Prince of Chaos

Most people who've read this book don't seem to realize that there was a reason why so many plot threads were either left unresolved, or introduced fresh. This was the case with Courts of Chaos as well (book 5 in the series): Amber won the war, albeit at a terrible price, but there were far too many unanswered questions. The reason is that Zelazny was not intending this to be the end to the series, just to this chapter of the story. It is not a well-known fact, but Zelazny actually wrote five short stories that pick up after this book end (they were published in various magazines and, to my knowledge, have never been collected or even made easily available). Those five stories deal with what happened with Luke and the Pattern (#1), Merlin meeting Rhanda (#2), Frakir, after she got herself freed (#3), and Corwin making his way to Amber on a blue, shape-shifting horse from the Courts (#4 and 5). In those stories, it is revealed that spikards are sentient, Grayswandir and Werewindle are not swords at all, but instead changed spikards, a new race of beings - the Shroudlings, who live in the world behind mirrors - is introduced, and Castle Amber is alive and taking part in things. Zelazny was clearly bulding up to another series; unfortunatelly, he succumbed to cancer shortly thereafter.

With the exception of a few weak steps in Sign of Chaos, Zelazny's Amber series has proven to be one of the enduring monuments of fantasy writing in the 70's and 80's. They are the logical culmination of a focus on the concept of 'world builder' first investigated in Isle of the Dead. In that volume world building was a spiritual activity and here, in the twin five volume series about Corwin and his son Merlin is is the politics of those who can wander the dimensions and 'find' worlds of their own design that is important. Prince of Chaos makes it clear that Order and Chaos are the great forces that drive events. And that it is the inhabitants, not the manifestations of the powers that must keep the balance. For all their instincts of preservation, the Serpent and the Unicorn would gladly have the universe destroyed if for one instant either side can rule unconstrained. Merlin, born and raised in the Courts of Chaos, but true son of Amber, finds himself maneuvered into the precarious position of potential heir to the dark throne. He despises the idea of wearing a crown, hates being manipulates, but his progress has been almost inevitable. He is a piece in a very large chess game. Zelazny builds this volume as a puzzle with Corwin charged with finding all the pieces and fitting them together. He must find his father, determine who among his relatives can be trusted, and make more than a few decisions of the heart. He is a young man surrounded by players who have been in the game for hundred, if not thousands, of years. And each victory means new threats to defend himself against. Zelazny manages to wrap up most of his loose ends while leaving considerable room for further amplification. There will never be another volume in this series, but the reader has so much material to work with that there are countless alternate new volumes resting in the heads of inspired readers, caught in the pattern of fascination that drives the plot. That these stories go on in our minds is the true charm of Zelazny's work. With today's focus on action rather than plot the art of the storyteller has almost disappeared from the genre.

This is the tenth and the last (official?) book of the Amber Chronicles (the first one is Nine Princes in Amber). Although not everything is explained (isn't it the same in life?), it's a wonderfull ending. I wish if Zelazny was still with us he wrote another five parts.

This book is subtle, sophisticated, and sleek. No one has ever written like Roger Zelazny and no one ever will. His work is satisfying as science fiction but also as a thought provoking and soul stirring work of art and literature. It is so filled with astonishing images that it has to called art. It is so lyrical that it also must be appreciated as literature. Perhaps it also like great music. A rich creation for all the senses.

This a great work. It is the culmination of the series. Zelazny is amazing since the final book blazes with as much creativity as the first nine. All sorts of creatures are encountered. All kinds of new realities unfold. This book is an impossibility. It can't be that there are nine extraordinary books and that in the tenth book of the series, Zelazny is able to create as the last one an enchanting work of art that fulfills if not surpasses the earlier nine.