The Courts of Chaos

Roger Zelazny

Completed 9/13/2020, Reviewed 9/13/2020

4 stars

This was a rousing conclusion to the Corwin Cycle of the Chronicles of Amber.  It had action, adventure, magical beings, and a dramatic ultimate scene.  The prose was a little more flowery, but still pretty tight.  All the characters were well established and acted in keeping with who they are.  My only complaint was that the pacing was a little uneven in the middle.  There’s a long set of scenes where Corwin has to journey from Amber to the Courts of Chaos.  He meets many magical beings, but in between these scenes, the descriptions of the lands Corwin was going through as well as his state of being got a little dry.  Otherwise, I really enjoyed this book and found the ending to be quite exhilarating. 

Warning:  Spoilers from the previous books follow!

The book picks up with Corwin back in Amber with his father Oberon back under the guise of Ganelon.  Oberon gives orders for all his children on what to do while he tries to repair the Pattern that Brand has corrupted.  The Pattern is the design from which all realities and shadows emanate.  Oberon offers Corwin the throne of Amber, but he refuses, realizing he doesn’t really want it anymore.  So Oberon sends him off to the Courts of Chaos to do battle using the Jewel of Judgement once Oberon is done with it in his quest to repair the Pattern.  Oberon believes whether he succeeds or fails with the Pattern, the task will kill him.  Corwin begins his journey, eventually receiving the Jewel from a red raven his father created.  Thinking his father failed, he realizes he must try to create a new pattern and return the universe to normalcy.

One of my favorite parts of this book was Corwin coming across the magical beings.  In one scene, he meets a cave of leprechauns who are about to eat his horse.  In another, he makes a staff from the talking tree named Ygg, an allusion to the Yggdrasil, the tree of life, of Norse Mythology.  Then he meets and accompanied by a talking raven named Hugi, an allusion to Huginn, one of the ravens of Odin, also of Norse Mythology.  I’ve always liked how Zelazny borrowed from different religions for his books, like Greek Mythology in This Immortal and Hindu and Buddhism in Lord of Light. 

I also liked the dramatic ending of the book.  I won’t give it away, of course, but I thought Zelazny’s descriptions were very vivid for the fantastical events that took place.  The action was tightly written as well. 

Overall, this series was quite a thrill ride.  There’s definitely a change in tone as the series progresses.  The first two books, Nine Princes in Amber and The Guns of Avalon, are very typical Zelazny.  The Sign of the Unicorn, however, is the book that feels different, becoming more philosophical in nature, and a little slower paced.  The Hand of Oberon continues this philosophical tone but picks up with the action and the tightness of the prose, continuing and culminating in this final book.  My understanding is that the second half of the Chronicles, the Merlin Cycle, again has a different tone and feel, it being published after a seven-year gap, between 1985 and 1991.

I give this book four stars out of five.  The book is a worthy conclusion to an amazingly complex and imaginative work.  I’m glad I finally read it.  I think I’m going to save the Merlin Cycle for next year, giving myself a break and a chance to be open to the differences in its tone and style compared to these books.