Series Discussion - Chronicles of Amber

[rune]

Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber

This is one of two that will be discussed this month

 

[Brys]

I thought that Amber's one of the best series in fantasy, at least the first five books (which are the ones I've read). The idea of Amber being the real world and everywhere else being shadow, along with the idea of princes of Amber being able to manipulate these shadows was great.
Zelazny showed a couple of real skills in these novels:
In prose
In characterisation.
The prose was never quite as evocative as Peake, or as clever as Calvino's, but it was always very good, and it was incredibly versatile, and it always fit the setting. Whenever the characters were in Amber itself, he'd switch to a more archaic style, and while travelling through shadows he'd have some really descriptive, evocative parts, and in the real world, as shown in the very beginning of Nine Princes in Amber, it's like some of the best mainstream fiction.
His characters seemed to come alive and the plot was character driven. The princes/princesses of Amber were always entertaining to read about, and I haven't seen better characterisation by any author since except for Martin.

 

[nixie]

The first five books were more entertaining than the second five,although they were still an excellent read.They didn't quite capture the imagination the way the first five did.

 

[Hosato]

This series is one my favorites. I've only read the first five books so far and the second five are on my list to read this coming year. Like Brys has articulated so well above Zelazny is an excellent character writer. He draws you into each character's life such that you get to know them as if they were real people. Excellent writing! I thoroughly enjoy reading them over and over (a total of 6 or 7 times now. ).