The Guns of Avalon
I'm still torn about this series. I'll keep going, mostly because the books are so short and there's enough here to keep me interested. If nothing else, it's fun to see the things my favorite authors have taken from this series and improved on. The wry language, the periodic breaking of the fourth wall, the fluid dimensions, the god-like protagonists learning about empathy. This series contains the bones of my favorite fantasy.
But it's frustrating to know how much better this could be and not see it realized. This is mostly in regards to the women in the series. We get two new female characters in this book, and while they are an improvement over the previous book (five sisters summed up as "bitches, all" and one queen who shows up just long enough to have sex with Corwin), there's still something to be desired here.
First there's Lorraine, who at least manages to feel like a person. She seems to be living her life on her terms, tragic as they are. It'd be better if she wasn't fridged, but for a chapter there things seemed good. Then there's Dora, who really has my attention.
At first, I was squicked out by Dora - an eighteen year old who seems to seduce her great-grandfather's brother (gods, sigh) for information. And Corwin just goes along with it. But once it was revealed that she was so much more than she seemed (and almost definitely not related to Corwin) I was hooked. It's too bad that happened in the final pages, though it was a nice, exciting twist.
So I wonder how much of this is just growing pains. Corwin is ruthless, but he seems to be learning how to be a person. We finally seem to be getting to the meat of the story, as the initial problems have been dealt with and the far more sinister problems are being revealed. Like I said, I'll stick with it. I hope Zelazny continues to improve as he goes. In the meantime, there are enough enjoyable moments to keep me interested.
But it's frustrating to know how much better this could be and not see it realized. This is mostly in regards to the women in the series. We get two new female characters in this book, and while they are an improvement over the previous book (five sisters summed up as "bitches, all" and one queen who shows up just long enough to have sex with Corwin), there's still something to be desired here.
First there's Lorraine, who at least manages to feel like a person. She seems to be living her life on her terms, tragic as they are. It'd be better if she wasn't fridged, but for a chapter there things seemed good. Then there's Dora, who really has my attention.
At first, I was squicked out by Dora - an eighteen year old who seems to seduce her great-grandfather's brother (gods, sigh) for information. And Corwin just goes along with it. But once it was revealed that she was so much more than she seemed (and almost definitely not related to Corwin) I was hooked. It's too bad that happened in the final pages, though it was a nice, exciting twist.
So I wonder how much of this is just growing pains. Corwin is ruthless, but he seems to be learning how to be a person. We finally seem to be getting to the meat of the story, as the initial problems have been dealt with and the far more sinister problems are being revealed. Like I said, I'll stick with it. I hope Zelazny continues to improve as he goes. In the meantime, there are enough enjoyable moments to keep me interested.
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