The Guns of Avalon

Roger Zelazny

Completed 9/8/2020, Reviewed 9/8/2020

4 stars

The second book of Amber is almost as good as the first.  It has a little more exposition than I like, but overall, it delivered.  The writing is still tight, even during the exposition, and the imagination going into this universe is still impressive.  Corwin, the protagonist, is still believable as an average person despite being immortal, with relatable emotions and reactions.  He acquires a sidekick in this book and we meet a few more brothers.  The sisters don’t make a reappearance, but there are a few more women introduced.  I’m really enjoying the series so far and am glad I’m giving it a go.

Warning:  Spoilers from the previous book follow!

The book begins with Corwin sitting in the deepest dungeon and blinded by order of his brother Eric.  He spends four years, only getting out, cleaned up, and made presentable for Eric’s annual anniversary of his ascension to the throne of Amber.  During his fourth year, his eyes complete their regeneration and he tries to devise a plan of escape.  This plan accelerates when he’s visited by the great wizard of his father’s reign who is also imprisoned.  Through the wizard, he transports to a distant lighthouse where he receives hospitality and care from the attendant.  After rehabilitating for a while, he sails off for Avalon, one of the Shadows.  There he meets his brother Benedict and devises a plan to import guns from our Shadow using jewelers’ rouge since gunpowder doesn’t ignite in Amber. 

I really liked how this story continued.  It doesn’t start out happy and it doesn’t end happy.  It’s all rather dark.  The darkness is exacerbated by a menace growing in Amber and in many of the Shadows.  This Chaos was brought about by a curse Corwin placed on his brother Eric at the end of the first book.  So besides dealing with trying to gain the throne of Amber, he also has to deal with the monsters that are coming out of Chaos. 

There are some light points in the book, however, including meeting a kindly woman as well as a mysterious woman who seems to know a lot about Corwin.  There’s also the sidekick that Cowrin acquires, Ganelon, a man he exiled from Avalon when he lived there many years ago.  But time, like space, is fluid between Shadows, and Ganelon exists in this Shadow, a self-made man after Corwin caused him to lose everything. 

Considering there are five books in the Corwin cycle of the Chronicles of Amber, I don’t know how informative these next reviews are going to be.  In this book, the writing style and the characterization are similar to Nine Princes in Amber.  I expect the succeeding reviews are going to be shorter, mostly plot summaries and maybe some highlights of things I liked and didn’t like, if they are different from the preceding books.  This book I give four stars out of five.  Despite the couple of expositional scenes, the book is exciting and action packed.  The world-building continues to be excellent.  And I just really like Corwin.