FMS – Chronicles of Amber

From My Shelves is a series that looks at some of my favorite items in my personal media collections.


The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny (1970-91) – Our world is merely a shadow of the true worlds, Amber and the Courts of Chaos.  Infinite possibilities stretch between the two poles of reality and the initiates of both can walk through and manipulate those shadows.  The ten core stories follow two primary characters.  The first five follow Corwin, one of the sons of Oberon, and a prince of Amber.  The second follow Corwin’s son Merlin.  Merlin’s mother, Dara, is a member of the nobility of the Courts of Chaos, which offers Merlin unique status at both ends of reality.

This is, I believe, one of the greatest fantasy/science fiction series of all times.  It’s pretty well known in the fandom but remains largely unknown to the general public (as compared to Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones [series proper name is A Song of Fire and Ice] or even Dune).  Zelazny is a wonderful story teller and writer, who finds endless inspiration in a magical concept of parallel universes.  You get all the kinds of combat (not just sword and shield) plus court intrigue while still telling the story in familiar surroundings in our own shadows.

The story arcs have different feels to them, which is totally appropriate.  Corwin and Merlin are from two different generations and see the world very differently.  The Corwin stories have a touch of the hard-boiled detective story while Merlin’s stories are more of a computer literate younger generation.  Merlin studied Computer Science at Cal Berkely in our shadow world as he searched for his father. That change in story telling tone sets off some readers but I enjoy it.

This is one of the series that I return to time and again.  The storytelling is tight and the focus is clear.  At the same time, you don’t lose any complexity in the story.  Great characters and a great story.

Zelazny was a member of the generation that began to really stretch the boundaries of what science fiction and fantasy could be.  It didn’t have to be bug-eyed monster, spaceships and knights in shining armor.  He drew on many different inspirations to create new and unique fictional worlds.

Of all of them, there is none I love more than Amber.