Customer Reviews

Trumps of Doom

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the sixth book of the Amber Chronicles (the first one is Nine Princes in Amber). Get ready to read four more (Blood of Amber, Sign of Chaos, Knights of Shadows, Prince of Chaos) - you will not be able to stop!

Trumps of Doom marks the return to the setting of Roger Zelazny's Amber series. The first five books told the story of Corwin, prince of Amber. This sixth book in the saga deals with Corwin's son Merlin. Having spent a number of years on our earth, Merlin has been dealing with a series of assassination attempts. As he tries to resolve the issue he is drawn into a deeper plot threatening the very heart of reality, Amber itself. If you have not read any of Zelazny's Amber novels previously I highly recommend them. I found this to be one of the most exciting, becoming even more so as this second series progresses. Merlin is a much easier character to relate to as he is a little more like an average person. All of the characters of Corwin's generation are a little too experienced, cynical, and aware for the average person to empathize with. Merlin on the other hand bumbles his way through a number of problems, often surviving through sheer luck. While powerful he is a a much easier character to relate to.

I am a huge fan of the Amber series. The characters are well developed and the plot forces you to read on. For anyone who hasn't read the original series that begins with "The Nine Princes of Amber," read them. They are spellbinding literature.

This novel is no different. I sat reading for hours, literally unable to put the book down. Its words carried me to places beyond this reality. However, there is a huge drawback to this book. You will become hooked on a series without a clear resolution. The final book in the "Amber" series, "The Prince of Chaos," fails to tie up some necessary loose ends and leaves you asking questions like, "What happened to Corwin and the new Pattern?" This is a great book and a riveting series. Still I must say, shame on you Roger Zelazny for not giving me the closure I so deperately needed. Your loyal fans deserve more.

of course merlin isn't corwin, thank god, if he was then what would be the point of a "sequel series"? i found this book to be the most interesting of books 6-10 other than the 9th book in the series. granted the "2nd series of the amber chronicles" isn't as inspired or original as books 1-5, but its still way better than most of the other sci-fi/fantasy novels out there! zelazny always seemed to be on top of his form, he never betrayed his style and ceaselessly used "logical" surprises, not contrived surprises, as well as incorporating a sense of humor. the only qualm i have about the book is that its too short!!!

I'm a great fan of Zelazny, read a lot of his works and even reviewed some ...
I've read Trumps of Doom after reading the Amber series and at first I was exteremly happy - one of the best series of all is going on!

But, I was dissapointed. I'm not sure if it was because I was expecting too much or I was expecting the continuationg of the first five books in the series.

In this installment, the main hero is Merle, son of Corwin, who slowly sinks into a dark tale of assasination, magic and intrigue where much more than his life will be at stake. The book has battles, magic, suspense and believable characters, it's just that I couldn't really like it as much as I liked the first five books.

Maybe it's because I liked Corwin s much. Maybe it's because the intrigue in the first books was much deeper. I'm not sure.
To make things clear, this is a great book, just not as great as his other books.

Well, not really...

After a five year lapse, roger Zelazny returned to the Amber series that had done so well before. One thing that you will notice in reading these is that the author has matured considerable. If the first five volumes, the story of Corwin, Prince of Amber are a bit simplistic and mostly a fantasy adventure story, this return to Amber is much richer in personalities and sub-plots. Fans who have followed the series so far will find they are in for an even bigger treat.

This time around the narrator is Merlin, son of Corwin. He has taken up residence in earth, gone to college, and even worked as a computer designer. With his father gone wandering, Merlin's connection to Amber is slight. But someone has made an attempt on his life for the past eight April 30th's and Merlin has decided it is time for a change of venue. But not before an ex-girlfriend has her head bitten off and a mage has made an attempt on his life.

Merlin returns to Amber to discover that this time April 30th isn't enough and that at least one someone is intent on his life. Somehow his best friend is involved and his royal aunts and uncles also come under fire. And Ghostwheel a construct he has created in shadow has developed self awareness, and a nasty sense of self preservation. To put it simply, Merlin is in serious trouble, and no one seems able to hlp him out.

The story shifts from place to place with considerable speed as Merlin tries to find the pieces of the puzzle and goes from one crisis to another. He lacks his father's more irritating traits, but has a tendency to jump into things headfirst without much planning. Of course, he is quite a bit younger than Corwin, which is both his charm and his Achilles heal. You will meet both old friends and new as the story develops, and see Amber through a different set of eyes.

If I have a criticism, and I really don't, it is that Zelazny triggers the ending to quickly and suddenly you are in a whopper of a cliffhanger. This was intensely frustrating back when I has to wait for the sequel, but a wise reader will have all

Roger Zelazny's passing was a personal tragedy to everyone who loves good Fiction and Fantasy. Prince of Chaos is the end of the Merlin cycle of the Chronicles of Amber, but it was clearly not intended as an end to the series.

This is the beginning of the second segment of the Amber Chronicles and the first book of Roger Zelazny's that I read (I have now read them all at least once).

There are, no doubt, other fantasy series that have better technical elements, or which have sold better commercially, but I challenge anyone to find one with more engaging characters or better intrigue. More convolutions than the best of Greek tragedies, the only weakness I can find is that reading the series out of order just does not work (well, you can, and I did, read the two segments [Corwin's and then his son Merlin's] out of order, but picking them up with no regard for series order at all will be disappointing.

I have reaad the books written by John B, set in Amber's history, and enjoyed them, but Zelazny created this cosmos for us, and was clearly its Master.

I would that I had discovered them while he was still with us, I would have certainly sought him out to thank him for letting us play in his worlds.

In _The Trumps of Doom_, Roger Zelazny's sixth installment in the _Chronicles of Amber_ shifts the focus to a new hero, young Merle Corey, a computer programmer and Prince of both kingdoms Chaos and Amber. He lives on shadow earth where every April 30, somebody tries to kill him. After 7 or 8 years, Merlin finally decides this is getting a bit personal, when a former girlfriend is slaughtered in her home. The prince will go after the killer. He soon becomes embroiled in the snarled family politics of Amber, where more of Oberon's children are mysteriously dying, and each sibling is introduced as a suspect with probable cause to murder. Merlin has created an interdimensional computer called the Ghostwheel, that reads a slice of each Shadow world, and processes that data.

I've found Zelazny's Merle Corey a much more appealing character than Corwin, maybe because he comes closer to _mench_ than _ubermensch_, thus more identifiable to the author's geeky reader core. You get the feeling that despite his powers, he runs the chance of getting the poo kicked out of him at any moment. Although he possesses some of the requisite "magical" powers of the Merlin of Arthurian Lore, it's only a name borrowed from our Western European historical past. There may be another reason for the attraction to the character, since he's no more fully developed than Corwin of the first five Amber novels. Where Corwin was taciturn, Merlin seems much more a social creature; while Corwin was part of the family, Merlin has to sense his way though the social dysfunction that comprise the Amberite clan.

The writing is solid and well plotted. I have a feeling the five books that comprise the Merlin arc of the Amber stories could hold up as a single book: this novel (Avon mass paperback edition) is a mere 180 pages. Several cliffhangers will either nauseate fans, or cause them to return to the next novel. I noted a few mentions of 80s personal computing subculture: "If Apple takes off," a character said at one point in the book. I must take exception with the title itself. The Trumps of Doom? Aside from its profound lameness, it has no real bearing on the novel itself, at least yet. Still reeling at that one. Trumps of Doom... I guess you can make just about *anything* scary, if you put the words "...of doom" at the end of the sentence.

In all, _Trumps_ is a solid start with a promising premise. I believe I will like the second five Amber novels, and also Zelazny's young magician Merle, much more than Corwin. I enjoyed the book. My fingers are crossed in hopes of an excellent Book Seven (Blood of Amber).

I came across this book by chance, not being a fan of the Amber series. It starts off quite believably, with a guy (Merle) who narrowly escapes assassination every April 30. But then, the plot heats up, with complications galore, friends who turn out to be enemies, the ultimate computer program, narrow escapes from death, etc, etc. Turns out that Merle (Merlin) moves easily between several different realities, which makes it hard to tell what's going on if you haven't been clued in.

Still, the writing is fantastic. Author Zelazny can leave you short of breath with his chases, his battles, his (yes) narrow escapes, his reality shifts, even if you don't have a clue about what's really going on, or who is who. His stuff is admittedly fun to read, but at the end, it's hard to be sure what it was all about. And there's a surprise ending too, one which sounds like the launch of yet another novel. Of course I won't tell you what it is.

If you're a fan of the Amber series you may or may not love this book. I enjoyed it but won't be looking up the rest of the series. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

Again, my first comment is a complaint about the omnibus edition. Since there is no description of each individual novel, the start of this book was QUITE confusing. It, like the books preceding it, is in the first person. However, rather than following Corwin's story, the focus has shifted to Merlin, Corwin's son. Not that this book wasn't exciting and fun in its own right, it was just a rather abrupt (and not to mention confusing!) turn of events. But the cliffhangers are back and the start of this new plot is pretty interesting.