26 July 2007

Book Banter -- Prince of Chaos

Title: Prince of Chaos (Amber Chronicles, bk. 10)

Author: Roger Zelazny
Length: 225 pages
Genre: fantasy/sci-fi
Plot Basics: Family politics are on the move, but this time, it's not the royal family of Amber that's dogging Merlin's steps, but the other side of his family in the Courts of Chaos. Turns out, the last king of Chaos has kicked it and Merlin's surprisingly third in line for succession. But just who's pulling the political strings is tricky and Merlin doesn't want to be anyone's puppet.
Banter Points: The Courts of Chaos! Wow. What a strange place. Laid out on way lines with hidden rooms and places that fold over each other. It's an amazingly executed vision that Zelazny was able to get this very strange place across to his readers.
Bummer Points: The end. This is the final book of Zelazny's Amber Chronicles and for the amount of upheaval a reader goes through with both the Amber courts and the Courts of Chaos, the end kind of drops off after a very fast resolution.
Word Nerd recommendation: Word Nerd's said it nine more times before this for the rest of the books in the series, but she'll say it again. Fantasy fans: Zelazny is one of the masters. Read him.



1 comment:

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

Wow, what a recommendation! I've been wanting to try new authors in sci-fi/fantasy--thanks!