Book Log 20 & 21/2009 - Zelazny's Amber - Books 1 & 2

The Chronicles of Amber - Omnibus

I bought the five-book ombimus edition of  'The Chronicles of Amber' because I felt I should catch up on important stepping-stone books in the history of fantasy. I can't quite believe I never read these when I was younger. There was something vaguely familiar about Nine Princes and I think I may have read it (or part of it, maybe) back in the early 70s in my library days. I certainly never owned a copy, though. Anyhow, almost forty years after its first publication I'm wondering if I might have had a different reaction in that much more resticted market of the early seventies, because, frankly I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. Each book is fairly slight, preceding the fashion for huge door-stop novels as they do. Though there are passages in which the writing is lovely, and the ideas - especially without being swamped by later imaginations - are very clever (and may even have been mind-blowing in their day), by and large I didn't engage deeply with either novel. If it were to be presented now I would even say that it was a little self-indulgent, but I rather suspect that Amber is just a product of its time. I will get round to reading the third, fourth and fifth books in this quintet, but probably not immediately.

Roger Zelazny: Nine Princes in Amber – Amber #1

The classic Zelazny story of a man waking in a hospital on Earth with no memory of his past, but gradually coming to realise that he is Corwin, Prince of Amber (Earth is just one of many shadow-realms) who must fight his way through magical intrigue in many shadow dimensions and in Amber itself before he can challenge his brother for the throne he considers his by right. The family plotting - sibling against sibling - would be worthy of the Borgias. I'm not sure, however, I can get past the villainous brother being called Eric, It's such a dork name for a king (apologies to all the real Erics out there who probably prove my point by not currently being reigning monarchs).


Roger Zelazny: The Guns of Avalon – Amber #2

Continuing the adventures of Corwin as he prepares to take the throne of Amber from his brother Eric, but as he strides through the shadow dimensions discovers that they are all suffering from his own curse, placed on Amber in pain and anguish and echoing everywhere in slightly different forms. We find an irrelevant romantic sub-plot, a missing brother and deceit from an unexpected quarter plus a technological miracle involving jeweller's rouge.

Book Log 20 & 21/2009 - Zelazny's Amber - Books 1 & 2

The Chronicles of Amber - Omnibus

I bought the five-book ombimus edition of  'The Chronicles of Amber' because I felt I should catch up on important stepping-stone books in the history of fantasy. I can't quite believe I never read these when I was younger. There was something vaguely familiar about Nine Princes and I think I may have read it (or part of it, maybe) back in the early 70s in my library days. I certainly never owned a copy, though. Anyhow, almost forty years after its first publication I'm wondering if I might have had a different reaction in that much more resticted market of the early seventies, because, frankly I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. Each book is fairly slight, preceding the fashion for huge door-stop novels as they do. Though there are passages in which the writing is lovely, and the ideas - especially without being swamped by later imaginations - are very clever (and may even have been mind-blowing in their day), by and large I didn't engage deeply with either novel. If it were to be presented now I would even say that it was a little self-indulgent, but I rather suspect that Amber is just a product of its time. I will get round to reading the third, fourth and fifth books in this quintet, but probably not immediately.

Roger Zelazny: Nine Princes in Amber – Amber #1

The classic Zelazny story of a man waking in a hospital on Earth with no memory of his past, but gradually coming to realise that he is Corwin, Prince of Amber (Earth is just one of many shadow-realms) who must fight his way through magical intrigue in many shadow dimensions and in Amber itself before he can challenge his brother for the throne he considers his by right. The family plotting - sibling against sibling - would be worthy of the Borgias. I'm not sure, however, I can get past the villainous brother being called Eric, It's such a dork name for a king (apologies to all the real Erics out there who probably prove my point by not currently being reigning monarchs).


Roger Zelazny: The Guns of Avalon – Amber #2

Continuing the adventures of Corwin as he prepares to take the throne of Amber from his brother Eric, but as he strides through the shadow dimensions discovers that they are all suffering from his own curse, placed on Amber in pain and anguish and echoing everywhere in slightly different forms. We find an irrelevant romantic sub-plot, a missing brother and deceit from an unexpected quarter plus a technological miracle involving jeweller's rouge.

Book Log 22/2009 - Horizon (Sharing Knife #4)

Lois McMaster Bujold: Horizon – Sharing Knife #4

The fourth Sharing Knife book in which Dag and Fawn and their new half-Farmer / half-Lakewalker extended family journey back up the river-trail towards Clearcreek and home. On the way Dag goes back to school, learning to use his newly awoken ‘maker’ talents of healing and ‘groundsetting’ (a kind of spirit healing) whilst continuing to try and bridge the cultural divide between Farmer and Lakewalker, leading by example. That gets him into more trouble with the stuffy Lakewalkers, who can’t quite grasp the idea of sharing information with the Farmers they are trying to protect. It’s not a simple journey, of course. They pick up more Farmer and Lakewalker strays on the way and run into a couple of ‘malices’ with varying near-disastrous results before bringing the quartet of stories to a satisfactory conclusion. A delightful book.

It’s refreshing to read a romantic fantasy where the main protagonists are a married couple. Dag and Fawn’s trusting relationship is central to the plot and yet Bujold never lets it become too sweet or tacky. When Fawn’s life is in danger you feel Dag’s absolute, suffocating panic and distress. I’ve said before that Bujold is my current favourite author and this book reinforces that. I avoided starting on the Sharing Knife books because a few people said they were a little disappointing after Chalion and the other Five Gods books, but I found them charming – though I am quite happy with the definite romance aspects of the series, which some may not be. Well worth reading.

Book Log 22/2009 - Horizon (Sharing Knife #4)

Lois McMaster Bujold: Horizon – Sharing Knife #4

The fourth Sharing Knife book in which Dag and Fawn and their new half-Farmer / half-Lakewalker extended family journey back up the river-trail towards Clearcreek and home. On the way Dag goes back to school, learning to use his newly awoken ‘maker’ talents of healing and ‘groundsetting’ (a kind of spirit healing) whilst continuing to try and bridge the cultural divide between Farmer and Lakewalker, leading by example. That gets him into more trouble with the stuffy Lakewalkers, who can’t quite grasp the idea of sharing information with the Farmers they are trying to protect. It’s not a simple journey, of course. They pick up more Farmer and Lakewalker strays on the way and run into a couple of ‘malices’ with varying near-disastrous results before bringing the quartet of stories to a satisfactory conclusion. A delightful book.

It’s refreshing to read a romantic fantasy where the main protagonists are a married couple. Dag and Fawn’s trusting relationship is central to the plot and yet Bujold never lets it become too sweet or tacky. When Fawn’s life is in danger you feel Dag’s absolute, suffocating panic and distress. I’ve said before that Bujold is my current favourite author and this book reinforces that. I avoided starting on the Sharing Knife books because a few people said they were a little disappointing after Chalion and the other Five Gods books, but I found them charming – though I am quite happy with the definite romance aspects of the series, which some may not be. Well worth reading.

Book Log 23/2009 - Bone Crossed

Patricia Briggs: Bone Crossed
Mercy Thompson #4

This series just gets better and better. Each book continues the story of Mercy Thompson, a coyote shapechanger raised by werewolves, as she tries to make her way in the Tri-Cities as a VW mechanic, whilst juggling the attentions of Lone-Wolf Samuel (her childhood sweetheart) and Adam, the possessive Alpha of the Tri-Cities pack. Mercy is recovering from the after effects of the conclusion of the third book that resulted in some embarrassing publicity which not only reminds her of horrible events she’d like to forget, but also officially outs the werewolves to a (mostly) unsuspecting public with can’t-be-denied camera footage. She’s more or less made up her mind between Charles and Adam when two visitors complicate her life. One is her mother, never a good sign, and the other is the vampire, Stefan, half dead (or deader) from being tortured by Marsilia, the Queen of the local Vampire seethe. Drawing together events from both the second and the third books, Marsilia has discovered that Mercy killed one of her pet-vamps in Book #2 (Mercy’s actions having been covered up by Stephan) and Mercy’s going to pay - not only Mercy, but all those who cares about. Naturally Adam’s not going to let the fanged harridan get away with that, so war is brewing between the vampires and the wolves and Mercy has to get out of town to let things cool down and give Adam time to play immortal-politics. An old college friend pops up to invite her to Portland to exorcise a ghost. Lucky coincidence or evil plan? Guess. But there’s more than Marcilia at work behind the scenes and Mercy will be lucky to get out of this with her furry. coyote hide in one piece.

I like the way that Briggs does consequences. Everything arises from a close intertwining of character and plot. Mercy’s loyalty to her friends, whether fae, vampire or werewolf, has consequences. She puts herself in danger and sometimes she can’t get herself out of it, so bad things happen. Those bad things aren’t easily shrugged off, and her relationship with Adam is going to suffer, which hurts the pack. Mercy’s not all that sure that she wants to surrender to pack politics – she knows what to expect because of her upbringing – but she wants Adam and it’s time to make difficult choices about all sorts of things.

Book Log 23/2009 - Bone Crossed

Patricia Briggs: Bone Crossed
Mercy Thompson #4

This series just gets better and better. Each book continues the story of Mercy Thompson, a coyote shapechanger raised by werewolves, as she tries to make her way in the Tri-Cities as a VW mechanic, whilst juggling the attentions of Lone-Wolf Samuel (her childhood sweetheart) and Adam, the possessive Alpha of the Tri-Cities pack. Mercy is recovering from the after effects of the conclusion of the third book that resulted in some embarrassing publicity which not only reminds her of horrible events she’d like to forget, but also officially outs the werewolves to a (mostly) unsuspecting public with can’t-be-denied camera footage. She’s more or less made up her mind between Charles and Adam when two visitors complicate her life. One is her mother, never a good sign, and the other is the vampire, Stefan, half dead (or deader) from being tortured by Marsilia, the Queen of the local Vampire seethe. Drawing together events from both the second and the third books, Marsilia has discovered that Mercy killed one of her pet-vamps in Book #2 (Mercy’s actions having been covered up by Stephan) and Mercy’s going to pay - not only Mercy, but all those who cares about. Naturally Adam’s not going to let the fanged harridan get away with that, so war is brewing between the vampires and the wolves and Mercy has to get out of town to let things cool down and give Adam time to play immortal-politics. An old college friend pops up to invite her to Portland to exorcise a ghost. Lucky coincidence or evil plan? Guess. But there’s more than Marcilia at work behind the scenes and Mercy will be lucky to get out of this with her furry. coyote hide in one piece.

I like the way that Briggs does consequences. Everything arises from a close intertwining of character and plot. Mercy’s loyalty to her friends, whether fae, vampire or werewolf, has consequences. She puts herself in danger and sometimes she can’t get herself out of it, so bad things happen. Those bad things aren’t easily shrugged off, and her relationship with Adam is going to suffer, which hurts the pack. Mercy’s not all that sure that she wants to surrender to pack politics – she knows what to expect because of her upbringing – but she wants Adam and it’s time to make difficult choices about all sorts of things.