The Chronicles of Amber

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The Chronicles of Amber is a work by the American writer Roger Zelazny . It is divided into two cycles, each comprising five books, and the actions of which have largely been completed. Both cycles were published in a new edition in two bound books in 2006.

action

In Zelazny's world, in a sea of chaos, there is an - apparently - true world called Amber , consisting of a medieval city - which serves as an archetype for all other cities in the universe - with its surroundings. Around this world are grouped shadows , more and more faulty duplicates of Amber. The laws of physics become more and more lax the further the shadow is from Amber; conventional gunpowder doesn't work in Amber itself, while closer to chaos, magic also works and the room becomes unstable. In a later novel, the protagonists discover the real Amber , which consists of the pristine mountain and its surroundings, with which they discover that Amber itself is only a shadow; they speculate as to whether this True Amber is not itself a shadow of another, even more real level.

Because of their flaws, the shadows take on every possible world a person can imagine; our world itself is also described as a shadow in which the protagonist initially wakes up.

Since the emergence of Amber, this city has been ruled by Oberon , a powerful, just, but often merciless ruler. With various wives, lovers and mistresses, Oberon had offspring - the princes and princesses of Amber, who are the focus of the book series. Only Oberon and his descendants have the ability to follow the pattern that lies at the center of Amber and the True Amber and with whose creation Oberon and Dworkin Amber created. After that, they can visit any existing world. However, the everyday life of this family is determined by intrigue and power games - almost every one of them wants to become ruler of Amber. The saying "I love you like a brother!" Is a common curse in Amber.

At the beginning of the first book ( Corwin von Amber ) there are officially nine male (Benedict, Eric, Corwin, Bleys, Brand, Caine, Julian, Gérard, Random) and four female (Deirdre, Fiona, Flora, Llewella) known descendants. Due to Oberon's long absence from Amber, a new wave of intrigue has swelled as Prince Eric has established himself as governor and future ruler of Amber.

Book editions

Corvin cycle

Original title

  • Nine Princes in Amber . 1970.
  • The Guns of Avalon. 1972.
  • Sign of the Unicorn. 1975.
  • The Hand of Oberon. 1976.
  • The Courts of Chaos. 1978.

Translations

(The translations into German, including their completely revised new editions from 2017/18, are by Thomas Schlück .)

New edition: The Nine Princes of Amber . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2017. ISBN 978-3-608-98127-8 .
New edition: The Rifles of Avalon . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2017. ISBN 978-3-608-98128-5 .
New edition: Under the sign of the unicorn . Klett-Cotta 2017. ISBN 978-3-608-98129-2 .
New edition: The Hand of Oberon . Klett-Cotta 2018. ISBN 978-3-608-98130-8 .
New edition: The castles of chaos . Klett-Cotta 2018. ISBN 978-3-608-98131-5 .

Merlin cycle

Original title

  • Trumps of Doom. 1985.
  • Blood of Amber. 1986.
  • Sign of chaos. 1987.
  • Knight of Shadows. 1989.
  • Prince of Chaos. 1991.

Translations

(The translations into German are by Irene Bonhorst .)

Anthologies

Prehistory, by John Gregory Betancourt

John Gregory Betancourt has written some books in the style of Roger Zelazny, which tell the story of Amber from the point of view of Oberon:

In addition, Roger Zelazny wrote a number of short stories about Amber, summarized in the book Manna from Heaven (2003).

Adaptation

The 1985 computer game Nine Princes in Amber by Telarium was based on the novels Corwin von Amber ("Nine Princes in Amber") and The Guns of Avalon ("The Guns of Avalon") .