Bookish Thoughts

It was sheer stubbornness that pulled me on to the end of this series. And because of that, I'm not even going to attempt the second Amber arc. But I finished it, and that feels like an accomplishment of some sort. At first I was excited that this series was comprised of such short books. Indeed, I probably wouldn't have finished this one if it had been any longer. But I bet I would have enjoyed the story a lot more had the books been longer. As it was there were so many twists and turns that came so fast I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. And then I got bored because as soon as I accepted one story it changed all over again. So why bother caring? This story needed more room to breath. There were entirely too many characters which meant that most of them got the short shrift. Plenty of relationships were stated rather than ever being explored. And given how many times Corwin had the wool pulled over his eyes, it was hard to really trust his assessments of his sibli...

At this point in the series there are so many lies and half-truths and shifting alliances that it's getting exhausting. No sooner do we learn what someone did and why then it's revealed that half of what they said was a lie. It's getting easier to root for Corwin, if only because he's the only character whose motivations are wholly revealed to the audience. I'm bored by these books at this point. But the ten-book series is actually two five-book series. And the next book, the last in this arc, is less than 100 pages long. So I'll finish it. Then I'll take a break and see if I care enough to try the second series. Which is about a different character and sounds like it might be about something different. And is called Trumps of Doom , which is such an appealing title right now. For now I just can't bring myself to care about Corwin and his family and whether or not they win. I want more from my fantasy. More characterization, more intricate worlds. No...

I've made it through the third book in the Chronicles of Amber, and it feels like this story is finally starting. More than the books that came before it, this one felt like a solid beginning. I'm finally caught up with everything that happened before the series started (I think), and I'm ready to see what happens next. Also, the book ends on a hell of a cliffhanger that has me chomping at the bit to dive into the next one. But I'm trying to hold myself back, because I can see myself easily getting sick of this series. Better to keep the anticipation ratcheted up, so I can use it's momentum to get through all ten books. As excited as I am about the third book, I should say that it's basically an extended info dump, punctuated with brief action scenes that mostly serve to keep Corwin from acting on his information prematurely. One by one, he makes his way through various family members, putting together what happened while he was suffering from amnesia and how ...

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...

I've been meaning to read Zelazny for a long time now. I read a lot of fantasy and science fiction, and he's always there on the periphery. Most of my favorite authors cite him as one of their favorite authors. I get the impression that he is as foundational to the genre as Tolkien, Asimov, and LeGuin. And so when two fantastic books that I read back to back ( Among Others  and Radiance ) both referenced him, I decided it was finally time to seek  him out. While it may have made more sense to start with one of his stand-alone novels, his epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Amber  called to me. It helped that I found the entire ten-book saga published as a single omnibus, which saved me money (at the expense of my wrists, but alas). What's interesting is that all ten books published together are the same length as a single book in Wheel of Time, The Stormlight Archive , or The Kingkiller Chronicle . Each individual book is less than 200 pages. So I was surprised whe...