Nine Princes in Amber
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| Nine Princes in Amber | |
 Dust-jacket illustration from the first edition |
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| Author | Roger Zelazny |
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| Cover artist | Amelia S. Edwards |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Chronicles of Amber |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Publication date | June 1970 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| ISBN | ISBN 9997520912 |
| Followed by | The Guns of Avalon |
Nine Princes in Amber is a fantasy novel and the first in the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. It was published in 1970. The book also spawned a computer game of the same name. The first (Doubleday hardcover) edition of the novel is unusually rare; the publisher reportedly pulped a significant part of the original print run in error.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
Carl Corey wakes up in a secluded New York hospital with amnesia. He escapes and investigates, discovering the truth, piece by piece. He is really Prince Corwin of Amber, the one true world of which our Earth is just a shadow; and he is one of nine men who might rule Amber...if he can battle his way past the armies of his elder brother, Eric.
[edit] Plot summary
Carl Corey awakes in a medical clinic, with little to no knowledge of who he is or how he got there. He suspects he is being over-medicated, so he overpowers the nurse and security guard and escapes his room. He finds the manager of the clinic, and learns that he was recovering from a car accident in a private clinic at the expense of his sister, Evelyn Flaumel.
He flees and heads to the house of his sister, who addresses him as Corwin and calls herself Flora. Hiding his lack of knowledge about what she is saying, he convinces her to let him stay. In Flora's library he locates a set of customised Tarot cards - the Trumps - whose Major Arcana are replaced with images which he recognises as his family. As he looks over the cards he remembers all his brothers and sisters: sneaky Random, Julian the hunter, well-built Gérard, the arrogant Eric, himself, Benedict the master tactician and swordsman, sinister Caine, scheming Bleys, and the mysterious Brand. He also views his four sisters: Flora who offered him sanctuary, Deirdre who was dear to him, reserved Llewella, and Fiona whom Corwin hated.
His brother Random contacts him via telephone and Corwin promises to give him protection. Random arrives, pursued by mysterious spined, bloodshot-eyed humanoid creatures, and the combined efforts of Corwin, Random, and Flora's dogs ultimately defeat them. Random then asks Corwin whether he wishes to walk the road to Amber, from which Corwin agrees, despite the fact he does not know what he is doing. The world changes around them, and Corwin realises that Random is somehow causing the changes in order for them to proceed to Amber. They ultimately end up in the Forest of Arden, the territory of their brother Julian. Julian's beasts confront Random and Corwin and eventually Julian himself appears on his steed Morgenstern to take them himself. Corwin dismounts Julian and takes him prisoner. After taking information from Julian he lets him live, saving himself from the remainder of Julian's men who were awaiting Corwin in the forest. While traveling they encounter Corwin's sister Deirdre who reveals she fled from Eric's court. Fully confused at this point, Corwin reveals that he has no memory of what they have been doing or of who he is so Deirdre convinces him to walk the Pattern, which she believes will restore his memory.
The three then travel to Rebma, a reflection of Amber underwater, and there they meet their sister Llewella and Moire, the queen of Rebma. Moire originally believes that the three of them came to Rebma to seek support to defeat Eric but Deirdre explains their true intentions. Due to the fact that Rebma is a reflection of Amber, there is also a reflection of the Pattern in Rebma, which Corwin is to walk to restore his memory. Although Random is impounded for past crimes in Rebma and sentenced to wed a blind girl named Vialle, Corwin convinces the queen Moire to allow him to walk the Pattern. After receiving advice from Random and Deirdre, he walks the Pattern, reliving all of his past life, which stretches back to his time in Amber and when Eric deposited him in Elizabethan England on Shadow Earth. He remembers the powers which his heritage and the Pattern grant him - the power to walk through shadow, and to pronounce a powerful curse before dying. After he completes the Pattern he uses its power to project himself into the Castle of Amber, from which he finds a safe spot and rests.
Afterwards he searches the castle and in the library finds a pack of the Trumps and also an old servant friend. However, Eric finds them and the two begin to duel. Although intimidated at first by Eric's immense skill, Corwin gets the upper hand in the fight and injures Eric on the arm. Corwin would have won the battle and slain his brother had not the soldiers of the castle realized what was happening and moved to protect Eric. Corwin retreated and using a Trump, contacted his brother Bleys who agreed to harbor him and teleported Corwin to his location. Corwin then agreed to aid Bleys in his attempts to assault Amber and defeat Eric and gathered a large group of warriors from Shadow and assembled a navy, while Bleys created an army on land. From here Corwin attempted to contact his brothers, looking for allies. Caine, although supporting Eric, gave Corwin a promise of safe passage by sea, as did his brother Gérard. He is unable to contact Benedict but when he attempts to reach Brand, he views him in a prison and Brand desperately asks Corwin to free him before his image disappears. Using a Trump, Corwin then attempts to contact his father Oberon, who has been missing for centuries and makes contact with him. Oberon encourages him to seize the throne but the contact is eventually lost. When he contacts Random, Random reveals that Eric has contacted him and revealed the full extent of his defenses, which are vast and powerful. Furthermore, Random tells Corwin that Eric has gained control over the Jewel of Judgment, which allows him to control the weather. Despite Random's misgivings, Corwin remains resolute in his desire to attack Amber with Bleys.
As the invasion begins, Corwin travels with the navy by sea but finds Caine waiting for him with a superior force, apparently in violation of their agreement. Eric then contacts Corwin by Trump, who reveals that he knew about his plans from Caine and the two engage in a mental duel which Corwin is unable to break from. After exchanging taunts, Corwin launches a full mental assault on Eric, which defeats him and leaves him with the knowledge that Corwin is his superior. Corwin then joins in the battle although it is hopeless: Caine's forces are already destroying Corwin's navy and he escapes by using a Trump to move him to Bleys and his army. Bleys had been constantly assaulted by creatures of Shadow and the poor weather conditions that have been created by Eric's usage of the Jewel of Judgment. Although they eventually reach Amber, their forces have dwindled and they barely fight their way up Kolvir, the mountain on which the Castle of Amber is situated. Bleys is ultimately pushed off a cliff although Corwin throws him his Trumps to allow him to escape the fall. Corwin then uses his remaining forces and pushes through, eventually breaching to the castle itself, although as he sees Eric, his forces are surrounded and he ultimately is captured.
Corwin is then thrown into a dungeon beneath the Castle of Amber and is brought forth to watch Eric's coronation. Julian, who is at Eric's side, instructs Corwin to hand the crown of the king of Amber to Eric, who will crown himself. To spite Eric, Corwin crowns himself King of Amber but he is quickly beaten by the guards and eventually relents by throwing the crown at Eric. Eric crowns himself and sentenced Corwin to be imprisoned and his eyes burned out. Corwin then pronounces his death curse upon Eric.
In his prison, Corwin is driven nearly to insanity although the visits of Lord Rein, a noble sympathetic to Corwin's plight, jars him out of this state of mind. After a year has passed, he is let out to eat at Eric's table and then he is thrown into the dungeons again. After some time has passed, Corwin's eyesight begins to regenerate, and he begins an escape attempt by whittling the door with a spoon. Before he can escape in this manner, Dworkin Barimen, the keeper of the Pattern, appears. Dworkin entered Corwin's cell by drawing a Trump, and wishes to return in the same way. Corwin gives him the spoon in order to draw a Trump image on the wall, and persuades him to draw one of the Lighthouse of Cabra on the opposite wall. With this, Corwin projects himself out of his prison.
At the Lighthouse of Cabra he meets Jopin, the keeper of the lighthouse but he does not reveal his true identity to him. Jopin cares for Corwin and Corwin aids Jopin in his activities around the lighthouse. Once he is fully recovered, Jopin recognises Corwin, and shows him that the Vale of Garnath, previously a pleasant valley adjacent to Amber, has become a twisted, evil place. Corwin takes Jopin's craft Butterfly and sails away, while sending a message to Eric via a black bird, stating that he will return to claim the throne.
[edit] Characters in "Nine Princes in Amber"
- Main article: List of characters in the Chronicles of Amber
The Machiavellian royal family of Amber is headed by Oberon, the former king, now absent. His four daughters are Florimel, Deirdre, Fiona and Llewella, but the major players of the novel are the nine princes of the title:
- Benedict. The master tactician of the family and a man who seldom smiles; uninvolved in the current struggle for the crown.
- Eric. The arrogant yet competent would-be king of Amber; he commands the loyalty of Julian, Caine and Gérard.
- Corwin. The protagonist. His years on Earth seem to have softened him somewhat. " 'And remember who it was who gave you your life where another would have taken it.' "
- Caine. Calculating and realistic.
- Bleys. Dashing and charming; Corwin's other ally in his fight against Eric.
- Brand. Like Oberon, mysteriously unavailable. "There was a quality of both strength and weakness, questing and abandonment about him."
- Julian. A sinister hunter. " 'I enjoy slaughtering beasts and I think of my relatives constantly.' "
- Gérard. Physically strongest of the nine, affable and liked even by his enemies.
- Random. A sneaky rascal and Corwin's ally.
[edit] Adaptations
A three part comic adaptation was done by Terry Bisson in 1996. [1][2]
[edit] References
- Levack, Daniel J. H. (1983). Amber Dreams: A Roger Zelazny Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood/Miller, 56-58. ISBN 0-934438-39-0.
[edit] External links
- [3] Amber series page on Roger Zelazny fansite
- Nine Princes in Amber at MobyGames
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