Hello,
I've just discovered the Collected stories and, though I'm sure all the volumes are great, the Amber texts are the ones that I interest me the most.
And I have two questions:
Apart from the volumes 4 and 6, are they other Amber related texts
Could you give me a few details about:
A Number of Princes in Amber (vol. 4)
Amber and the Amberites (vol. 4)
Amber Map (vol. 6)
The Road to Amber (vol. 6)
The Great Amber Questionnaire (vol. 6)
A Secret of Amber (with Ed Greenwood) (vol. 6)
Thanks a lot for your help!
There's probably something about Amber in every volume. The six-part biography ("And Call Me Roger": The Literary Life of Roger Zelazny) makes use of extensive quotes from Zelazny (from correspondence and essays) on his writing and what he thought about it in retrospect. So the writing of the Amber novels, and the Amber stories he planned to write but never got around to, are covered in detail. For example, in volume 2 the creation of
Nine Princes in Amber (written in early 1967 but not published for three years) covers about six pages.
The Guns of Avalon is covered in two separate sections (volumes 2 and 3) because Zelazny abandoned it partway through for several years (and, in the interim, forgot what was supposed to happen next). The biography is organized chronologically and so the Amber novels get covered in volumes 2-5, and the Amber shorts are discussed in volume 6. The origins of his interests in what inspired Amber (comic books, fantasy, Arthurian legend, etc.) are largely covered in the first volume. Also in the relevant volumes are the makings of
The Guide to Castle Amber,
The Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game, the
Nine Princes in Amber Computer Game, and
The Great Amber Sourcebook.
Of the specific items you're asking about, "A Secret of Amber" is a short story fragment written with Ed Greenwood, the only Amber collaboration. Corwin is the first person narrator. It's a fragment because Zelazny died before it was completed. They each wrote several alternating sections.
"The Great Amber Questionnaire" is what it's name implies, Zelazny responding to about 30 questions posed by fans. This was originally in a fanzine that went to only a handful of people.
"Amber Map" is also what it's name implies, a map of Amber sketched by Zelazny and then redrawn by an artist.
The other items you asked about are essays by Zelazny dealing with some aspect of the Amber series, such as the genealogy of the characters or how he came to think of Shadow Walking and the Amber Trumps.
Chris
