sonja@genie.UUCP (Sonja Bock) (07/07/85)
Trumps of Doom
Roger Zelazny
Arbor House 1985
The Amber series, beginning with the prototype novel "Jack of Shadows" in 1971
and climaxing (in the good old sci-fi tradition followed by Franks Herbert &
Sinatra, Asimov and Farmer) in 1978 with "Courts of Chaos" continues on in the
newest release,"Trumps of Doom" (1985).
Courts left us with Corwin the Mad Prince triumphant in saving Amber from disin-
tegration, Oberon the King dead and the slightly Loki-like (but all-round Good
Egg) Random on the throne of Amber, and Corwin himself, now the father of Merlin
by Dara of Chaos, oiling off into Shadow for (we hope) a busman's holiday.
Now, some eight years later (by Amber or Earth Shadow time, take your pick) we
continue the Amber saga with Merle (a.k.a. Merlin) who has just completed a
stint with a computer firm in San Francisco.
As often happens in the Amber royal house, Merle's father is missing, he is
lumping around in Shadow, and somebody unknown is trying unsuccessfully kill
him. And again as usual, the clues lie in Amber.
Just like a James Bond film, this new Amber offering contains the standard ac-
coutrements found in all of the Amber series, deception, mystery, magic, intri-
gue, and shifting sets and scenes beautifully described. The emergence of a
HAL-like computer in Amber keeps the saga current.
There is nothing radically different in "Trumps", but then again, does there
need to be? A long awaited sequel sure to be appreciated by any confirmed Amber
fan.
For those readers who are not entirely familiar, or who have grown unfamiliar in
the years between 71 and 85, here is the complete "Amber" selection in chrono-
logical order:
Nine Princes in Amber
The Guns of Avalon
The Sign of the Unicorn
The Hand of Oberon
The Courts of Chaos
The Trumps of Doom
The book "Jack of Shadows" deals with Shadow, but not necessarily with Amber,
although the similarities between Jack and Corwin are too great to be ignored.
Any and all are good exciting reads, and all are available in used bookstores
everywhere, although if Asimov's and Herbert's and Farmer's most recent efforts
are any precedent, someone is bound to reprint the entire series in the near fu-
ture.davidk@dartvax.UUCP (David C. Kovar) (07/08/85)
The author of this article states that "Jack of Shadows" is a prequel
of sorts to the the Amber series and that JoS deals with Shadow, Amber
style. I beg to differ. JoS takes place on an Earth with no rotation.
One side is constantly dark, and full of magic, one side light, and
full of science (our "normal" Earth.) Jack is one of the few Darksiders
who travels to the light side, and the only one who's magic will work
there. His magic is the ability to use *any* form of shadow to hide
him, no matter how small. Additionally, anytime his name is spoken in
shadow he will hear it, no matter how far away. He lives in and with
shadows, thus Jack of shadows. No relation to Amberian Shadow at all.
Reasonably nice review, but lacking flair, could get the same sense of
the book from the dust cover. And please get your facts straight...
--
David C. Kovar
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"I felt like a punk who'd gone out for a switchblade and come back
with a tactical nuke.
'Shit', I thought. 'Screwed again. What good's a tactical nuke in a
street fight?'"
"Burning Chrome" by William Gibson