Nine Princes in Amber

Title : Nine Princes in Amber
Author : Roger Zelazny
Reading Dates : 28 Apr -  1 May 2010


The Chronicles of Amber Series. Nine Princes in Amber is the 1st book in Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber series. The first 5 novels in the series, known as the Corwin Cycle, tells the story of Prince Corwin from his viewpoint :

• Nine Princes in Amber
  
• The Guns of Avalon
  
• Sign of the Unicorn
  
• The Hand of Oberon
• The Courts of Chaos
  

Book Summary of Nine Princes in Amber.

The story starts with Prince Corwin awakening in a hospital bed with no memory of himself and why he is being held prisoner there. With a combination of guile and trickery, Corwin not only manages to bluff his way out but cons his captor into helping him regain his memory. Corwin finds himself one of 9 surviving Princes of Amber, the one true world from which all others are but shadows including the one he himself is presently in, fighting for the throne of Amber after the disappearance of their father. Corwin forms a temporary alliance with another one of his brothers, Bleys, to unseat Eric from Amber. Their plans however fail and Corwin is captured and blinded. It takes Corwin another 3 years before he regains his sight and escapes with some unexpected help. Vowing to dethrone Eric, Corwin travels once again into Shadow to bring back a mightier army.

Book Review of Nine Princes in Amber.

The best and most interesting part of the story is at the beginning as we read of how Corwin deceives both allies and enemies into believing he is playing his own deep game when in truth he is not only clueless on the stakes but is unaware of his own identity. The fact that Corwin manages to get the one set as his guard to help him is a testament to his ingenuity and daring. It is because of that, that its easy to belief that Corwin will win through somehow despite his 3 year incarceration. Even his capture has the feeling as if the loss was because of his alliance with Bleys rather than through his own fault. It will be interesting to see how Corwin finally wins the Crown of Amber.

Related Links.

• Amazon's Roger Zelazny Page
• The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10 (Chronicles of Amber) 
• The Chronicles of Amber, Vol. I and II (Nine Princes in Amber, The Guns of Avalon, Sign of the Unicorn, The Hand of Oberon, and The Courts of Chaos) (Amber, Vol. 1 - 5)