The Great Book of Amber

by Roger Zelazny

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Chronicles of Amber (Complete, 1-10)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
2,150	34	2,787	(4.23)	89

Add to your library

Add to wishlist

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

caittilynn, spiderjerusalem, Matthew.Walker, breakofdawn, private library, Xelgaex, Trofo, Bumwizard79, thegiantturtle, suslyn

numbers

show all

▾Tags

20th century (9) alternate reality (11) alternate universe (9) Amber (86) anthology (16) chaos (7) Chronicles of Amber (11) classic (8) collection (22) epic (10) epic fantasy (8) fantasy (488) fiction (171) high fantasy (7) intrigue (7) magic (14) novel (18) omnibus (71) own (12) paperback (12) read (25) Roger Zelazny (23) science fiction (84) series (28) sf (32) sff (34) speculative fiction (9) to-read (19) trade paperback (13) unread (18)

▾LibraryThing recommendations

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (1967)
Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny (1970)
The Last Defender of Camelot by Roger Zelazny (1980)
Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance (1998)
Shadow & Claw: The First Half of The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe (1994)
Same series: Sword & Citadel: The Second Half of The Book of the New Sun (The Book of the New Sun)

Roger Zelazny's The Dawn of Amber by John Gregory Betancourt (2002)
The Family Trade by Charles Stross (2004)
Same series: The Hidden Family (Merchant Princes)
The Book of Jhereg by Steven Brust (1987)
Same series: Dragon, Issola (Dragaera: Vlad Taltos: Publication Order)
To Reign in Hell by Steven Brust (1984)
Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1989)

see more recommendations for this work

refresh

▾Member recommendations

20
Last Call by Tim Powers (MyriadBooks)
10
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (ryvre)
ryvre: Both are fantasy books with lots of politics and intrigue among the royal families.
00
The Complete Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen (MyriadBooks)
00
Knave of Dreams by Andre Norton (the_unnamable)
00
The Well-Favored Man: The Tale of the Sorcerers Nephew (aqualectrix)
01
WebMage by Kelly McCullough (aqualectrix)

▾Will you like it?

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 34 (next | show all)

Good fantasy, with an interesting tone. The first five books are better, I think. Surprisingly quick read. (

)

shanaqui | Apr 9, 2013 |

You can't go home again.

I adored these books when I was a kid. Read 'em over and over. I remember being furious with Zelazny for his cliff-hanger endings as the last few trickled out. And I remember thinking the quality was declining as the series lengthened. What I didn't remember, or what I was too caught up in plot to notice, is that the writing isn't very good. There are long passages of hellride that are, frankly, hell to read. Corwin's parentage kept changing- in the first book, he's explicitly a full brother of Random and not Eric, in the second, he and Eric are full brothers, in the fourth, Eric has one mom, Corwin a different one, and Random another still. I fully admit to skimming this time through. I hope that the memory of this re-read will fade and leave me with the warm, nostalgic love of the series with which I picked up this omnibus last week. I'm sorry I picked it up.

Four stars for nostalgia, two for this time through. (

)

satyridae | Apr 5, 2013 |

Nine Princes in Amber - Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club December 2009 Selection

Click here for my review of Nine Princes.

mossjon | Mar 31, 2013 |

I am going to supress a long rant and just say that I much prefered the first five books to the last five. (

)

Akikorye | Feb 28, 2013 |

Undoubtedly within my top 3 story premises of all time. I highly recommend this series to anyone considering reading it. At times the writing can get a little too trippy to follow for somewhat drawn out periods of shadow walking. However, aside from a few of these obfuscated scenes in each book, I thoroughly enjoyed every page. Quite refreshing after reading too many of the more recent fantasy series from the past decade which, to me, share too many similar aspects to one another in style, tone, and sometimes even content. (

)

seventotheseven | Feb 8, 2013 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 34 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (3 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Roger Zelazny	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
White, Tim	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Work-to-work relationships

Contains

The First Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny

The Chronicles of Amber, Volume I (Nine Princes in Amber and The Guns of Avalon) by Roger Zelazny (indirect)

Nine Princes In Amber by Roger Zelazny (indirect)

The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny (indirect)

The Chronicles of Amber, Volume II (Sign of the Unicorn, The Hand of Oberon, and The Courts of Chaos) by Roger Zelazny (indirect)

Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny (indirect)

(show 8 more)

The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny (indirect)

The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny (indirect)

The Second Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny

Trumps of Doom by Roger Zelazny (indirect)

Blood of Amber by Roger Zelazny (indirect)

Sign of Chaos by Roger Zelazny (indirect)

Knight of Shadows by Roger Zelazny (indirect)

Prince of Chaos by Roger Zelazny (indirect)

Inspired

Amber Diceless Role-Playing: Diceless Role-Playing System by Erick Wujcik

Has as a reference guide/companion

Roger Zelazny's Visual Guide to Castle Amber by Roger Zelazny

The Complete Amber Sourcebook by Theodore Krulik

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Series (with order)

Chronicles of Amber (995|Complete, 1-10)

Canonical title

The Great Book of Amber

Original title

Alternative titles

The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Awards and honors

Epigraph

Dedication

To Bob and Phyllis Roxman (The Guns of Avalon)

For Judawin and his Demiurge, not to forget Kickaha. (Sign of the Unicorn)

To Jay Haldeman,
of fellowship and artichokes. (The Hand of Oberon)

To Carl Yoke, First Reader—

From Lucetania to Euclid Park,
Sarcobatus Flats to Cygnus X-1—
May you live another ten thousand years.
May your lair be safe from trendeltiles.
May the diminutive deities
break their collective leg. (The Courts of Chaos)

First words

It was starting to end, after what seemed like most of eternity to me. (Nine Princes in Amber)

I stood there on the beach and said, "Good-by Butterfly,"
and the ship slowly turned, then headed out toward deep water. (The Guns of Avalon)

I ignored the questions in the eyes of the groom as I lowered the grisly parcel and turned the horse in for care and maintenance. (Sign of the Unicorn)

A bright flash of insight, to match that peculiar sun... (The Hand of Oberon)

Amber: high and bright atop Kolvir in the middle of the day. (The Courts of Chaos)

(show all 10 items)

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

(show all 10 items)

Disambiguation notice

There seems to be some confusion between this great omnibus of 10 - that's right - 10 volumes and its 5 volume counterparts which comprise only half the content of this book. Reviews are here that clearly refer only to the first 5 volume collection and don't reference the second 5 volume cycle at all. Also, a couple of the covers - one uploaded by a member and one pulled in from Amazon.com - are not for the full 10 volume omnibus collection either.

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Publisher series

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game

Grimjack

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Omnibus collecting these books:
Nine Princes in Amber
The Guns of Avalon
Sign of the Unicorn
The Hand of Oberon
The Courts of Chaos
Trumps of Doom
Blood of Amber
Sign of Chaos
Knight of Shadows
Prince of Chaos

Haiku summary

▾Book descriptions

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0380809060, Paperback)

Roger Zelazny's books have three things in common: a flawed hero who sometimes fails, endlessly surprising plot twists, and a blend of lyricism, literary allusions, and sly puns that makes the pages fly. The Great Book of Amber, collecting all 10 Amber novels, is vintage Zelazny. Despite some irritating typographical errors, it's invaluable for anyone who wants to read or reread the tales of Corwin and his son, Merlin.

Corwin is a prince of Amber, the "immortal city from which every other city has taken its shape." All other worlds, including Earth, are shadows of that reality. Corwin has spent centuries on Earth as an amnesiac. But when someone in the family tries to kill him there, Corwin begins a search for his past. He quickly learns that his family has some very unusual powers. They can travel between Amber, its shadows, and Chaos by manipulating reality; use magical playing cards to communicate and travel instantaneously; and are able to walk the Pattern that created Amber. Corwin regains his memory, solves the mystery of his father Oberon's disappearance, and fulfills his destiny--only to disappear into Chaos.

Merlin searches for Corwin and his destiny as a son of both Amber and the Courts of Chaos. His story parallels Corwin's, answering many questions about Amber, Chaos, and the next generation in the family.

Many readers have complained that the series goes on too long and the ending is disappointing. None, however, would deny that it's filled with fascinating ideas, complex characters, and action-adventure. Don't miss a chance to make up your own mind. --Nona Vero

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:37:28 -0500)

(see all 2 descriptions)

▾Library descriptions

Showcases the epic struggle for dimension-wide supremacy.