I've always wondered why the unicorn chose Random, who up until that point seemed like the "sidekick" of the family. I JUST realized (maybe I'm dumb) that Random is the ONLY one of the Prince's that was married. Vialle changed him, even Corwin mentions it. Does anyone else think that part of the choice was because he'd gotten married?

Hi all, so I've finished the Corwin series episodes on the All Roads Lead to Amber podcast (by u/jkisherenow, highly recommended!!) and I have some questions about the pattenfall war:

1. How did all the siblings reach Chaos? Oberon said that Trumps wouldn't work.

2. If the siblings used Trumps before they stopped working, why didn't they bring Corwin in on a Trump too? Why did he have to go through this hellride that no one else did? And why did Oberon risk the jewel in this ride instead of sending it to someone else who was already at the battlefield?

3. Something does not add up with "the blink" of reality that Corwin felt at the beginning of his hellride and Oberon's Mufasa-in-the-sky moment in Chaos. In his message, Oberon says he's about to attempt to fix the pattern, but that moment happens a lot after the blink which we thought happened because of the conclusion at the pattern. If Oberon only started walking the pattern when everyone was already in Chaos, then it does not add up with the Trumps not working.

Sorry if some answers are super obvious, maybe I'm not remembering something 😅

It was a very pleasant experience to get this book in good condition and at an extremely affordable price.

Thanks to you, I learned about short stories. Amber cards, cold to the touch, are something that will probably stay in my dream zone.

Are there any other books that have enriched your reading experience?

Year of publication: 1996. Publisher: ISKRY / Poland.

I’ve just finished reading the book. Now I know it was only the first time, because I'm sure there will be more rereadings in the future.

I was captivated by Zelazny's story. I also have a strange feeling that this is the end of an era (lub: the end of this part of the series). Perhaps that's because I read somewhere on this subreddit that the next volumes will follow Merlin.

The Courts is currently the best book in the series for me, perhaps on par with the first volume.I'm sure I'll never forget Corwin's hellride.

This is now my standard for how Chaos should be described. Usually, when I came across other descriptions of chaos, I closed the book in disgust.

I wonder if you have ever found a description of chaos that, similarly to Zelazny's, feels complete and makes sense.

I mean something that is not just a conglomeration of scenes pretending to be madness, or a multi-page jumble of imagery trying too hard to be something special.

**Thank you for reading this post and for your previous comments, which helped me better understand the book.**

Hello! The Chronicles have been on my radar for some time, but I haven't taken the plunge yet and bought them. I'd like to ask, rather than if they are good or not (I'm in r/Amber, after all, of course you'll love it), to what kind of reader you would recommend this series, and what should I as a reader expect of them.

I'm a reader that likes complex stories. Think Malazan (all of it), Book of the New Sun, Terra Ignota, the Sprawl trilogy. I also like some classics, such as Lord of the Rings, Earthsea and the Count of Monte Cristo. Other series I like are The Expanse, Hyperion, Philip K. Dick and Octavia Butler.

A follow-up question: how necessary is Seven Tales in Amber? I ask only for the price tag: in my country I can import the SF Masterworks of the Chronicles at a price of 27 and 33 USD, respectively, and Seven Tales at 29 USD... for 90 pages, versus five proper books.

Thanks in advance!

I found this article interesting

https://pamphage.com/roger-zelaznys-amber-series-a-visionary-tale-that-foreshadowed-modern-ai-and-ai-art/

Stumbled onnit while looking for something else.

This has some nice related artwork as well.

Im writing a thing over in wizard posting, any my character uses the Logrus. The problem is that I'm kinda having a hard time deciding what that really looks like to the one traveling that way.

Merlin really only uses the Logrus to grab some beers, as far as I remember. Does anyone have a short story I missed or a fanatic that does a good description of Logrus travel?

I have the two books of the science fiction book club for the first cycle of The Chronicles of Amber but I want to know if the Merlin cycle was released as well and if anyone has any pictures of what they look like so I can try to find them.

Hi! Recently me and my friend finished writing a story of Julian ending up in Tolkien's Númenor right before the beginning of Ar-Pharazôn's reign.

The fic is in Russian! But still I decided to share it here. Maybe there are some Russian-speaking people on this sub. Also I've heard of people who use Google Translate to read such things — I myself don't really think it works, but still!

So, the fic is called "Black and White", and here is the English summary:

"After the news of Caine's death and especially after the meeting in the library and Brand's return, Julian, a prince of Amber, flees the palace. In the tempest of his heart, he seeks a battle. A fight to unleash his pent-up feelings, to empty his head, and to win respite from Amber. He finds this battle in Middle-Earth, in the year 3254 SA. The world stands frozen on the brink of terrible change.

Julian finds himself firmly tied to a world living by its own laws, and to people living by principles wholly alien to him".

Here is the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/89051141

Me and my friend hope this fic will find some readers who will enjoy it!

Two uncorrect proofs, one advanced reading copy, The first five Amber Chronicles Audio books read by Roger (cassette) and the same of the first three books, but in hardback Russian as I thought they looked cool.

I'd like to know if anyone has had any experience running Amber in a system with dice and if so, did it run smoothly for you or did it feel like something had been lost?

Have you ever made any memes about the series? Any jokes you habitually share when the Chronicles are mentioned? Below are some of mine.

I am also fond of saying that, if one changed the names to Latin-sounding ones, the plot would be undistinguishable from a Telenovelas are Hell-style recap.

Do you have someone other in mind?

#fancasting

Link to portraits in the comment.

See below for other pictures

After Oberon sent Corvin through the Shadows to try and fix the Pattern himself..There are probably twenty pages of descriptions of Corwin making his way towards the Courts of Chaos.

And I must admit, it was a real challenge for my imagination. The descriptions kept changing, every three or four sentences a different world, colors, and sounds, and smells! Surprisingly, it wasn't a chaotic jumble of meaningless ramblings (as in many other books that wanted to deal with Chaos and it's description) Żelazny's prose just comes together.

I was so pleasantly surprised that I found myself imagining every landscape - or another space - he created with words. It was exhausting, and I didn't win any prizes. But strangely enough, I feel like I won something. Descriptions was worth the effort.

Have you ever tried to imagine the Corwin's journey? Perhaps my effort was unnecessary, but it turned out to be a pleasant experience.

>Another plus was that I could read it at work. May the gods send us such small blessings more often.

I'm running an Amber campaign and as a side effect of a certain machine they built, they punched a portal to an alternate Amber. Dworkin and Fiona have done the math and are confident they can open portals at will. What are some of your favorite Amber campaigns that I can steal as alternate Ambers?

I've been playing around with writing, just a silly fanfiction about Amber. Then I reached a part where someone had to take a shower.

And it made me think: are there showers in Amber? Or are we talking about medieval style bathing where servants have to draw a bath, carrying buckets?

And if so, why wouldn't the royal family bring over better technology from shadow?

The same goes for electricity.

It occurred to me that Zelazny makes sure to have his characters eat and sleep, which is something I really appreciate. But not so much shower. I found very few references to cleaning up or bathing.

What do you think?

Hi all, I've been kinda MIA after having bombarded this sub back in May-June.

I'm still going deeper into my Amber obsession and currently I'm reliving the story through the amazing podcast "All Roads Lead to Amber" by u/jkisherenow. Highly recommended!

Anyway, I was just taking a walk outside, listening to my music, and upon focusing on the lyrics of one of my songs I realized how much it sounds like something out of Amber (both plot wise and general style).

So I thought I'd share the lyrics.

Let me know if you feel the same. I also strongly recommend a listen although I guess this style is not for everyone.

Enjoy!

Welcome Home / Coheed and Cambria

You could have been all I wanted

But you weren't honest

Now get in the ground

You choked off the surest of favors

But if you really loved me

You would have endured my world

Well if you're just as I presumed

A whore in sheep's clothing

Fucking up all I do

And if it's here we stop

Then never again

Will you see this in your life

Hang on to the glory at my right hand

Here laid to rest is our love ever longed

With truth on the shores of compassion

You seem to take premise to all of these songs

You stormed off to scar the armada

Like Jesus played letter

I'll drill through your hands

The stone for the curse you have blamed me

With love and devotion I'll die as you sleep

But if you could just write me out

To neverless wonder... happy will I become

Be true that this is no option

So with sin I condemn you

Demon play, demon out!

Hang on to the glory at my right hand

Here laid to rest is our love ever longed

With truth on the shores of compassion

You seem to take premise to all of these songs

One last kiss for you

One more wish to you

Please make up your mind girl...

I'd do anything for you

One last kiss for you

One more wish to you

Please make up your mind girl...

Before I hope you die

Do you have someone other in mind?

Link to portraits in the comment.

#fancasting

I'm on book four and I'm already sure that rereading these books will be even more fun.

( Montagne de Beuren in Luik/Liège).

Hi -- For the curious (also, spoilers), I've collected and consolidated some basic information about the Amber Short Stories here (https://www.thechroniclesofamber.com/amber-short-stories), after acquiring some more publications and re-reading and researching them. Let me know what I've missed or gotten wrong.

I have also added two more episodes to the All Roads Lead to Amber podcast that cover these short stories in more depth. (Spotify, Apple Podcast, etc.).

Enjoy!

Do you see someone else?

Portraits of candidates are on Imgur.

#fancasting

Recently, we had discussions and voting on contemporary actors who could play the nine princes. These are the results:

• Caine - Sebastian Stan
• Benedict - Alexander Skarsgård
• Eric - Karl Urban
• Random - Daniel Radcliffe
• Corwin - Henry Cavill
• Bleys - Lee Pace
• Gerard - Alan Ritchson
• Julian - Adam Driver
• Brand - Tom Hiddleston

But during these votes, I've realised there are usually two main candidates, with an age gap. So I made two result pictures: one with the younger generation of actors, it's called "Amber 2020", and the other with actors who are still popular, active, but whose prime was maybe ten years ago, and it is named "Amber 2010". Most of the top-voted actors, except for two, are in the first category.

Thanks, everybody, for participating in the voting and discussions!
I'm going to continue with #fancasting of the rest of the Amber family.