General Information

Title: Nine Princes in Amber
Author: Roger Zelazny
Original Publication Date: 1970
ISBN: 0380809060 (single volume of ten books)
Cover Price: $22.95 US for the complete series
Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.ca

Premise

A man with amnesia realizes his siblings are trying to kill him, and that he's not a normal person.

Note that this premise refers only to the first book in the ten book series, while the Amazon link above is to a collection of all ten books. The first five alone are easily worth that price. The next five, written later, aren't quite as good, but Amazon's $16.07 (as this is being written) is easily a great price for those five too. (The Amber Chronicles are, essentially, two different five book series.) If you're Christmas shopping for a fantasy fan, you could do a lot worse.

High Point

Driving to Amber.

Low Point

Man, these characters smoke a lot. Is anyone surprised that Zelazny died due to complications from cancer?

The Scores

This is an original take on parallel worlds. The mechanics of the worlds, and their ties to our Earth, have been explored in numerous ways since this was published, but I haven't run into any that predate it. (That doesn't mean they're not out there, of course. Suggestions for further reading are always welcome.) I give it 5 out of 6.

The imagery, both in terms of describing locations and in figurative language, is excellent. When things turn to potentially boring conversation, Corwin's internal dialogue kicks up with some great wit to keep things moving, and it's usually in metaphors and similes involving his immediate family. I give it 6 out of 6.

The story is a decent kick-off to the series, but there are long chunks of world-building that, while necessary, don't advance the plot. I give it 4 out of 6.

The characterization includes some nice work with Corwin, and a pile of pretty one-dimensional characters. I give it 4 out of 6.

The emotional response is fairly good. There are slow bits to it, certainly, but it definitely holds my attention through the rest of the series. I give it 4 out of 6.

The editing is very well done. The "slow bits" I referred to above are the world-building bits that won't seem as slow to first-time readers. The rest is a tight and rapidly moving story. I give it 4 out of 6.

Overall, it's a solid start to my favourite fantasy series. (Yes, I'd rather read these than Lord of the Rings.) The first five books are excellent, especially if you have time to read them in a marathon. I give this volume 5 out of 6.

In total, Nine Princes in Amber receives 33 out of 42.

Additional Notes and Comments

I plan to review all ten books in the series soon, but I also plan to review a big stack of movies and a decent stack of comics. If you have any preferences or suggestions about the order I use to attack this list of options let me know in the comments or via e-mail.