The Hand of Oberon

Heredity or environment? I wondered wryly. We were all of us, to some degree, mad after his fashion. To be honest, it had to be a form of madness, to have so much and to strive so bitterly for just a little more, for a bit of an edge over the others. He carried this tendency to its extreme, that is all. He was a caricature of this mania in all of us. In this sense, did it really matter which of us was the traitor?

This time around, Corwin et all go to the Primal Pattern (because that's a thing now) and manage to figure out what could have caused the Black Road and all the troubles that's been causing them. We proceed to get a pile more backstory / world building from Dworkin (Who is apparently Corwin's grandfather?) and head off for show more some fun™ in the Courts of Chaos.

Upon returning, we figure out who the big bad of the whole series thus far is (Brand, apparently. Makes enough sense, I guess.). The rest of the story is mostly a game of keep away as Corwin et al try to keep the big bad away from the Pattern(s)--we keep getting more of them that are 'close enough'[^1].

Overall, it's a solid enough book. It's nice to see a real villain and get some answers for what's actually been going on this whole time, even if it feels a bit abrupt. We do learn a bit more about how Corwin is growing and changing along. He's almost starting to feel like a worthwhile King now, rather than the just-as-bad-as-his-siblings feel from the first book.

Finally: That last sentence. So Ganelon was Oberon all along? All right then.Did not see that coming. In hindsight, it makes more sense why Genelon could run across the Primal Pattern at the beginning of the book. Not sure what to think about it. We'll have to see how that works out in [b:The Courts of Chaos|359581|The Courts of Chaos (The Chronicles of Amber #5)|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1417786728s/359581.jpg|1867046].

[^1]: Which supports the previous concern I had with the series: why in the world don't the various Princes of Amber just make their own kingdoms to rule? If there are four Patterns that are all sufficient enough for for these purposes (Amber, Rebma, Tir-na Nog'th, and Primal)... Is Amber really that special? show less

Finally making my way through this whole series after reading just the first book 20 years ago.

Loving the fact the books are nice and short and I'm just powering through them. Finally taking a moment to write a review after book 4 before I go into the finale..... and most likely continue into the extension 5 books of the series.

I'd be giving this more than 5 stars if I could. Loving the plot twists which others might predict but I haven't seen any really coming. Also love the fact that everything has been so well thought out. There are things that occurred in all 3 of the first books that become puzzle pieces falling perfectly into place.

Can't wait to get into the 5th book. There is one character in particular that I expect much more show more light to finally be shed on. show less

If you've come this far with this gang of Machiavellian misfits, you obviously like the books. Volume 4 holds the reader's attention by making the plot of the series more complicated--if that is even possible. Zelazny does offer the reader a much-needed recap of the first three books, as well as something more important: an explanation of why the characters don't simply just live in any Shadow of their own design. "I never enjoy meeting people who remind me of other people," Corwin explains. "Personality is the one thing we cannot control in our manipulations of Shadow. In fact, it is the means by which we can tell one another from shadows of ourselves." In other words, once you know what reality is really like--once you are "attuned" show more to it, as the characters all say about Corwin and the Jewel of Judgment--you notice all the imperfections in any Shadow. The old song that claimed "Ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby" applies here. One can't pretend that Subway is as good as Tastee Subs. Cubic zirconia is not the same as a diamond.

Of course, the reader, being Shadow-bound, cannot wholly appreciate this, never having seen Amber. All we know is our Shadow existence.

Zelazny keeps up the fun of the plotting, but also raises issues more primal: the idea of the black road, the mark of sacrifice on the primal pattern, seems like something sprung from the collective unconscious. A sin and a curse that mark a family through time and space is an archetype to which readers readily respond. At least this one did. As I've said in other reviews, I'm rereading these since I first read them in high school thirty years ago, so everything I write is glazed over with nostalgia. But they still hold up as page-turners, and unpretentious ones to boot. I'm looking forward to rereading Volume 5. show less

Finally there gets to be too much back-story - this book has a major data-dump in the second chapter. The real problem with it, though, is that while it would serve to remind someone who'd previously read the other books of what had happened, I suspect it would leave a new reader more confused than before - too much specific vocabulary that only makes sense in context. Then the fight with Gerard - yeah, no. The strength of the princes of Amber has been a major part of the story all along; Gerard is the strongest of them, Corwin couldn't beat him - and _Ganelon_ takes him out? Riiiight. The surprise at the end was no surprise. Though I had read the whole series before and knew he wasn't dead - I'd forgotten how he came back, though. And show more yet again, someone tells their story and the whole picture shifts - sheesh. I really hate that, when the author tells you a set of facts then informs you that 90% of it was lies, or at least shaded truth. I'd forgotten how much of Amber was that kind of unreliable narration. And like the last, this book doesn't really end - it just stops at an interesting revelation. show less

Corwin has a solid team with him now: In section four of the Amber series, Brand emerges as a major character and villain. Brand is the brother who had been imprisoned for so many years, and finally in this book we learn why, and Corwin regrets ever releasing him from his prison.

Which raises a question for me. Why didn't Fiona tell her brothers and sisters about the danger that Brand brought with him? Why didn't Fiona explain why Brand was imprisoned? It really isn't enough to just say that Fiona didn't trust her siblings.

Zelazny is a master of storytelling in certain ways. He can keep us very interested. He can tell us a story from various perspectives. He can mislead us by telling the story from a villain's devious point of view, show more and then re-tell it from someone else's. He is the one to determine what we know and what we don't know.

This reminds me of what he does in the first book of the series, when he tells his story through Corwin, and Corwin has amnesia. It is Zelazny's way of controlling what Corwin knows, and what we know. Zelazny does it again here, telling us a story as narrated by Brand to Corwin, and then telling us the same story, only "the truth" this time, by a more honest sibling than Brand.

Throughout this book and previous books I found myself wondering about Ganelon. He's stronger and smarter than Corwin. He protects Corwin from a stronger brother. And here I thought that the sons and daughters of Oberon were so much more powerful than mere humans like Ganelon. Not so. Ganelon kicks some serious butt, against a sibling of Corwin. And it is Ganelon, all along, who is coming up with all the ideas and analysis. At the end of The Hand Of Oberon, this seeming flaw in the story is more than explained, and it is no flaw. When something doesn't seem to make sense, there is a reason.

I don't like the way Zelazny resolves his conflicts. One minute there's a whole heck of a lot of trouble, and the next minute it's over, something magical has intervened, problem is solved, thank you very much. The magic arm does WHAT? Oh come on.

It reminds me of something in the Lord of the Rings movies. One moment the good guys would be surrounded by bad guys, and it would be looking very bad for them, and the next moment the victory has been attained, the bad guys routed, and the good guys none the worse for wear. Remember when King Theoden was surrounded by wargs? Poof, battle over, no more wargs, we win, break out the champagne. Zelazny does that too. Hey, poof, we win, don't worry about it guys.

Another of Zelazny's tricks is to switch good guy - bad guy on us. This fellow is a good guy. No he's not, he's a bad guy. This other bad guy is a good guy now. Son of a gun.

Anyway, this series has finally graduated from three stars to four, as Zelazny's storytelling outweighs the things about his writing style that I don't like. What I dislike most is when he goes on and on telling us about shifting worlds as we travel "through shadow" or the incomprehensible style he uses when describing the ghost world. All the incomprehensible stuff leaves me cold. show less

Part four in the Amber Chronicles, and the part I loved best. Corwin figures out more of what is going on and the history of Amber and his family, and some story lines come together. The story continues on, and I liked this one best because it seemed to offer some answers to questions that had been asked in earlier books. I especially liked (and only expected a little) the ending. Four out of five stars.

Again, a good continuation of the Amber books. It seems a bit silly to write a review for each one, when in fact the five books are written more as chapters of one book. The cliffhangers at the end are such that you always wish to continue with the next book. My opinion hasn't changed, nice world, characters could be more sympathetic, and it would have been better to ease up on the travel descriptions. Nice touch: the reason for the book's name appears really at the very end!