The Guns of Avalon

The Guns of Avalon is a worthy sequel to Nine Princes in Amber. In fact, it surpasses the original in a variety of ways. Guns of Avalon takes place immediately following the events of the original. Corwin has escaped imprisonment, and ventures to the mythical shadow realm of Avalon where he once ruled. On the way to rebuilding his new army (cat-men, with automatic weapons), Corwin discovers a new threat that may force him to put aside his vendetta.

This book worked so much better than the first. A lot of the complaints people have had about the first novel (awkward phrasing, annoying characters, over-description) are nowhere to be found. Zelazny found his footing so well, that it made me realize even more how inadequate the first book show more was, where originally I had a much more positive view of Nine Princes. This book takes a brilliant concept and fulfills its promise in all but a few ways.

What problems the book had centered on a particularly long stretch of over-description where Corwin struggles to escape from some deadly menace in a series of broken sentences that Zelazny no doubt believed would indicate the frantic nature of the situation. It did not. I ended up skipping this section. The book also describes far too much of what happened in the first novel. It seems the author didn't expect that his readers had read Nine Princes.

Nevertheless, if you stayed through the first one and were relatively satisfied, read this book. It is a great ride that leads to a shocking twist. show less

Originally posted at FanLit.

Warning, from me: If you haven’t read Nine Princes in Amber yet, don’t read this review.

Another warning, from Corwin: “Never trust a relative. It is far worse than trusting strangers.”

Corwin has escaped from his brother’s prison and he’s ready for revenge. He doesn’t have the manpower that Eric has, so he needs a technological advantage. Traditional firearms don’t work in Amber, but Corwin once noticed that a jewelers’ rouge from the shadow world of Avalon, where he used to rule, is combustible in Amber. So here’s his plan: get some money (pretty easy to do when you can create your own worlds), purchase a huge amount of jeweler’s rouge, and commission some custom-made firearms that use show more the rouge to shoot silver bullets (he’s not sure other metals will work). Oh, and raise an army. No problem!

The problem is that Eric may no longer be the biggest threat in Amber. Because of Corwin’s curse, Amber is being assailed by the forces of Chaos. The evil is also manifest in the shadow worlds that Corwin is trying to exploit and he must frequently stop and deal with the nasty creatures it serves up. Along the way Corwin meets old friends and enemies, makes new friends and enemies, and does at least one more impetuous thing that will come back to bite him later.

In The Guns of Avalon (1972), Corwin, who had gained our sympathies in Nine Princes in Amber because of how he was treated by Eric, becomes something of an anti-hero. Because of his rash actions, beautiful Amber has been invaded by horror. Corwin realizes that he has caused much destruction, he knows he has wrought evil, and he tells himself that he hopes to destroy more evil than he creates. The reader begins to wonder, however, if Corwin is blinded by hate for his brother. Is Corwin’s claim to the throne legitimate enough to justify all the death and terror that he’s caused? We’re certainly not convinced that Corwin would be a better King than Eric is. Corwin is a rather ambiguous hero.

Still, it’s hard not to root for Amber, if not for Corwin himself. Roger Zelazny has created a magical world that we’re eager to explore, preferably in a time of peace. We haven’t had much chance to do so yet since we’ve only seen it from Corwin’s perspective, and that means that for most of the time we’ve been in Amber, we’ve been in the dungeon. At the end The Guns of Avalon Zelazny leaves us with many questions unanswered and two major twists. You’ll want to have the next book, Sign of the Unicorn, ready to go.

I’m listening to Alessandro Juliani narrate Audible Frontiers’ version of The Guns of Avalon. He’s doing a great job, though I did not like the Southern drawl that he chose for two of the major characters (they call it “Ambuh”). It didn’t seem appropriate. With so many characters, I think he feels that he must give each a distinctive voice, so to do that he’s using unlikely accents or vocal properties (e.g., hoarseness or high pitch) to make them unique. I think that’s a mistake, but other than that, his reading is very good. show less

Corwin's quest focuses on his revenge against his usurping brother Eric by gathering an army using guns and jeweler's rouge from the Shadow world of Avalon, where gunpowder works. While amassing his forces, he encounters allies like Ganelon and the mysterious Dara, faces a spreading darkness, the Black Road from Chaos, and ultimately returns to Amber to find it under siege, leading to Eric's death and Corwin becoming Regent, only to discover Dara's true, destructive intentions.

Now I had to find a place, a place resembling another place -- one which no longer existed. I located the path. I took it.

In [b:Nine Princes in Amber|92121|Nine Princes in Amber (The Chronicles of Amber #1)|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1416090973s/92121.jpg|1383240], Corwin attacked his brother Eric in Amber. He lost and was blinded and thrown in prison. Conveniently, Princes of Amber have a remarkable ability to heal. On top of that, Dworkin (who created the Trumps and knows more about the Pattern than probably anyone) just so happens to be locked up as well and pops into his cell.. One thing leads to another, and Corwin is free. Of course he wants to take another crack at the throne. How though?

Well, it turns out show more that once upon a time some hundreds of years ago (it's a bit unclear just how long the Princes of Amber can live), Corwin ruled in a Shadow named Avalon. [^1] And when he did, he made a potentially world changing discovery: Avalon had a gunpowder equivalent that works in Amber. Somehow or another though, Corwin's Avalon fell, but that's fine. Just find another Shadow of Avalon that's close enough. And bump into none other than Lancelot, because it's just that sort of story.

Along the way, he bumps into a supposed grand-niece, who can apparently walk the Pattern as Corwin and his siblings can, which is interesting. There is certainly more to that story that I'm sure we'll see later.

When we finally get back to Amber, there's a problem. Dark forces traveling on a Black Road that crosses from Shadow to Shadow are attacking. Corwin has to make a choice: use the opportunity to dethrone Eric and get his revenge or lose the element of surprise and use his guns to defend his home.

Overall, it's a pretty crazy book. It doesn't have quite the sense of wonder and discovery that Nine Princes had and I'm not really a fan of it leaning quite so heavily on Autherian mythology, but I personally like the story more. Corwin knows what's going on now, which makes for a rather more active (even if still not particularly likable) protagonist.

Good enough to read onwards. That's for sure.

[^1]: Yes. It's that Avalon. show less

Book 2 in the Amber Chronicles, this is another re-read of a book enjoyed years ago. In this, Corwin has escaped his ordeal as the prisoner of his brother Eric who has usurped the throne of Amber, the archetypal city on the real Earth, of which all other cities are a reflection (and all other worlds a reflection of that Earth, becoming increasingly less like the original the further away they are placed in the space-time continuum).

Corwin leaves, vowing to return and battle his brother Eric for the throne again, and to this end goes to a world called Lorraine which is similar to Avalon where he once ruled. He discovers that a dark circle has appeared there, in which hostile non-human creatures live, and that these creatures venture out show more to attack human beings and convert those who live in the vicinity into mindless slave warriors. The circle has been expanding in size for years, fought by King Uther who fell to its horned ruler in battle, and is now resisted by Ganelorn. Corwin initially conceals his indentity from Ganelorn, helped by the fact that he is underweight and looks much older than he did when Ganelorn knew him in the original Avalon, because Ganelorn rebelled against him there and was exiled to this world as a punishment. As time progresses, Corwin recovers his strength and health and eventually plays a decisive role in the battle against the dark circle.

This subplot forms only the first part of the novel because Corwin has ventured there to obtain a certain ingredient which can be used as a substitute for gunpowder in Amber, since normal gunpowder doesn't work there, and he wants to arm a new army with firearms. The rest of the story deals with the outcome of that, and his realisation that his curse in book 1 has resulted in a darkness cutting across all worlds in the form of a black road down which hideous creatures can travel straight into Amber. And he is about to make a fatal mistake which will worsen the situation for not only the inhabitants of Amber, but of all worlds.

As in the previous novel the role of women is problematic. Corwin has a briefly described relationship with a camp follower in the world of Lorraine, who is actually called Lorraine herself. She is an abused woman and although Corwin is superficially kinder to her than previous men, in the end he hits her when she reveals that she can see his father trying to contact him, and he then fails to save her from a previous abuser. Lorraine has precognitive abilities and seems resigned to her fate. Then Corwin is reunited with his brother Benedict and encounters a lively and feisty young woman, Dara, who is able to fence with him and who reveals she is Benedict's great grand-daughter. She shares the Amber family's traits of being able to walk through Shadow (travel between the worlds) and having greater than human strength. Sadly there is a downside which I won't spoil by revealing, but it does undercut the more positive portrayal of womanhood.

I enjoyed this story more than book 2 because the portrayal of the black road, the signs of conscience that Corwin occasionally shows, and the dynamics between him and his family members add more interest than the fairly skimpily and drabbly described battles that made up quite a lot of the first book. show less

Guns of Avalon picks up right where Nine Princes in Amber leaves off, with Corwin who is still recovering from his ordeal in Amber searching out a shadow close to the land of Avalon which he once knew. However he gets intercepted on course and finds that he has to face the consequences of his previous actions and fight his own demons.

The first half of this book flows exactly as Nine Princes did, fast paced and exciting as ever. The political intrigue is still as present as ever and the decisions of who to trust are getting harder and harder for Corwin, new to 'Guns of Avalon' is the romance element, element is possibly too strong a word as it barely exists, but it is there, and referenced every now and again; not unlike the instance show more with Moira in Nine Princes.

However the second half (or maybe just the last third) of the book disappointed me a little. It was still a good read, but I felt that the pacing had gone a little off course. Not sure what about this irks me, as probably just as much occurred in this section but it didn't seem to flow as well as the first part did. Maybe it's simply that the middle of a story is the most boring part? I shall endevour to find out as I speed into the third Amber book. show less

A reread. Corwin of Amber has escaped from a dungeon and suddenly remembers he knows the secret ingredient to make a superweapon that will win him the throne and get revenge on his brothers. I bet he wishes he'd remembered that sooner. When I read this book in middle school, I didn't know the title was a pun about The Guns of Navarone.