Customer Reviews

Nine Princes In Amber

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Nine Princes in Amber is the first of the original five books in the Amber series. I have reread this series several times and each time it recaptures my imagination like few stories ever have. The unique nature of the universe Zelazny created, the twisting plots, the engaging noir/fantasy characters and the sweeping scope are guaranteed to impress any fan of fantasy or Sci-Fi.

You will come to know the members of the royal family of Amber in great detail and you will love and hate them. The story will keep you guessing and the action is well paced. Zelazny is a tight writer and keeps things moving.

These days I hear the Amber series described as a ten book series. This isn't accurate, it is composed of two five book series and the less said about the later five books the better. The first five books dealing with Corwin are a complete story that simply must be read.

You owe it to yourself to read the five books of the original Amber series.

Every series has to start somewhere, but I doubt that Roger Zelazny anticipated that the Amber series would run to 10 volumes when he sent Nine Princes In Amber to print. But for us readers, it was clear that Zelazny's story of Amber, the reality that lies behind all the phantom worlds we inhabit, had something special in the way of plot, concept, and characters. Examined carefully, there is nothing here that is deafeningly original but, as usual, Zelazny's magic is in taking a fresh look at the possibilities and making the result fascinating to the reader.

Corwin is a typical Zelazny main character. Long lived (possibly eternal), provided with special powers, and a wry outlook that keeps the drama from becoming maudlin. Corwin awakes in a hospital with almost no clue of his identity, spends the first half of the book working out the details of his identity, and the second half trying to get even. He is a prince one of an almost countless number of Oberon's children who have a penchant for plotting, backstabbing, and power plays. With Oberon gone missing, brother Eric has moved on the throne and after 400 years of exile Corwin feels compelled to become the opposition.

Zelazny has an instinctive feel for the dynamics of a story based on the ability to navigate, and perhaps create unreal worlds by 'remembering' where you want to be, step by step. The effects on character attitudes and activities like war waging is significant, and Zelazny avoids the feel of magic spell work, instead treating what Oberon's children can do as just another talent, for all its fantastic nature. In fact, one of Zelazny's traits is his matter of fact approach to what most of us would consider miracle working. As a result we never feel like we are suspending out disbelief.

Corwin's worst challenge is his family, of courts. Countless brothers and sisters in unspecified relationships with seemingly little loyalty to each other. It is typical that it was an accident intended to end his life that triggered the end of his memory loss instead. And typical that relatives have become so used to baroque plots that Corwin's first fumbling efforts are taken as brilliance giving the rebel prince an opportunity to establish a foothold and join in the struggle against Eric.

Zelazny isn't prone to excessive writing, but is a past master at conjuring up characters and landscapes with rapid brushstrokes. The dialog is always crisp as well. Even reading this story again after a gap of years, I could remember the details of the story and still found that the magic persisted and the Amber really was a throne worth pursuing.

I tend to be relatively easy to please when it comes to books, and I heard a lot of good stuff about this one. But this book has been overhyped, plain and simple. Overall, I enjoyed it and I think it is a fine start for a series (I haven't read any of the other books yet), but it's just not 5-star material.
First of all, the writing is stiff, especially dialogue. At first I thought that maybe they were just being overly formal because they're royalty or something like that. No. And it's not snappy. It's just stiff dialogue.
But worse than stiff dialogue is a boring middle. Not the whole middle, mind you, but a good bit is devoted to describing the progress of an army marching toward Amber. And it's BORING.
Then the hero is saved in the end by something you don't hear about in the rest of the book. That sets it up great for the rest of the series, but it's still kind of cheap.
So if you read a lot and like fantasy, give it a try. It's a short read (and so are the rest of the books in the series). It has a cool premise and the series as a whole must be pretty good since most people really like. But if you're short on time and every page you read is precious, you might want to look elsewhere.

Its been nearly 20 years since I read the Amber series by Roger Zelazny (RIP good man.) The warning above regards the money your gonna spend (immediately) on the rest of the Amber series and how you will spend your time the rest of the week after you have finished Nine Princes of Amber. In fact, you'll wish there was a 24 hour bookstore nearby after reading Nine Princes of Amber get the next book NOW. Folks, this is a Classic (Fantasy and Science Fiction) in every sense of the word, as you may gather from the reviews on this page. Many of the excited reviews from readers are not exaggerations (including my own). I have only one piece of advice for you potential first time readers of Zelazny (particulary this book). Zelazny will put you immediately in his story so be patient. He dispatches with the spoon-feeding of his stories to the neophytes or the uninterested (godbless him). He treats his readers as a "literary adults". If you want a "Once upon a time" book, the Children,s Books section is over to the right, second aisle... 'Nuff said. This book is written in the first person, and the main character wakes up clueless, as will you be (for a while). You will learn as he does the complicated circumstance of his past, present, and future. Reading the reviews gave me goosebumps all over again. Well enough of my babblings, I'm gonna dust off that series again for another read. I suggest you do the same.

This book, along with those following, are some of the best fantasy on the market today. Most people, myself included, are completely hooked after reading the first five pages and it just keep getting better and better. Mr. Zelazny is a true story teller, a teller of stories with a wonderful imagination and a wonderful command of the language. This character developement is great and, like with any good fictional work, you start caring for and about the various characters. I highly recommend this one. Actually recommend you buy the thing as you will no doubt want to reread. Very much enjoyed.

Nine Princes of Amber is the opening book in a sweeping 10-book saga by Roger Zelazny. Zelazny, (1937-1995), weaves an absolutely brilliant tale in the first person of one Corwin. The reader is as blind to the how and why of the story as Corwin is.

Corwin begins the book knowing virtually nothing about himself. He does not know his name, his age, his history, his home, nothing. We are taken along a wild journey were we find out who Corwin is and the very important role that he and his family play in all the worlds that exist.

Without giving too much away it is fair to say that this is a fantasy novel. It is also fair to say that these books have relatively intense cliffhanger endings. I would strongly suggest getting all ten books to read before starting the first novel. This is difficult since they periodically go out of print. At the present time the best bet to get all 10 books in print is the omnibus edition available here at Amazon as of June 2000. The title is as follows: "The Great Book of Amber : The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10 by Roger Zelazny "

Good luck and enjoy this masterpiece.

Roger Zelazny was--and still is--renowned as a literary master of speculative fiction. It's easy to see why with this book, which is *not*, believe it or not, considered to be best of his works...only the most popular.

Zelazny stretches the use of words to the maximum. You will encounter flowery, formal dialogue, complete with "thee"'s; you will encounter the contemplative thoughts of a cynical, hard-boiled detective; you will encounter the direct, concise summary of actions taken in quick succession. And they meld together without any objection, submitting to Zelazny's hand to reside in a flawless whole before the reader.

The protagonist, Corwin, begins the story with amnesia. Yes, the typical help-I've-lost-my-memory-I'd-better-go-recover-it setup. But there's nothing to worry about; the plot has been solidly constructed from the beginning of this book to the end of the last in the series, and a diabolically intricate mesh of intrigue and adventure unfolds.

All this takes place in not only an original world, but in an original universe. Earth is part of it, a welcome familiar setting, but the premise behind why our planet is only a part of the cosmos is novel and integrated closely with the story.

Lastly, although the cast of characters is huge--nine princes in Amber, along with a handful of princesses and countless minor characters--each one is distinct and deftly described. The reader is able to reach out to each one and understand them all.

What is there to lose? And there's so much to gain. I strongly recommend this novel as well as those following it in the series, and I can guarantee an absolute lack of disappointment.

It would be nice if someone could finally offer the unabridged versions on CD-- I believe a lot more diehard fans would come out of the woodwork to buy them. The abridgments (the editing)take a lot of language out of the works...a lot of Zelazny's little touches of charm and wit are lost for unknown reasons. It's good to see the interest, but to reiterate, I would prefer to see the unabridged versions on CD.

Nine Princes in Amber was the first Roger Zelazny novel I read. And I wasn't disappointed at all. The story is fast-paced and exciting. The primary character, Prince Corwin, is cocky and irreverent but basically a good guy. He struggles against his brothers for control over the one, true reality: The magical realm of Amber.

If you're tired of epic fantasy with it's too-serious nature and pompousity, I'd recommend Nine Princes in Amber (the first of ten in the Amber series). It's good stuff. If you like Steven Brust, try Zelazny. It's clear that Zelazny influenced Brust's writing.

Someone said this book was full of cliches. This book is one the best ever written, but you have to have the ability upstairs to appreciate it. It's sad that some readers cannot get it. It is very esoteric and there are great threads of humor that blend very uniquely with the action and adventure. Zelazny is like many of the unusual great writers that stand out that have surpassed their art form. Why else would it still getting 5 star rave reviews long after it is out of print with no advertizing or publicity to taint it. In this book, there is philosophy, modern science fiction, medieval history and tragedy, the tragedy of the loss of one the great writers who wrote this. I have read a lot of biographies and reviews of Zelazny and, while most reviewers just don't get it, one came close when he said that what is unusual about Zelazny is that he speaks to you with such a perfect voice - the voice of a good friend, who is right there beside you, experiencing the adventure.