HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber…
Loading...

The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10 (Chronicles of Amber) (edition 1999)

by Roger Zelazny

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

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
3,398583,778 (4.18)109
Showcases the epic struggle for dimension-wide supremacy. "All ten of Roger Zelzany's classic Amber fantasy novels in one book! Join Corwin, Merlin and the others in wild adventures in the lands of Amber, Earth, and the Courts of Chaos, where the powers of Amber and Chaos constantly battle for supremacy through intrigue and adventure. Revisit Amber, the land of mystery, adventure and romance. Amber, the one true world. All other worlds, including our Earth, are merely Shadows."--Publisher description.… (more)
Member:Wolfechu
Title:The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10 (Chronicles of Amber)
Authors:Roger Zelazny
Info:Eos (1999), Paperback, 1264 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:None

Work Information

The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny

Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 109 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 57 (next | show all)
Huge book. Didn't seem to be keeping my interest through the different 'books', so I took a break. A long break.

Started the book October 20, 2008.
  PurplOttr | Dec 1, 2023 |
This large tome contains all 10 volumes of the Amber Chronicles. The series is divided into two major story arcs, each consisting of five books. The first story arc is excellent. Zelazny weaves a compelling story. I found the opening particularly good. The way Zelazny starts the story, it does not even seem like fantasy. Just as you start to wonder whether or not he is ever going to get around it, he brings the fantasy element into the story with a bang.

The second story arc is mediocre. The story contains many good elements, but overall it comes across as a bit too... chaotic. The main character of that story arc seems to get pulled from event to event, each of which generates new threads. I would say less than half of those threads are resolved in the end, and many of those that were resolved were not resolved fully. That said, I have heard that the Zelazny meant to write more but did not have a chance to do so before he died. The dangers of building large, complex stories.

Overall though, it is definitely worth a read. Especially the first half.

( )
  eri_kars | Jul 10, 2022 |
(This review is for the first book in the collection, Nine Princes in Amber. There's no inducing me to read any more of them, I'm afraid.)
Corwin is suffering from amnesia, which he thinks is a result of a near-fatal car accident, which he also thinks was not exactly an accident at all. As he fakes his way through conversations with one sister and a brother, he slowly puts together a backstory for himself, and it doesn't always feature Earth as the setting.

Hoo boy. This 1970s first-in-a-series fantasy has some issues. Honestly, I think Zelazny couldn't quite decide what he wanted his book to be: it starts out as High Fantasy suffering from memory loss and thinking it's a noir detective novel, and from there the inconsistencies pile up, including a waffling between 'normal' vernacular and the thees and thous of fantafancy speak. It's...grating. It also seems to fall (probably via one of the many plot holes) into the pit of writers who've read and loved Tolkien and decide that, "Hey, I can write a massive world-building epic series, too!" and who, tragically, can't. The plot just seems to be one part tagged onto another tagged onto another, with no real flow or logic between the episodes: "and THEN...and THEN...AND THEN..." with each scene more comically cartoonish than the last. Overall story-arcs matter, folks, and should be more than a flimsy excuse to attach weird worlds and underwater mirror cities and sex with green-haired ladies to the plot. Yoicks. ( )
  scaifea | May 10, 2021 |
I was still new to fantasy, having been a hardcore horror and sci-fi fan, then going through all of Zelazny's other works, when I decided to sit down to these stories.
Seriously, I was impressed with the easy progression into a multi-universe view delineated between ultimate order and ultimate chaos. Gorgeous magic system where you follow mandalas, epic battles, and the almost requisite tripe of amnesia. (Oh, sorry, i meant trope.) I loved the first 5 books better than the second 5, but Merlin's story did have a more epic feel, in my opinion.
It's still hard to find fantasy as good as what he wrote, although I'm still willing to keep looking. :) ( )
  bradleyhorner | Jun 1, 2020 |
I wanna be a Prince of Amber! (Suddenly have unrelated Queen song flashes!)
The way I fell in love with Zelazny, especially in the ballsy way he wrote the thing, 'let's just see what happens, shall we?'
Effortless. Stylish. The kind of poetic fantasy that mooshes every world religion and kitchen appliance together and *works!* --What DC and Marvel super Us wish they could achieve! ( )
  Loryndalar | Mar 19, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 57 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Zelazny, Rogerprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Glover, Elizabeth M.Designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
White, TimCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
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)
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Be careful to not combine this omnibus of all 10 Zelazny Amber novels with other omnibuses of the first 5 novels, or other works.
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

Showcases the epic struggle for dimension-wide supremacy. "All ten of Roger Zelzany's classic Amber fantasy novels in one book! Join Corwin, Merlin and the others in wild adventures in the lands of Amber, Earth, and the Courts of Chaos, where the powers of Amber and Chaos constantly battle for supremacy through intrigue and adventure. Revisit Amber, the land of mystery, adventure and romance. Amber, the one true world. All other worlds, including our Earth, are merely Shadows."--Publisher description.

No library descriptions found.

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

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.18)
0.5
1 6
1.5 2
2 19
2.5 7
3 114
3.5 29
4 257
4.5 38
5 323

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,233,384 books! | Top bar: Always visible