Knight of Shadows (1989)

Better in many ways - more progress and an interesting story. But still an awful lot of loose ends and distractions, and a semi-cliffhanger ending. What the heck is that ring? And all the rest - the black-and-white world, a lot of surrealism... Bah - read the next one when I can. I'm glad I didn't bother to get the whole set - I'll be getting rid of the ones I have now. ( )

Flair, fantasy, humor: Bias alert. I should start this review by saying that I am not sure that Zelazny could write a bad book. Non-Zelazny fans may disagree.

Merlin is very clearly the son of Corwin. He is irreverent about the holy ghosts of Amber and Chaos. He hits his head against the rules (and sometimes even wins). Despite an overly-long sequence in a strange testing ground between shadows, Zelzany still infuses this book with the manic strangeness and humor that are part of what make him such a wonderful writer. As noted, virtually none of the Amber novels can be read stand-alone or out of sequence. You are going to have to read the books before this one to get the background. And you are going to have to read the ones after this to get an explanation. An enjoyable task, luckily.

See Trumps of Doom. ( )

Though you will not put the book down because of Mr. Zelazny's writing style. Do not expect the normal skilled plotting and crafted characterizations of the original Amber books. This book cannot stand alone...it leaves you hanging.

Merlin, son of Corwin, who was the hero of the original series, narrates this sequence, and here continued to accidentlly make his way through encounters with new powers that are completely incompatible with the original mythos. Those who are allied with each other will not speak with each other. While their enemies somehow know everything. Most of the important action happens offstage, and promised explanations never materialize.

So I would suggest you only read this book if you are a fan of the Amber series and have read the others that come before it. ( )

http://www.fascinationplace.org/2006/10/29/roger-zelazny-the-chronicles-of-amber... ( )