Nine Princes in Amber



A book on loan from my friend the Mac fiend, this is the first in a series by Roger Zelazny, and it's a quick involving read at only 176 pages. The guy's terse and vivid and the action never stops, but I found the basic premise to be so much Fantasy that the characters were hard to get into.

Basically, the idea is that there's one "true" city (Amber) and that all the other universes and dimensions are "shadows" of that one. Amber's ruled by a central monarchy, and that monarch has died (or...something...). Anyway, the remaining 9 boys and 6 girls of his brood all fight it out to see who can recapture the throne.

It plays-out like a game of poker, crossed with chess, with a dash of "Braveheart" thrown in. Good, but not great.

Did feel good to actually read a book again.

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