like the Pattern, green-haired merwomen, magical Trump cards, strange shadow-horses and vaguely-human beasts.

Corwin himself is a sort of action-Bogart character -- very tough, seasoned and cynical, but with a mushy core somewhere in there. He's a pretty nice guy, considering his Machievellian family. Most of the characters aren't explored fully, except the Flora, who isn't very bright, and Random, who wants desperately to prove himself. But with all these schemes and secret motives, they all promise more depth in future.

"Nine Princes in Amber" does just what the start of a series should do -- it draws you in and makes you desperate to know what's ahead. Solid, creative family-feud fantasy.