Sign of the Unicorn

Roger Zelazny

Completed 9/9/2020, Reviewed 9/9/2020

3 stars

The third book of Amber has less action than the first two.  It’s set up as a murder mystery.  It has a lot of explanations, conversations, and meetings.  I found it much slower paced and tougher to get into.  There’s a lot of tell me versus show me going on, and while it is written well, it didn’t have the excitement of the first two books.  The Amber universe is pretty much built, so there is not as much wonder.  The writing also did not seem as tight, a lot wordier in the expositions and ruminations.  I felt like Zelazny was much more introspective in this book, even being (comically) self-referential in one scene.

Warning:  Spoilers from the previous books follow!

With Eric dead from wounds acquired in the battle with the creatures of Chaos, Corwin has become the regent of Amber.  Life is still not easy for him, as he has found the body of his brother Caine, and feels that he is being set up for the murder.  He confides in Random, who gives us the back story of how he was living in a Shadow called Texorami when he received a cry for help from brother Brand.  Random went to save Brand, but was stopped by a dragon-like creature and spined human-like creatures.  Random escapes from them and hides with Flora and Corwin, as we had seen in the first book.  One of this type of spined creature is the same type that killed Caine.  Corwin gathers the remaining siblings and tries to rescue Brand, only to have him stabbed by someone as soon as they bring him back.  The siblings try to figure out who plotted Caine’s death and stabbed Brand, and possibly who killed their father Oberon.  

Although there is a lot of exposition in this book, it does provide some additional characterization.  Through it, we learn a lot more about Random and Brand.  We also get insight into Gerard during an altercation with Corwin and as he cares for the stabbed Brand.  We get a little more exposure to the sisters, but still not much.  I also felt like we lost Ganelon, Corwin’s sidekick.  He only has a few scenes, the largest of which is as a device to get Corwin to explain the complex line of succession of the siblings to the throne of Amber. 

In terms of wonder, there is one item that receives a lot of attention, the Jewel of Judgement.  It was worn by King Oberon, as well as by Eric when he claimed the throne.  Now Corwin has it.  Among its many powers is the control over the weather.  But sister Fiona warns Corwin that not all the powers are known and some are deadly.  It seems to be powered by the life force of the wearer, making people and things around him to appear to slow down.  It is said that when people turn to stone, the wearer is near death. 

I was a little disappointed with this book, perhaps because I’m reading the Corwin cycle consecutively and this book has a much different flavor than the first two books.  There are more dreams, visions, and traveling between Shadows.  I had trouble discerning these from reality several times.  And I had to read the last few pages twice to understand the setup for the next book.  Because of this as well as because of all the exposition, I give this book three stars out of five.  I’m hoping in the next book, the action picks up, now that this book has filled a lot of the knowledge gaps from the previous books.