With three books left to read and the date rapidly approaching Christmas Eve, it would probably make sense to stick to something short and sweet. Three helpings of Spot the Dog, for example. However, these cursed categories meant that such a plan wasn't really a possibility. And while I like Spot, I also wanted to read what I wanted to read. Which would probably explain why I decided it would be a good idea to get stuck into an 800 page behemoth. In actual fact it was a quintet (or pentad, if you prefer) collected together, but either way it was a bit of a beast.
It was also Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny, one of a set of classic fantasy stories that I have now collected all of and read at least half of. And it seemed like a good idea to tackle it at the time. Combining snippets of a modern setting with the true city world, Amber, and the infinite number of reflections, or Shadows, it deals with the royal family, a classic example of blood being thicker than the proverbial. All centuries old, they have many rivalries and friendships as they all play what could happily be called a game of thrones.
Through deceit, lies, memory and skill with arms and words, the reader follows Corwin, Crown Prince of Amber as he tries to pick his way through a series of challenges in order to gain and then protect the throne from not only his siblings, but also a series of outside influences from the Court of Chaos. A masterwork for a reason, the mysteries are unravelled amidst the politicking and the nature of power and those who seek it is brought into question. One thing I will comment on though is the copyediting (or the typesetting), as the book was riddled with so many errors it was ridiculous. I'm aware of how easy it is to make mistakes and I'm sure there are numerous typos throughout the blog, never mind my day job, but the number that slipped through the net in this case was rather silly.
Book number: 98
Title: Chronicles of Amber
Author: Roger Zelazny
Category: Books with colours in the title
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