Roger Zelazny's the Dawn of Amber

John Gregory Betancourt & Roger Zelazny

Book 1 of Dawn of Amber

Language: English

Publisher: Ibooks

Published: Aug 27, 2002

Pages: 416

Description:

In Roger Zelazny's Amber universe, there is only one true world, of which all others are but Shadows. In the ten-book saga that he created, it is learned that Amber was not the first true world; rather, it was The Courts of Chaos. The saga chronicled the adventures of the royal family of Amber, culminating with a worlds-shaking battle between champions from Amber and from Chaos. Zelazny did not have the chance to create the origin of Amber and its royal family, or reveal other key information that is only alluded to, before he died. The Dawn of Amber trilogy will expand the "Amber" universe and answer the important questions left open, including how Amber was created, by whom, and why. The events in the trilogy will precede those in the existing novels, but follow some of the same, immortal characters. Finally, fans of the series will discover why it was necessary to create Amber, how Chaos and Amber came to be at war, and the true nature of the universal, sentient forces that Amber and Chaos represent.

Roger Zelazny's The Dawn of Amber by John Gregory Betancourt

Fans of the late Roger Zelazny's popular Amber series should flock to this workmanlike, authorized prequel, the first of a projected trilogy, by Betancourt (Infection and three other Star Trek novels). Readers familiar with the heroes Corwin and Merlin from the earlier books will soon catch on that Betancourt's protagonist, the Conan-like Oberon (aka Obere), will one day be their father. In the realm of Chaos, Obere is as handy with his sword as with his sweethearts, serving the king of an outlying world. He is innocent of the magic that rules in his universe until he discovers he is not an orphan but has a nearly 200-year-old father, Dworkin, with vast magical abilities and many progeny from a wide assortment of mothers. Not all these siblings are loving, Obere finds. Betancourt captures the fantastic nature of the original and peppers his story with Amber-familiar terms such as Logrus, that mystical gift which enables its holders to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks and travel vast distances instantly; Trumps, the illustrated cards that assist those with Logrus to travel and even to foretell the future; and Courts of Chaos, the center of this pre-Amberian world. The narrative may lack the sparkling wit of its predecessors, but the cliffhanger ending should leave the faithful hungry for the next installment.

Snatched from the jaws of death by the mysterious figure he knows only as Dworkin, young Obere travels to the realm of Juniper, one of the lands of Shadow that mirror the Courts of Chaos. There he learns his true identity and his flawed heritage and meets his eccentric and magically powerful family for the first time. Working under authorization from the estate of the late Roger Zelazny, Betancourt inaugurates a new series that takes place in the popular world of the Amber novels. Exploring the origins of Amber itself and the nature of the world's most enigmatic character, Dworkin the "mad," Betancourt creates a thrill-a-minute series opener that should appeal to longtime fans of the previous series. For most fantasy collections.
Library Journal   

Fans of the late Roger Zelazny's popular Amber series should flock to this workmanlike, authorized prequel, the first of a projected trilogy, by Betancourt (Infection and three other Star Trek novels). Readers familiar with the heroes Corwin and Merlin from the earlier books will soon catch on that Betancourt's protagonist, the Conan-like Oberon (aka Obere), will one day be their father. In the realm of Chaos, Obere is as handy with his sword as with his sweethearts, serving the king of an outlying world. He is innocent of the magic that rules in his universe until he discovers he is not an orphan but has a nearly 200-year-old father, Dworkin, with vast magical abilities and many progeny from a wide assortment of mothers. Not all these siblings are loving, Obere finds. Betancourt captures the fantastic nature of the original and peppers his story with Amber-familiar terms such as Logrus, that mystical gift which enables its holders to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks and travel vast distances instantly; Trumps, the illustrated cards that assist those with Logrus to travel and even to foretell the future; and Courts of Chaos, the center of this pre-Amberian world. The narrative may lack the sparkling wit of its predecessors, but the cliffhanger ending should leave the faithful hungry for the next installment. Snatched from the jaws of death by the mysterious figure he knows only as Dworkin, young Obere travels to the realm of Juniper, one of the lands of Shadow that mirror the Courts of Chaos. There he learns his true identity and his flawed heritage and meets his eccentric and magically powerful family for the first time. Working under authorization from the estate of the late Roger Zelazny, Betancourt inaugurates a new series that takes place in the popular world of the Amber novels. Exploring the origins of Amber itself and the nature of the world's most enigmatic character, Dworkin the "mad," Betancourt creates a thrill-a-minute series opener that should appeal to longtime fans of the previous series. For most fantasy collections. --Library Journal

Críticas

"A new trilogy that will delight a legion of fans eager to learn how Amber came to be."