Roger Zelazny discussion

First 5 or all 10? If all 10, then I find Mandor fascinating & really like Merlin. If only the first 5,
I've always been very partial to Corwin, but his ignorance of so many things tics me off. Bleys is an underdeveloped character. I think I might like him the best.

I liked Fiona a lot. Would have liked to seen more done with her.

Of the guys, I'd pick Random.

Corwin, Mandor, Benedict and yes Bleys not nessecarily in that order.
Of the girls who else than Fiona? The rest is bland. Having said that Vialle turned out to be interesting. But overall it is a series written by a guy and starting in the seventies what can you expect?

Corwin and Random. Merlin.
I know, boring choices but it's who I liked most.

No one likes Dworkin?
;-)

Yes, I like him well enough but not 'the most'.

I think he's probably the most interesting character, if you read Betancourt's books. Oberon, Corwin & Merlin are heroes, but Dworkin is certainly the most enigmatic.

Betancourt's books?

He wrote Oberon's story, a prequel to the Amber series. It was supposed to be 5 books (a trilogy & then a duology) but the final book was never written. The publisher folded & the new publisher that picked up the rights wasn't interested, so we're left on a horrible cliff hanger at the end of book 4.

I liked them & thought they were as good as the Merlin cycle. Others have said not, though.

We have two topics for them. No spoilers here:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Spoiler topic is here:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...
There aren't any in there, though. Just 3 messages.

OK, good to know. I won't be reading them if there's no ending.

If you read just the first 3, it's not too bad. It's the fourth one that makes you grind your teeth in frustration. It's an interesting look into the origins of Amber, anyway. You get to find out where Ygg comes from.

Hummm, maybe I will try to find them. I'm going to a library book sale on the 11th, maybe they'll have some of them there. Wish me luck!

Awww . . . no one picked the bad guy? I always liked Brand. =P

From the first 5, I'd have to say the standout characters for me are Corwin, Brand, Fiona and Benedict.

From the second 5, definitely Mandor and Luke. Merlin's OK too, but I just didn't like him as much as Corwin, so it felt like I was downgrading my protagonist from one set of books to the next.

Oh, and you've gotta love Scrof. =P

I wouldn't say I like her, but I found Dara very interesting. Most of the female Amber characters were fairly meh and prop-like. (No, I don't think RZ was sexist or anything. It was simply a sign of the times.) Fiona was ok, too, but not my favorite. Vialle was interesting, as well.

Of the fellas, I liked Random and Benedict best, and I have kind of a soft spot for Gerard.

It's a tough choice, especially since Zelazny only shows us a tiny bit of so many fascinating characters. Oberon is almost a bad guy, but the more I found out about him & Dworkin, the more I liked them. We never really get to meet Osric & Fin..?(forgot his name - the two oldest brothers who 'died for the good of Amber')

Was Bleys good or bad? I liked him more than Corwin in a lot of ways because he at least had enough interest to study more magic. It was so important to them, but Corwin just took it for granted & never really gave it much thought.

I didn't like Brand. He had the makings of quite a person, but was just too warped. Ditto for Fiona & Dara.

Benedict... Nice guy, but he had a lot of power & never used it, to the detriment of everyone around him.

I think that's actually what made Benedict such an interesting character. He could have used his power more, yes, but he opted not to because he didn't want to create any more strife than necessary. Remember, there's one point when they're trying to figure out who's responsible for what, and they rule out Benedict as a possibility for someone who would want to take the throne, because, "He could have taken it with an army if he'd wanted it, even when Dad was sitting there." (That's not a direct quote, but it's something along those lines.)

Benedict tried to stay out of conflicts because he was concerned first and foremost with the safety of Amber, not with picking someone to back in an attempt on the throne.

As far as Brand goes, yeah, he was warped. But I love me some bad guys, especially the ones that are power-hungry and just so damn smart that you can't hope to match wits with 'em. Brand definitely falls into that category. =P I mean, Bleys and Fiona were supposed to be the other really smart ones in the family, and even they were afraid of what Brand could do by himself. Love it!

It did make Benedict interesting, but that's also why I didn't like him. He could have put an end to the strife easily, but moodily went off into a shadow of a shadow & let the pot boil over.

That's a good description of Brand. He was a little too smart & daring for his own good.

I didn't like Brand too much as a "bad guy"- he seemed a bit, well, one-sided. Now Mandor- That's an antagonist I could get behind. He's not even revealed as a baddish guy until very near the end, with the whole spikard deal.

My favorite character has to be Gerard, hands down. He's very easy to relate to. All the other amberites have plots behind plots and subplots within those- Gerard is, by comparison only, just a normal guy

Ah, but the plots and subplots and deception are what make Amber so fun! =P One of my favorite things about this series is that you'll periodically get a reasonable explanation for why everything happened in the way it did, then you find out 50 pages later that the guy explaining everything was just weaving some very intricate lies. Or maybe he wasn't. Or maybe he was. It always keeps the reader second-guessing, which is awesome!

In fact . . . I've read the whole series 3-4 times now, and I'm still not 100% sure I could tell you exactly what really happened, because when I think of all the different stories that different characters gave, I get my wires crossed and forget what's a lie and what isn't. =P

Zelazny said that when he first started writing, he kept getting rejected. One day he sat down & re-read all he'd written & decided he was explaining too much, so he quit doing that. He purposely would pull out or never write pieces of a story. Sometimes, he took it to extremes.

In Roadmarks, he wrote separate story lines in order then took one section out & threw it into the air. He picked it up & randomly inserted it into the first. That gave the impression of time travel along the road. Between his bare style & this obfustication, I had to read the book twice before I really got it. It took a third time to pick up the rest of the details.

Of course, it also means that it is a book I can read & reread without tiring of. Considering the way the shadows work, more linear but with odd aberations, I'd guess that he pulled some of the same stunts with Amber.

I've still never figured out just who Conrad is in This Immortal. Sometimes I think he's just a long lived man, other times the god Pan. My son votes for the latter interpretation. I generally lean toward the former.

Bill Roth.

Think about it. Ordinary guy, right? Yet he keeps showing up in strange ways and places. He's a personal friend to Corwin, literally saves his life after Corwin gets stabbed by Caine. Roth sells Corwin's Earth house for him, ends up writing the terms for the Patternfall treaty between Amber and Chaos (I REALLY want to read that document!), he's a trusted confidant to Merlin, and when Merlin looks into Suhuy's scrying pool in 'Prince of Chaos' to see who's involved in the succession for the throne, one of the people he sees is Bill.

Love me a man of mystery ...

Corwin, Random and Gerard. I always thought Gerard or his shadows might be Hercules. Interesting that, if I remember correctly, his Trump shows him happy and laughing, but we never see this side of him. I like his intense loyalty and protectiveness.

Thane wrote: "Corwin, Random and Gerard. I always thought Gerard or his shadows might be Hercules. Interesting that, if I remember correctly, his Trump shows him happy and laughing, but we never see this side of..."

I can agree with those. Interesting thoughts on Greater.

But I took a liking to Ganelon. He was the companion and yes friend that Corwin needed.

(view spoiler)[ Of course later we find he is Oberon, which is why he is so important a character. Course he changes when this becomes known, become"Dad" the ruler. (hide spoiler)]