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Roger Zelazny's books have three things in common: a flawed hero who sometimes fails, endlessly surprising plot twists, and a blend of lyricism, literary allusions, and sly puns that makes the pages fly.The Great Book of Amber, collecting all 10 Amber novels, is vintage Zelazny.Despite some irritating typographical errors, it's invaluable for anyone who wants to read or reread the tales of Corwin and his son, Merlin.

Corwin is a prince of Amber, the "immortal city from which every other city has taken its shape." All other worlds, including Earth, are shadows of that reality. Corwin has spent centuries on Earth as an amnesiac.But when someone in the family tries to kill him there, Corwin begins a search for his past. He quickly learns that his family has some very unusual powers. They can travel between Amber, its shadows, and Chaos by manipulating reality; use magical playing cards to communicate and travel instantaneously; and are able to walk the Pattern that created Amber. Corwin regains his memory, solves the mystery ofhis father Oberon's disappearance, and fulfills his destiny--only to disappear into Chaos.

Merlin searches for Corwin and his destiny as a son of both Amber and the Courts of Chaos.His story parallels Corwin's, answering many questions about Amber, Chaos, and the next generation in the family.

Many readers have complained that the series goes on too long and the ending is disappointing.None, however, would deny that it's filled with fascinating ideas, complex characters, and action-adventure.Don't miss a chance to make up your own mind. --Nona Vero Book Description
All ten of Roger Zelzany's classic Amber fantasy novels in one book! Join Corwin, Merlin and the others in wild adventures in the lands of Amber, Earth, and the Courts of Chaos, where the powers of Amber and Chaos constantly battle for supremacy through intrigue and adventure. Revisit Amber, the land of mystery, adventure and romance. Amber, the one true world. All other worlds, including our Earth, are merely Shadows. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (202)

To Rule in Shadow or Serve in Amber?
Zelazny's Amber books are one of the best fantasy series ever written, and the great book of Amber which combines all 10 novels into a single massive volume is one of the best book deals available.No fan of sci-fi or fantasy should should go through life without knowing what it means to walk through shadow.
--- Glenn G. Thater, Author of 'Harbinger of Doom'.

Still ranks as the most imaginative, complex and entertaining sci fi series ever.
I got the original entry in this series--The Nine Princes of Amber, shortly after it was first published back in 1970 as a birthday gift.I was hooked on the Amber concept--and most anything by Zelazny--from that point forward.

Over the years my tastes in reading materials has changed and I seldom read sci fi anymore.However, recently I found myself needing a gift for a high school freshman I am mentoring and I though about the Amber books.My plan was to get the first one and see how he liked it.However, I saw they had this compendium and figured what the heck and bought it for him.

We got to talking about it as he read through it and I was impressed with how the books power has held up to the test of time.He loved it, gave it to his friends and in fact told me recently he'd need to get another copy as his friends had worn the one I gave him completely out.

I went ahead and bought myself a copy as well and have been truly enjoying the breadth and depth of the Worlds of Amber and Chaos for several weeks now.

In reality I suppose that this series is more fantasy than sci fi but whatever it is the fact remains that it one of the great achievements of it's genre and a book that has proven that generation after generation can immerse itself in the worlds that Zelazny created to achieve a truly enduring sense of literary satisfaction that remains an all too rare occurrence these days.

If you have a sci fi/fantasy lover in your circle, you can never go wrong by introducing them to this wonderful and enduring series.

The Great Book of Amber
Roger Zelazny was certainly one of the greatest writers in the science fiction/fantasy genre. He was very inconsistent, though. When he got it right it was an incredible piece of work, when he got it wrong it was a challenge just to finish reading the book. Fortunately, The Great Book of Amber falls into the former category.

This version puts all ten of the Amber novels into one book. The only thing that would've made this truly complete would've been to include the short stories that involve Amber. The value, though, for this book is incredible; buying each individual novel will force you to spend double to get what is here.

The Amber Chronicles is actually two different series of five novels apiece. The first five follow Corwin, one of the Princes of Amber. The second five follow Merlin, Corwin's son. Of the two series, the first set is the superior one. There's a certain magic in those books that aren't quite repeated in the follow-up series.

Basically, Amber is the only real world in the entire universe. Earth, in other words, is just a shadow of Amber. Imagine Amber as being at one end of the universe while the Courts of Chaos at the other end. Earth falls just about in the middle of these two points. In essence, then, these stories involve the conflict between Order & Chaos. These novels are fantasy but not of the traditional deep fantasy stuff; much of the story takes place on modern Earth.

I highly recommend this version of the Amber novels. It's the most economical way to obtain these, I only wish that it featured some sort of bonus features (such as the short stories). We lovers of Amber are craving more stories & information. Yes, I know there is another trilogy out there by another author that I have yet to read, but is it really the same thing?

The Amber series in one big volume
Like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series (ane the Hobbit), Asimov's Foundation series, almost anything by Heinlein, I enjoy reading the stories in Zelazny's Amber series.

The covers were falling off my individual paperbacks, and it was getting hard to find all the stories in paperback when I stumbled across this collection in a local Barnes & Noble. That original copy went home with my daughter and this copy now sits on my shelf.

What's not to love?
Roger Zelazny is unique in implementation of a style, written as if it were being spoken while you read the page Roger Zelazny gives life to Amber, and subsequently in the second half to the Courts of Chaos. The thing with Roger Zelazny's works regardless of whatever book you pick up is you have to be able to read between the lines. There is a plot withibn a plot within a plot in all the Amber novels. Are their unanswered questions? sure - that is part of Amber's charm is teh unanswered question. I can only give it 4 stars because of the horrid implementation of what could have been a master work ... Read more

Book Description
A riotous new fantasy series that will challenge the funniest the field has to offer--from the creator of the bestselling Amber series and one of the genre's legendary humorists. Azzy Elbub, demon, has his sights set on the Millenial Evil Deeds Award, given to the being whose acts do the most toward reshaping the world. But his evil plans go far astray. . . . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Not Free SF Reader
A fantasy comedy.You have fairy tale spoofs, of course, here.A demon goes about trying to win an evilness competition.Hilarity ensues.Think Good Omens crossed with Xanth, or that sort of thing.The demon is not that bad a guy, it seems, when you see things from his point of view, and what he has to get up to just to get along, particularly putting up with incompetent humans, and others.Fairly funny.

Not Quite Charmed
Zelazny always had a little bit of fun with his stories of various supernatural beings, and Sheckley was known for writing with a bit of tongue in cheek, so this novel portraying the exploits of one demon, Azzie Elbub, should have been a hand's down snap for them.

Indeed, the book starts smartly, as Azzie, through the fortuitous happening of someone in Hell grabbing a soul too early, and the higher ups not wanting to deal with the resulting lawsuit (obviously, lawyers are much worse than demons), gets to escort the poor soul back to the world of the living. Once there, finding it is the year 1000, and time for the millennial contest between Heaven and Hell for who will hold sway on Earth for the next 1000 years, Azzie conceives of a great plan for winning the contest. He will re-create the fairy tale of Prince Charming and Sleeping Beauty, but with one small difference: the Prince will be so much of coward that his quest will fail miserably, proving that man's basest desires and emotions are not noble, but belong to the Dark Angel.

For much of the first half of the book, things cook along quite merrily, given Azzie's problems obtaining the necessary body parts, the infuriating blockages he runs into at the otherworldly supply depot (What? You only have one castle in stock? And it takes how long to set up an Enchanted Forest?), more problems preserving and assembling his body parts into appropriate wholes, etc. But once all these preliminaries are completed, a lot of the fun seems to go away, and the story seems to gallop off in too many different directions at once, with the appearance of a Heavenly Angel to oversee his project, Prince Charming not reacting well to instruction, kidnappings, witches, dragons, etc. The book staggers from one incident to the next, with little cohesiveness to the plot, and worse, an almost total disappearance of all the funny wry jokes.

The ending is almost anti-climactic, and quite a letdown from the expectations raised by the beginning of the book. Net result: still quite readable, but not anywhere near the class of his Jack of Shadows, and even falling shy of his A Night in Lonesome October.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

A brilliant, very funny novel that fizzles toward the end
Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming starts out like gangbusters, starts to hit some slow patches midway through, and sort of just fizzles at the end, but it's still a very funny book by the writing duo of Roger Zelazny and Robert Sheckley.The main character is Azzie Elbub, a demon who finally gets the chance to get out of the pits and go back up to earth, thanks to the Grim Reaper's slightly premature harvesting of a certain soul; even the devil wants nothing to do with lawsuits, so he sends Azzie along to make sure the not-dead guy makes an easy transition back into life.Azzie's luck is even better than he initially thinks, as his return to earth just so happens to fall in the days leading up to the year 1000.Every millennium, the forces of Good and Evil stage a contest to determine who will control the universe for the next ten centuries.Azzie just so happens to have a great idea to pitch to the Millennial Evil Deeds committee.He will recreate the whole Sleeping Beauty-Prince Charming story, but this time evil will rise up and destroy any chance of a happily ever after ending.Having gotten his idea approved and received an unlimited credit card for the purchase of necessary supplies, he sets to work.He needs a good assistant, of course, and a couple of castles, and an Enchanted Forest which simply must have flaming trees and such, and of course he will need a fitting Prince Charming and Sleeping Beauty.Here is where the magic of his plan really shines, as he takes parts from different bodies and brings them together in an act of magical creation that guarantees, he thinks, the success of his nefarious plan.Thus, his Prince Charming has the legs of one of mankind's biggest cowards, Sleeping Beauty gets such nifty features as a left arm born for stealing, etc.

Of course, Azzie faces obstacles along the way.His otherworldly suppliers are less than cooperative with his requisition requests, he has to deal with an angel of good overseeing his whole operation (no cheating, even for Evil), and his initial plans for micro-managing the activities of Prince Charming in particular have to be rethought several times over.He does have an old witch flame at his side, and the god Hermes can always be counted upon to give good advice, but Azzie keeps falling into little traps set by little girls wanting wishes, dwarves who don't take kindly to having their precious gems forcibly loaned out, and other magical snares.

Unfortunately, the novel's cohesion threatens to come apart at the seams as the novel progresses.There is never a sense of discontinuity between both authors; rather, it is as if another author failed to deliver his part of the whole story.Transitions become much more rapid and forced, certain minor characters seem to be forgotten along the way, and the climax comes and goes so fast you might miss it.The idea behind the story is brilliant, and the authors clearly start out with the power and will to make it work, but something goes wrong along the way, making the second half of the novel feel forced and unsatisfying.Still, though, there is a lot of fun and laughs to be found in these pages, and the reader's thoughts about what could have been do not necessarily destroy the entertainment value of this farcical fantasy.

Harmless diversion
This novel is definitely worth reading, especially if a reader is looking for relaxation and fluff.The story is a cute, fast read.It promises more than it delivers, but I did not begrudge the authors as I certainly enjoyed the time spent.In actually reminds me of a "Myth" book that mythed its mark...good for rainy or sick days.

Fun story
I really enjoyed this unique twist on the popular fairy tale. It was funny, and well done. I actually loaned this book to someone who never returned it. Guess that speaks for how well it was written. Anyway, I enjoyed this book and will definately purchase it again but this time I am NOT loaning it out! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Another strong entry in The Chronicles of Amber.
...And on into the fourth book of The Chronicles of Amber. It's been a pleasant journey, as the series keeps getting better. (I started out not particularly liking the first book.) This is fun, escapist fare, chock full of melodrama, scheming, betrayal, and cliffhangers. What more could you want from this kind of read? There are some dry patches during which characters explicate at length -- too much telling, too little showing, as I used to hear in creative writing class. But then things pick up again, and by the time this book ends I'm yearning to pick up book five and find out what happens next!

Not Free SF Reader
Corwin and Random discover a problem with the Primal Pattern, and set out to work out what happened to it.Corwin needs Dworkin's aid for this, and contacts him.

At the end, he realises things have been fitting together way too neatly, and discovers what Oberon has actually been up to.

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, 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.

An Infinity of Deviousness
In a strange, fantastical way, Zelazny's Amber series are the archetypes of the political fiction genre.At least in the sense that there is not one character who does not have hidden agendas, schemes, and counter-schemes.And, of course, there is even a kingdom at stake.Even Amber, supposedly the closest thing there is to 'real,' is just another pea in the pattern shell game.

So when Corwin, Random, and Ganelonfollow a trail to the 'really, real' pattern and discover that the damage to the pattern was the result of the attempted murder of Random's estranged son Martin, it is almost business as usual.Almost, but not quite.Random heads out to discover Martin's fate and Corwin sets about discovering who had summoned Martin into the Pattern and drawn blood.With Chaos itself poised to enter the fray, damage to the pattern threatened everything Amber stood for.

Knowing something badhas happened, and even knowing who was traitor this teime, resolves little.Enemies and friends change places once again.Corwin chases after the master of the pattern and the trumps and finds himself visiting the Courts of Chaos.As the tension gets higher Corwin finds more questions than answers, and just when things show any sign of making sense, Zelazny hits the reader with yet another cliff hanger and the only thing we can do is grab for volume five.

One has to give Zelazny a great deal of credit for keeping the reader's attention in a plot that depends entirely on a series of betrayals.It proves his mastery as a story teller.The children of Oberon are a family that makes the Borgias look like innocents, but even the bad apples are fun to read about.Magic aside this story has much that makes is a medieval melodrama, which is no surprise considering Zelazny's own literary background.Only no medieval story ever took the increasingly baroque turns that the Amber stories do.

Yet Zelazny makes no pretense at deeper, more philosophical meanings.He is first and foremost an expert at the telling of tales.His values are wonder and surprise, his heroes and villains may be flawed, but they are still larger than like.That this series is still in print after all these years is testimony to a level of quality that today's authors still strive to equal.

A turning point
"The Hand of Oberon", the fourth book of the first Amber series, is perhaps the most pivotal.Within, many of the mysteries we've followed since "Nine Princes" are finally resolved, setting us up for the big climax in "Courts of Chaos".

In addition to enough plot twists to make your head spin, it's also notable for Corwin's first real problem with Random - who finds that he might have very personal reason to take out a sibling who Corwin considers necessary for information purposes.The fact that by this book just the thought of a rift between them makes you squirm is proof of how important their relationship has been - not only because strategically Corwin needs someone to back him up but because, in a world where so much else has been suspect, we know they honestly like eachother. ... Read more

Book Description

Continuing ibooks' Series of Authoritative New Editions of the Works of Award-Winning Author Roger Zelazny! Two Complete Novels, Changeling and Madwand!

In Changeling, the people had long suffered under Det Morson's power. When at last, the wizard Mor joined the fight, Det and his infamous Rondoval castle were destroyed. But the victory was not complete, for the conquerors found a baby amidst the rubble: Det's son, Pol. Unwilling to kill the child, Mor took him to a world where the ways of magic were considered mere legends -- a world called Earth. In Madwand, Pol Detson, son of Lord Det, has come home, now a powerful sorcerer of unsurpassed natural ability. But Pol is still an untrained talent, a "madwand." To take control of his powers, to rule in his father's place, he must survive arduous training and a fantastic initiation into the rites of society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Not Free SF Reader
A good wizard, a bad wizard, and a child, and a castle of power to be inherited.A climactic battleinvolving the former pair leads to the child being taken to Earth to survive.He grows up there, and eventually comes back and ends up battling for his heritage.

The son, Pol, approaches this from a technological background, so there is a clash of magic and technology.

Read me before buying!
Before I go ahead, a caveat: This is NOT a compilation of both Changeling and Madwand. It is only Changeling. That said, you'll probably be better served buying the two from a used-book store (the good Mr. Zelazny is passed away, so I don't much care about enriching whomever owns the copyrights at this point). It's unfortunate iBooks has decided to start milking the great man's work for every dollar by no longer offering compilations of at least two novels.

This is perhaps the most fun for any fan of Zelazny to read; it lacks the density and breakneck pace of Creatures of Light and Darkness and Lord of Light or the tiresome rehashing of his later Amber books. The blend of science and technology is never done better. Hand this to a kid who thinks there's nothing in wizardry beyond Harry Potter.

Zelazny lets a potential masterpiece slip away
This is a modest fantasy/adventure featuring a burgeoning sorcerer and an overachieving master of technology who have been switched at birth.Pol Det is the inheritor of Randoval, the lordly castle of a magical kingdom in another dimension, and Mark Marakson is the genius of engineering and technology.Old Mor, a wizard from the magical realm, switches these two as babies, hoping to avert a recurrence of the cataclysm that has so often ravaged his world.In the technological realm, Pol is a guitarist, a detached dreamer who never seems to fit in.In the magical world, Mark's mechanical inventions frighten and anger a community that associates science with destruction.Only the beautiful Nora seems to understand Mark's passion, skill, and frustration.Will these two young men ever discover the secret of their linked destinies?If so, will they become fast friends or mortal enemies?And what role will be played by the mysterious thief who has purloined some valuable figurines, and the hidden caverns full of sleeping dragons?

Overall, this is a modest entertainment with a fascinating setup that too-quickly deteriorates into just another tale of spells and dragons and talismans and so on.Zelazny's fiction is notable for its experiments in form as well as substance, and this book shows every promise of being much more than it finally turns out to be.He effectively defines the process used to work magic spells, he creates characters with a little more than just one flat dimension, he pits his magician against technological forces that go well past swords and catapults, and manages to surprise us more than once, but still doesn't quite deliver the kind of masterpiece we feel the story merited.We expect more from Zelazny, and we almost think we are going to get it, but around page 80 or so, he abandons subtleties like character study and opts instead for the more prosaic quest-for-powerful-weapons-to-defeat-the-bad-guy material.From that point
on this book is pretty average, almost as though the author tired of struggling to keep his story innovative and original and just went ahead with standard dragons-and-sorcerers fare.This is not to say that fantasy fans won't enjoy it; this reader's disappointment rather stems from the recognition of just how close Zelazny came to revolutionizing the whole form, before frittering the opportunity away.

Zelazny in a fugue?
This mass market 'youth' novel is Zelazney writing for the kids who ride to school in the short bus. This book is so bad it is a veritable "Planet Nine From Outer Space" in print.

I don't have the adjectives to convey its insipid characters, tediously dull plot, politically correct dialog and lack of both romance and adventure. Hero and villain are not only changelings they are interchangable, even in the ennui deadened eyes of the heroine. The obligatory firebreathing dragon is a sissy!

Despite its flaws it is worth reading if for no other reason than to see what the first draft outline of a novel must look like. The outline is laid out naked without very much padding so it is very easy to see the bones and even easier to imagine what should have been done to make a story.

This book would be greatly encouraging to young writers who are themselves struggling with the muse. Zelazny must have been a very brave man to have published this and reading it would bring renewed hope to the soul of anyone who has ever received a publisher's rejection letter.

A great read from a Master!
If you don't have this book find it. It's great! Everything you love about Zelazny can be found in this book. The characters and the two worlds they come from are fleshed out with amazing clarity. The only problem I had withthis book is, it's a real quick read but that really doesn't detract fromthe overall wonderousness of the story. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Satisfying end to the first Amber series.
The fifth entry in the Amber Chronicles, this is the best so far. Zelazny wraps up loose ends and brings the first Amber series to a close. But unlike the final entries in some other series, this doesn't suffer from anticlimactic unraveling. Instead, the action reaches a climactic point -- no more of the overlong exposition here -- and we're truly in suspense awaiting the fate of Corwin, and Amber. Zelazny's psychedelic renderings as Corwin passes through alternate realities have improved since early on and are, well, a trip!

Satisfying. I'm so glad I stayed with Amber despite not liking the first book. I'm looking forward to finding out where Zelazny takes things in the second series. I'm already awaiting my copy of Trumps of Doom (Chronicles of Amber)!

(Incidentally, the Amber novels are now in print only as a single large anthology: The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10 (Chronicles of Amber). Since I don't want to lug that around, I'm reading old copies of the paperbacks instead.)

Not Free SF Reader
With Oberon back, war with Chaos appears inevitable, something which does not thrill Corwin.Oberon therefore dispatches him on a mission through Shadow.

More subterfuge is discovered, and in the end, the unicorn with the Jewel of Judgement appears.

Great premise, terrible rambling style
I am very disappointed in this author, though I continue to read the series.I find myself skimming.I don't have the patience to put up with his nonsense, but I do want to know how the story develops.

He makes us wait and wade through garbage before he continues telling us the story.He sends us through unreal and just plain stupid scenes, describing them in detail as if they are real and significant, when in fact they are just vague meanderings of the mind of an author who has gone way off the track.

We never know how a friend or enemy will turn out.Maybe an apparent friend will attack Corwin suddenly.Maybe an apparent lover and soul mate will simply get stubborn and ditch Corwin.Maybe an enemy will suddenly be just peachy keen.It all depends on what side of the bed Roger has woken up on.There is no consistency, only the whim of the writer.

There are no rules to his universe.The only rule is that he will do what he damn pleases at any moment, and will bore and frustrate the hell out of his readers whenever he likes.He will go on and on about some stupid philosophy, and then will make fun of it.

It is a frustrating experience to read this series because the writing is often terrible, but the basic premise of the story is excellent and makes me want to keep skimming, if not actually reading, this garbage.

I wish someone taught the author how to tell a story directly.He needed an editor who would take this epic ten story fantasy and cut it down to a fraction of its size, leaving out all the bull.

At one point he decides to give us a bar full of leprechauns.For God's sake.At one point he decides to give us a friendly jackal who suddenly turns to attack.Oh leave me alone, you frustrating excuse for a writer.You have made your point.You will pull anything you like out of your tush and call it a story.What a waste of a sensational premise.I just wish that a good author wrote this series.

Does anyone really read every word as you describe one more boring unreal scene after another, oh there are flowers falling, oh the sky is zebra colored, oh there is no sense of gravity here, oh there is a stranger standing there staring, oh there is a woman hanged, oh the leaves rustle, blah blah blah.Put your head on straight, stop screwing around, and just tell us a story.

Follow the Solid Black Road
Finally, the end is in sight.With the fifth volume in the Amber series Zelazny brings the first cycle to a close.Oberon has returned to the throne, Brand has been revealed as the real traitor, and the Courts of Chaos await the final battle for Amber's existence.Corwin finds his sudden relegation to second fiddle irksome, especially since Oberon's offhand manner hasn't changed in the least, but he knows his duty and the family pulls together for the final struggle.

The key order of business is to repair the damage to the pattern and close down the threat of the black road.Oberon's final decision, to remake the pattern is one that will likely kill him, whether he succeeds or fails, and Corwin suddenly discovers that his irritation with his father is only skin deep.It is with a heavy heart that Corwin follows his father's command and starts his hell ride for the courts.

And runs straight into Brand, who has no intention of allowing Corwin and Oberon to undo his plotting and return things to normal.Corwin is delayed by one conflict after another.Not only is the final outcome in doubt, but the reader must cope with the possibility of two endings at once.

It was no mean feat in the 1970's to turn out a five volume series that could keep reader interest at a high level.As the volumes progress, the writing develops, and it is interesting to compare this book, which consists of one long and detailed hell ride to other efforts in the series to capture traveling through the shadows.The Courts of Chaos find Zelazny a much stronger writer than he was when the series started out.He not only sets a compelling pace, but Corwin's character blooms as a several thousand year old man suddenly matures before out eyes.

The Courts of Chaos is really the best of the series that had a great start and then wobbled a bit in the middle.It guaranteed that Amber would have a place in the hearts of fantasy lovers for some time to come, and set the scene for the next five Amber volumes.While these aren't my favorite Zelazny works, they are still outstanding writing.

A new pattern?
The battle of Brand and Corwin reaches its climax as everyone tries to create a new pattern in the battle with Chaos itself.

Courts of Chaos has all the usual twists and turns of an Amber novel. It is an absolutely wonderful series and it probably goes without saying that you should begin at the beginning, and not here. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

A Zelazny Trickster Tale...Sort Of
Starting in the 12th Century Crusades, "The Mask of Loki" follows the centuries long battle between Loki Laufeyjarson, the Norse trickster god, and Hasan al Sabah, the first and Chief Assassin. Loki uses human avatars throughout the history of these battles, while al Sabah is an immortal sorcerer. Starting with Thomas Amnet - a Knight Templar and White Magician - during the Crusades, Loki's avatars have lost this battle over and over; but, in the 21st Century, the final battle between Loki and al Sabah is at hand and Thomas Gurden, the latest avatar will be thrust into history as Loki must win at all costs.

This is an uneven novel, not a common thing for Zelazny; this is probably due to working with a co-author. When a well known writer starts working with a co-writer late in their career, I always assume that the well known writer writes a complete outline and hands it off the younger writer to do the work. There are glimmers of Zelazny in this book, but that makes it uneven. Plus, jumping back and forth in time is not usually his style. Zelazny usually bulls full steam ahead with the storyline, and this book plods along.

I did find the historical aspects of the story interesting, and I did stop abruptly a few times to consult some history books to learn more. But, in the end, I was disappointed with "The Mask of Loki".

Skip the flashbacks for a truer Zelazny experience
This is a book from the nadir of Zelazny's life and career as a writer. It's a much better book, though still heavily flawed, if the chapters with the flash backs are skipped. The flashbacks are written out of chracter for Zelazny's usual style of writing so I can only guess that they are Thomas T. Thomas's contribution to this book. The story itself isn't much different than the second half of the Amber series, namely that of Merle and his semi-sentient computer. Zelazny usually doesn't bother with a lot of back story and in his better pieces, Tom Gurgen would have known by about page 30 that he was somehow tied to Loki. He'd have his powers and be trying to figure out why he had them, who wanted them and who he should aly himself with. But here the pacing is off and all the really typical (and good) Zelazny stuff doesn't happen until the last thirty pages of the book!

One of the Greatest Magical Battles Ever!
I really didn't like this book the first time I read it-- I don't know why. I found it quite interesting this time around. At first I thought I had a handle on what Zelazny wrote and what Thomas wrote, but now I confess I haven't a clue who wrote what.

I loved the alternation of Thomas Gurden's and Thomas Amnet's tales. I really loved the peek at the Templars, the Crusades, and the almost eerie parallels with current events. I always love how Zelazny plays with story format and chapters as he does here so well.

This story features one of the greatest magical battles I have read. Thomas Amnet and Hasan as Sabah duke it out metaphysically. The book has good characterizations (especially on the Thomas Amnet side of the tale); crisp plotting and some really cool sci-fi window dressings. This book explores Zelazny's common themes of immortality, gods masquerading as men or vice versa, and personal transformation and evolution.

My only fault with the book was the ending (which is usually my favorite part of a Zelazny book-- when I can't put it down much to the detriment of life and relationships and employment) I didn't "get" the ending. I don't fully understand what happened and why. The resolution with Loki and Thomas and Hasan was very unclear to me and I'd love to hear some interpretations of it. All in all, it was a very enjoyable read. Zelazny was far from running out of creative steam when he left us too early...

The Mask of Loki
I realy enjoyed this book.It was a good way to spend a couple of afternoons.If you have read any of Zelazny's other books, you will probably like this one.Lots of action and engaging dialogue.

It's a good story fulled Knight's times spirit.
Good story about knights and magic from my favourite fantasy writer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not Free SF Reader
Merlin is trapped in a crazy version of Wonderland, which is actually, of course, just a Shadow.Some complex sorcerous shenanigans by various members of his family, ensue, as well as contact with Fiona, and stunts similar to Brand's, in the first series.

Cast Of Thousands
Sign of Chaos is the critical moment when the story line (of which this is the eighth) blurs out for a while.It's not a bad book by any means, but Merlin's story is one of an ever-increasing number of people who want to either kill him or run his life for him.This book is that critical mass when there are so many characters to keep track of that small minds like this reviewer's tend to shut down.

Fittingly enough, the book starts out with Merlin and Luke trapped in the Mad Hatter's Tea Party Bar, where the previous volume left them off.A psychedelic Mickey has turned Luke into a hallucination machine and it takes both ingenuity and chemistry for Merlin to take his leave.He makes it back to Amber only to discover that he has a new, and beautiful aunt.Who just as promptly disappears, leaving Merlin once again in the clutches of an old friend.

Along the way Merlin picks up Mandor, his older brother on the Chaos side, and Jasra, who is now a 'friendly' enemy instead of a coat rack.This is about where characters and plot get so intricate that you may wish you had been keeping score from the beginning.Zelazny is merciless, captivating his readers at the same time he is confusing them.

By way of personal history, I took a several year break from the series at this point, picking up the last two volumes when the appeared in paperback.You may feel like doing the same thing, but there are only two more quick volumes to go and you will be a member of the I Love Amber club, a very exclusive group of folks.

Chaos is an apt title
This book, like many in series SF, can not be read independently of the rest in the series.Its main fault is that it is frequently chaotic and can be difficult to follow, especially if it has been awhile since you read the previous stories.The protagonist, Merlin, continues his sparring with Luke, Jasra,and the Mask, and his girlfriend, Julia is back in the story, unknown to Merlin at first.Merlin's brother, Jurt, also is involved, along with multiple other extended family members.

Zelazny fans will like this, but the Amber premise is noticably tiring in this story. ... Read more

Book Description

His name is Charles Render, and he is a psychoanalyst, and a mechanic of dreams. A Shaper. In a warm womb of metal, his patients dream their neuroses, while Render, intricately connected to their brains, dreams with them, makes delicate adjustments, and ultimately explains and heals.

Her name is Eileen Shallot, a resident in psychiatry. She wants desperately to become a Shaper, though she has been blind from birth.

Together, they will explore the depths of the human mind -- and the terrors that lurk therein. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Dream on
Robert Zelazny wasn't quite in top form in "Dream Master," a rather jumbled SF novel that delves into the human mind. Zelazny writes with his usual minimalist poetry, but the finale and characters are definitely lacking. It's a nice read, but far from Zelazny's best.

Charles Render is a neuroparticipant therapist -- he taps into his patients' dreams and analyzes them to tell them what their undisclosed problems are. For example, he finds out that one man imagines enemies because the alternative is being ignored. His own problems go un-dealt with -- the death of his wife in a car crash, which has left him with some lingering guilt issues.

Then he meets Eileen Shallot, who wants the same kind of job he has. The problem is: she's been blind all her life, and no therapist of that kind has ever been blind because they get overwhelmed by the dreams. But he agrees to help Eileen gradually -- by letting her see through his eyes.

"Dream Master" was once a short story, and was expanded dramatically to make it into this novella. It's definitely a mixed blessing -- on one hand, Zelazny has plenty of room to paint strange dreamscapes and weird twists of the imagination. On the other, "Master" is definitely padded.

So long as "Master" sticks close to the interactions between Charles and Eileen, the story stays solid and sleek. But there are also a lot of scenes that do nothing except distract, like anything involving Jill DeVille (Charles' bland girlfriend) or the talking doggie.

Certainly Zelazny takes an unconventional and interesting idea -- psychotherapy using a "dream machine" -- and manages to wring a whole book out of that sole idea. His sparse prose really blossoms in the dream sequences, becoming lusher and stranger. They're not terribly strange as dreams usually are, but they're definitely interesting.

Charles isn't a terribly likable protagonist; he's a bit of a know-it-all. Okay, he's a doctor, but his condescension towards his patients comes across as arrogance. Eileen seems a little more likable, with her obsession with overcoming her disabilities. The other characters -- Charles' son and Jill -- are pretty much nonentities.

"Dream Master" makes up for lackluster characters with Zelazny's imagination and excellent prose. Just don't expect him to be in top form in this dreamy scifi exploration.

Muddled Dream
Zelazny's prose is in fine form here and he displays a myriad of interesting ideas quite well. In fact some of the background filling in of the world is more interesting than the plot. In particular the mutated dog and his relationship with normal dogs and human society.

Prose aside, Zelazny manages to be at once all too clever and heavy handed. Calling the Dream Master "Render" and having his female patient be named "Eileen Shallot". Other references to classic myth abound as if Zelazny is telling the reader "Oh, aren't I/We so smart, catch the symbolism and foreshadowing here??"

The plot is fairly simplistic, and the ending heavily foreshadowed. For all that it still managed to get me a little engaged even though it was obvious how it was going to happen. Unfortunately, virtually all the characters are unlikeable, from Render, to Shallot, to his girlfriend DeVille and in particular his son as well as Shallot's dog.

Several interesting plot threads are developed and just left hanging. As this was an expansion of a short-story why not flesh out those plot threads. What's with Render's suicide obsession, and the suicides we see of people in the society? What's wrong with the mutated dog, why does he run off and torment normal dogs, is this normal or is the dog as broken as his Mistress?

The quality of writing and the ideas though save this from being a poor novel and pull it into the firmly average bracket. Zelazny fans, or those into novels of dreaming such as Lathe of Heaven may wish to give this a look.

Master of the Dream Castle
Ideas have always been the movers and shakers of science fiction. But because of this, all too often other aspects of good literature have been ignored or given short shrift by all too many authors. Zelazny does not fall into this trap.

The driving idea behind this book is the ability, with the help of some fancy technology, of a trained neuroparticipant therapist to directly monitor and control his patient's dreams.There is a downside to this: the therapist had better be very emotionally stable himself, else he runs the risk of having the patient take control and impress his thoughts and emotional problems on the therapist. Zelazny takes this basic concept and wraps it first in truly excellent prose; much of this work reads almost like a prose poem. He adds two strong characters, Charles Render, the therapist, and Eileen Shallot, a blind-from-birth woman who wants to be a therapist herself, but must first get over the problem of how to deal with the sights and visions that her future patients will have. Render (and I believe the name is significant, though this is a literary device Zelazny did not normally use) is a tightly controlled person, carefully bulwarking his emotional walls from the pain of the death of his wife and driven to over-protect his brilliant son. Though repeatedly warned of the dangers, he finds the challenge of introducing Eileen to the world of sight irresistible. Thus the stage is set for a trip through the world of dreams, dreams that are perhaps both simpler and more comprehensible than the garden variety most people have, but described with such excellence that it is almost like seeing a sequence of pictures, watercolors and oils in vivid colors.

The side characters also have important roles to play, from Eileen's talking seeing-eye dog to Render's nominal current love interest, Jill DeVille. Their actions precipitate the final action of the story, and indicate that the story is both carefully plotted and has a thematic depth that can only be seen when the play of irony surrounding these events and the careful allusions to certain legendary characters is carefully examined.

This story was originally published in slightly shorter form as "He Who Shapes", which took the Nebula award for best novella in 1965. With this expanded form, I think the final irony is more sharply defined, his main characters better fleshed out, but perhaps there are places where some unnecessary verbiage has been added. I would be hard pressed to declare which version is better.

The idea is only the kernel. Roger's layers of wrapping with all the elements of good storytelling is what makes this story a worthwhile read.


--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

"Dream" on
Robert Zelazny wasn't quite in top form in "Dream Master," a rather jumbled SF novel that delves into the human mind. Zelazny writes with his usual minimalist poetry, but the finale and characters are definitely lacking. It's a nice read, but far from Zelazny's best.

Charles Render is a neuroparticipant therapist -- he taps into his patients' dreams and analyzes them to tell them what their undisclosed problems are. For example, he finds out that one man imagines enemies because the alternative is being ignored. His own problems go un-dealt with -- the death of his wife in a car crash, which has left him with some lingering guilt issues.

Then he meets Eileen Shallot, who wants the same kind of job he has. The problem is: she's been blind all her life, and no therapist of that kind has ever been blind because they get overwhelmed by the dreams. But he agrees to help Eileen gradually -- by letting her see through his eyes.

"Dream Master" was once a short story, and was expanded dramatically to make it into this novella. It's definitely a mixed blessing -- on one hand, Zelazny has plenty of room to paint strange dreamscapes and weird twists of the imagination. On the other, "Master" is definitely padded.

So long as "Master" sticks close to the interactions between Charles and Eileen, the story stays solid and sleek. But there are also a lot of scenes that do nothing except distract, like anything involving Jill DeVille (Charles' bland girlfriend) or the talking doggie.

Certainly Zelazny takes an unconventional and interesting idea -- psychotherapy using a "dream machine" -- and manages to wring a whole book out of that sole idea. His sparse prose really blossoms in the dream sequences, becoming lusher and stranger. They're not terribly strange as dreams usually are, but they're definitely interesting.

Charles isn't a terribly likable protagonist; he's a bit of a know-it-all. Okay, he's a doctor, but his condescension towards his patients comes across as arrogance. Eileen seems a little more likable, with her obsession with overcoming her disabilities. The other characters -- Charles' son and Jill -- are pretty much nonentities.

"Dream Master" makes up for lackluster characters with Zelazny's imagination and excellent prose. Just don't expect him to be in top form in this dreamy scifi exploration.

Zelazny, the dream master
First let me start off by saying that I am a huge Zelazny fan and that would most likely make me extremely biased. But I also like Shakespeare, Fitzgerald, and Lovecraft - so I think I can be fairly open-minded and am somewhat well-rounded. Contrary to most of the reviews on this book, I thought that 'The Dream Master' was very very good. True the characters could've been deeper, but Zelazny's writing style is captivating in and of itself. There is so much happening in this novel and is at the same time almost without purpose. This, I would say, is a novel for the Zelazny fan who has already read (and liked) his Amber Series and 'Lord of Light' (also check out 'Night in Lonesome October' for a new avenue of Zelazny thought) - because I think that this novel is more like 'basking in the sunlight' of the style of a truely ingenious writer. So in that respect it succeeds and if you appreciate a writer's style and ability to interest (even without a major plot!) then you would probably enjoy this one. ... Read more

Product Description
The first new collection of Roger Zelazny's work in many years collects all of the "Amber" short stories, plus a great selection of other rarities! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Great book!
One of the only places to find many of the short works by this wonderful author. Definitely an enjoyable read!

Worthy posthumous addition to RZ's legacy
Roger Zelazny wrote some of the finest fiction I've ever had the pleasue to read. Although this collection of shorts does not match the quality of his other anthologies, there are still plenty of stories that ensnare the mind and entice the imagination. The Amber shorts at the end of the book made me want to reread the entire series for the umpteenth time. A gifted writer who was taken all too soon, Roger Zelazny truly has channelled some Manna from Heaven in this compendium.

great book
I was impressed with Zelazny's ability to make short stories great stories. I knew from reading the Great Book of Amber that he could write a spot-on novel; Manna From Heaven confirms his ability to turn one page into a whole universe...

Many answers
Good book, sure answers a lot of questions that were left unanswered in Zelazny's last Amber novel, as well as expanding on a few side stories that seemed like they were left on the editing floor from that same novel.The balance of the book is traditional Zelazny, always leaves you wanting more....alas, I imagine this is truly the last from him.RIP RZ

Only for the devoted Zelazny fan
While this book contains a few short (some very VERY short) stories I had not read before, most have already appeared in other volumes of stories (such as the Kalifriki of the Thread stories and the title story). This volume has some significance in that it was edited and put together posthumously. I was someone disappointed in the quality of editing in this book, noting numerous typographical and spelling errors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

The Amber series starts to shine...
With Sign of the Unicorn, the third entry in the Amber series, Zelazny's creation truly begins to get off the ground. I thought that the first book was mediocre, and the second held more promise but still wasn't compelling. Finally, here, Zelazny writes with authority and a sense of clarity about the characters he portrays. We have a lot of people to keep track of, with Corwin and his brothers and sisters involved in an intricate series of shifting alliances, schemes, and deceptions. We must rely on Corwin, our protagonist, to filter what is happening into something that makes sense. And, with patience, this does happen.

I'm very bad at reading stories with a large number of characters who come and go. I tend to forget what I've read about someone by the time they reappear later on. Somewhere along the line as I read this book, I lost track of exactly who was allied with whom, and when I reached the end of the book I had only a vague notion of what was going on. I considered giving up on the series, but I'd honestly begun to enjoy Zelazny's writing -- so instead, I went back and reread a couple of key chapters, forcing myself to pay closer attention to the various motivations, suspicious and confessions of the characters. And this time, I finished the book looking forward to the next one, wanting to know what will happen next.

Not Free SF Reader
After the death of Eric, Corwin loses yet another brother, and gains an ally in his brother, Random.He is beginning to get to the heart of the plot, and starting to use the weaponry at this disposal, such as the Pattern, and his sword, Grayswandir.

He also makes an important discovery about their Pattern.

Good story, but lacking in clarity
Roger Zelazny is a confusing and frustrating writer.He is tinkering with a gold mine here.He has a great foundation for a story.But what he does with it is frustrating.

I love the concept of a god-like family in charge of everything, and I love the idea of introducing all of these characters to us.The part that troubles me is that the writing is so unclear.We really don't know what in the hell is going on half the time.

What is all this about reality shifting?What is all this about a ghost place?I feel like grabbing him by the arm and shouting hey! come down to earth for a moment and tell me just exactly what in the hell you are talking about.

The parts of this story I felt the most comfortable with were the parts where we get an explanation of the relationships between the siblings, who is who's full sibling, which ones had this or that mother, who came first, who came next.This categorization, this overall organization, this explanation of the cast of characters, should have come a lot sooner than it did.We should have been given a family tree right up front.

When someone is just riding down a road, and suddenly the trees are thicker than they are supposed to be, and the sun is larger than it is supposed to be, and one of the characters says "hey look at that sunset!", and we realize they are now on another world, that's about the time I'm saying hold it, where's the space ship and what in the hell is going on here.What are the laws of this universe?

The law seems to be that the author can do whatever he damn pleases whenever he damn pleases, and can confuse us with ghost scenes and shadows any time he has a whim to do so.I want to know what his reality is, and he is not telling.I consider that a major flaw.

It has been written that good sci fi fantasy changes just one thing, and makes the rest believable, and concrete.Well, that sure isn't happening here.This series takes us for a ride anywhere it has a mind to go, and I'd like the ride a lot better if I knew what the rules were.

Oh, there's a magic unicorn.That's nice.Oh, there's another Amber, a real one this time, oh that's nice.Whatever.

And please stop getting poetic on me!Stop writing in your ghost style.It sucks.Write English. That will do just fine.Write clearly.Tell us a story, and tell us what in the hell is going on.Don't get too cute.

The FamilyKills Together...
Sign of the Unicorn marks the initial phases of Prince Corwin's actions as the regent of Amber.A beginning full of ill omens and worse.Corwin's first task is the investigation of Caine's murder by creatures from some unknown place in the shadows.The same creatures that once chased Random into Fiona's lair.Corwin's brother tells the story of his attempt to rescue Brand, and Corwin's own efforts nearly becoms another disaster.Things do not improve from there, either.

Corwin is trying to unravel the source of the black road, the reason for the mysterious attacks on Amber, and identify the guilty parties.Needless to say his brothers and sisters, all seeking their own ends are rarely as helpful as they could be.A few, no doubt, are guilt of carrying on their on plots for control, and Corwin quickly discovers that there's no such thing as a safe house.

Politics in Amber grow increasingly complicated and deadly.Corwin first has to narrow down the options and then face the uncomfortable decision of who really did want him dead.Zelazny wraps the story up by raising even more questions and confusion.Enough for a whole handful of sequels.

Sign of the Unicorn is a return to Zelazny's usually fluid prose.While Random's narrative dragged a bit, the rest of the story is full of dark moments and surprise twists.This time we get to meet the rest of the family, and they prove to be a unique and worrisome bunch. Don't know if Oberon's children are the first dysfunctional family in science fiction, but not one is really safe enough to close you eyes around.

If you are reading this review you are probably already hooked, and don't need to be told to keep reading.If you're new, go back and read Nine Princes in Amber and look forward to one of fantasy's most vital series.

Long lost brother.
The main theme of book three is the family reuniting to try to find Brand. The whole way through the book you'll be wondering who imprisoned him, all of the siblings add their own pontification and each has very valid points. You'll never guess who it was.

Also, new shadows are introduced (the world of the clouds has to be my favorite so far), and some great new Questions arise. The main one being: is Amber itself a shadow? And are Corwinn and his siblings princes' of the true Amber?

If you read the first two I'm not sure why you would even be reading this, but if you haven't I would recommend the first two highly and trust me they only get better and better. ... Read more

Book Description
He had destroyed his punchcards and changed his face. There was no credit card, birth record, or passport for him in the International Data Bank. His names were many...any he chose. His occupation was taking megarisks in the service of a vast global detective agency. His interworld assignments were highly lucrative, incalculably vital, and terrifyingly deadly. And more often then not, his life was a living hell! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Dark, action-packed, builds and builds
I didn't know what to expect with this book, but I certainly enjoyed reading it.This book is actually three related stories revolving around the same character who has erased his identity and makes a living doing odd jobs for a private investigation agency, while using faked names to get through life.Each story is better than the previous, with the third story, featuring the Hangman, being the most powerful, and Zelazny at his finest.There are plenty of good, quotable lines in these stories and the ending is just awesome.

I enjoyed reading the story as well because the technology used in the books reflects the 1960's with the tape run all the way to the end.Tape drive technology is still used here, despite supposedly being 2007.It is enjoyable seeing a snapshot of how people viewed technology in Zelazny's day.

As other reviewers have pointed out, this is a lighter book than say the Amber Series or Lord of Light, but it's a great weekend read, and well worth the purchase.Enjoy!

3 Stories, quality varies
This book is made up of the three novella's published elsewhere. They all involve an unnamed protagonist who has no record of his existence. The first one, "The Eve of Rumoko" is an entertaining suspense story which introduces us to the hero and gives us a thrilling plot without sacrficing style or depth of character. The second, "Kjawlll'kje'k'koothai'lll'kjr'k," is by far the weakest of the stories a not very intriguing mystery not really comparable to the other two. However "Home is the Hangman," the third story is excellent despite it's B-moviesh plot (killer robot from outer space). Zelazny manages to use this set to explore the nature of the human psyche while being thrilling and exciting at the same time.

want to quit the system?
You're a computer employee hooking up every network on earth to fashion the International Data Bank--only to realize it will become the ultimate invasion of human privacy.What will you do?Something creative,invisible, and dangerous... this book was written decades before theInternet got going.

One of Zelazny's "lighter" books
Roger Zelazny is one of my favourite authors, and this is one of my favourites of his work. Thought-provoking but not too much so, with reasonably fast-paced action and moderate depth.

A futuristic spy story in 3 acts.
In an era in which everithing is under computer control you meet a spy, which accoplishes "dirty" jobs for the authorities. This is only the beginning, and it goes on with Zealzny's style: suggestive ambeintations, characters nicely portraited and a lot of passages which force you to think. A good reading, for SF lovers. ... Read more

Book Description
Conrad Nomikos has a long, rich personal history that he'd rather not talk about and a job he'd rather not do. Escorting an alien grandee on a tour around a shattered post-nuclear war Earth is not something he relishes, especially when he becomes central to an intrigue determining Earth's future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

Super Reader
Art to planetary protection.


On the butt-end that is left of Earth a man with a mutation that gives him heightened physical abilities and a lack of aging gets involved in a sneaky plot to do bad things.

Amusing, short and entertaining book with assassin teamups and confrontations, albino vampire fighters and really big smart dogs.

A rather nifty little Zelazny work, this one.

Obscure Story
I didn't like this book very much. Nor did I feel any sympathy for the protagonists. An artificial alien presence, an unclear and indefinite purpose, a contrived plot. That novel seems to have been hastily written indeed.

Excellent classic Zelazny
A fine mixture of mythology and science fiction.

Humans have wrecked the Earth in a nuclear war and are now dependent on the patronizing alien Vegans.Our hero Konstantin is the director of Earth's archaeological service and guides an important Vegan and a motley set of humans.Except he is centuries older than he appears, is possibly immortal, was a leader of an anti-Vegan terrorist group, etc.Oh, and he was born on Christmas day and is thus a mythical Kallikanzarosand he has the mismatched eyes, limp, special powers, and superhuman strength to match that role.

You need to suspend disbelief to accept the mixture of unlikely mythical elements.But once there, it is a lot of fun.Zelazny writes really well and succeeds in making Konstantin unlikely yet plausible.

Gods and demi-gods
One of Zelazny's finest, this tale continues the author's fascination with mythology and merges it with his Mike Hammer toughness and New Age Haiku style of writing.

Vulcanologist
.....I read Lord Of Light as my first Zelazny read and picked up This Immortal aferwards.I loved each book and am eager to explore his other works.This is a cool quick read.
.....I differ on one point with the reviewers below as to the main characters origins.While many of the hints are toward a satyr, him being called a "forger" by the Vegan he chooses to protect and due to a few other comments, is he not possibly Vulcan of Roman Mythology (Hepaestus in Greek Mythology)....He was the god of fire and volcanoes, and the manufacturer of art, arms, iron, and armor for gods and heroes. He was born weak (later fairly strong) and crippled and was considered quite ugly......Just a thought. ... Read more

Product Description
Science Fiction ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Not Free SF Reader
A collection that just about gets a 4 out of 5, and would bet 3.75 if such a thing existed, rounding up, however a few ordinary stories here.

Apparently there is a collection some 20 years or so earlier with the same title, with mostly different stories, too, just to be confusing.

This is for the 21st century Ibooks edition, which happily includes the fantastic Home Is the Hangman

Last Defender of Camelot : Comes Now the Power - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : For a Breath I Tarry - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : The Engine at Heartspring's Center - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Halfjack - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Home Is the Hangman - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Permafrost - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Loki 7281 - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Mana from Heaven - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : 24 Views of Mt. Fuji by Hokusai - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Come Back to the Killing Ground Alice My Love - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : The Last Defender of Camelot - Roger Zelazny

Mind block.

3 out of 5


Big machine needs a hobby.

3.5 out of 5


Bork Bork borked.

3 out of 5


Cyborg bodyglove = get no love.

4 out of 5


Telepresence party prank has terrible results, robot killer wrongly represented afterwards, but does his duty despite detective.

5 out of 5


Leopard stiff story.

3 out of 5


AI assistance plot.

3.5 out of 5


Power shortage.

3.5 out of 5


Japanese introspection ending.

2.5 out of 5


"All the death-traps in the galaxy, and she has to walk into mine."

4 out of 5


Lancelot, the Wandering Frenchy is still around when he runs into Le Fay fortunetelling, and Merlin's arrival 1000 years later. That's about enough of the Arthurian stuff for most of them.

4 out of 5




3.5 out of 5



This is for the version from the 1980s, and whenever else it was reprinted.

A quite good collection here by Zelazny, a 3.44 average, with 4 particularly good stories to be found.

Another bonus is that the author gives introductions to each story as to when, where and why he wrote it, in general, for those that like that sort of thing.

Last Defender of Camelot : Passion Play - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Horseman! - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : The Stainless Steel Leech - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : A Thing of Terrible Beauty - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : He Who Shapes - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Comes Now the Power - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Auto-da-Fé - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : For a Breath I Tarry - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : The Engine at Heartsprings Center - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : The Game of Blood and Dust - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : No Award - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Is There a Demon Lover in the House? - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : The Last Defender of Camelot - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Stand Pat Ruby Stone - Roger Zelazny
Last Defender of Camelot : Halfjack - Roger Zelazny


Car death and rebirth.

3.5 out of 5


Prefer Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny to this apocalyptic bunch.

4 out of 5


Monsterbots.

3.5 out of 5


Personal gate-crasher atomic audience.

3 out of 5


Psychiatric seeing rather stupid.

3.5 out of 5


Mind block.

3 out of 5


Careodor.

4 out of 5


A post-apocalyptic action story. A criminal is given the standard two choices, really bad things now, or very very possible really bad things later, and, of course, takes the later.

The later in this case is a trip across the country to deliver vital medical supplies. He has a few more problems than the standard cracked by snow and ice cheapish US highways though. In this world, they don't call it Damnation Alley for nothing.

3 out of 5


Big machine needs a hobby.

3.5 out of 5


Bork Bork borked.

3 out of 5


Two opponents duel using past history as their gameboard.

3.5 out of 5


Killer telepathic brain split plan.

3.5 out of 5


Knifejack.

2.5 out of 5


Lancelot, the Wandering Frenchy is still around when he runs into Le Fay fortunetelling, and Merlin's arrival 1000 years later. That's about enough of the Arthurian stuff for most of them.

4 out of 5


Reproductive ritual end.

3.5 out of 5


Cyborg bodyglove = get no love.

4 out of 5

quirky
This guy is one of the best Science Fiction fantasy writers ever.(he wrote the Amber series -- about 9 brothers and sisters who hate, love,ally withand betray each other for supreme mastery of a multi-universe)In this book this is a collection of his short stories. It's really quirky you never know what's going to happen next.

The Last Defender of Camelot
"The Last Defender" is an excellent collection of some of the master's best stories, including "24 Views of Mount Fuji," and one previously uncollected story.Zelazny did more than just write science fiction; he captured the essence of human emotion, even when writiing about computerized intelligences in the distant future (see, for example, "For A Breath I Tarry." )

A good new selection with an old title
This new collection of Zelazny stories, selected by Robert Silverberg, is a good one. It contains 3 of his stronger stories from earlier collections made by Zelazny himself: "For A Breath I Tarry," "The Last Defender of Camelot," and "24 Views of Mt. Fuji."

The book also contains several other worthy stories to create a collection that spans Zelazny's career. I suspect length issues caused the selection to be limited to only 11 stories. Still, as a long-time reader of Zelazny's work since the '60s, I think he would have been better represented if I Books could have made the collection bigger. New readers of Zelazny can't easily get a feeling for the magnitude of his accomplishments with such a small selection.

The absence of "He Who Shapes" and "Damnation Alley," for instance, is to be regretted. Still, the collection is good overall. New readers who wish to read more of Zelazny's work will simply need to scour 2nd hand bookstores.

Another, somewhat irksome problem is that the collection name, _The Last Defender of Camelot_, matches that of a collection that Zelazny published himself back in 1980. That collection was probably one of his 2 or 3 best, and it was also quite large. Giving this collection the same name seems an ill-considered choice, and it will result in some confusion that should have been avoided. Most regrettable, but oh, well. At least these stories are available again, and that is a plus.

Good stuff.... with 1 total classic!
This is worth it all 4 "For a Breath I Tarry," which is 1 of my all-time faves -- words fail me; it's hilarious, heart-wrenching; it'll change your world in 25 pages. "He Who Shapes" (aka "The Dream Master") is also outstanding. Also solid: "The Last Defender of Camelot," & a romantic heart-wringer called "The Engine at Heartspring's Center." There R many others which R at LEAST worth reading. Zelazny was a poet; I miss him. If U like him, U might also try early George R.R. Martin, early Samuel R. Delany, & some of Robert Silverberg's mellower work (like DOWNWARD TO THE EARTH, DYING INSIDE, THE BOOK OF SKULLS). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Not Free SF Reader
Merlin is trying to work out why Julia went all Femme Fatale on him, and why the J's are out to get him.

He starts to discover there is some sort of clandestine struggle between the powers at the heart of Amber and Chaos.

Why Is the Dwarf Always The Bad Guy?
Zelazny manages to break o