It was seriously a challenge for me to get through the first volume of these books (Nine Princes in Amber & The Guns of Avalon). Volume 2 has the last 3 books (Sign of the Unicorn, Hand of Oberon, & The Courts of Chaos). Honestly the real challenge was Zelazny's writing style. These were written as pulp fiction a long time ago, so they are not recent. It's kind of written in a way that makes references to pop culture - and pop culture way back when my parents were my age. But I decided to read them because they are regarded as a classic in fantasy literature.
So having somewhat low expectations, I was seriously surprised by this book. There's a lot of intrigue and this kept me amused for a long time. This is a family with serious issues. One second you think you can trust your brother, and the next he tries to kill you. Yeah. Another great part is the originality of Zelazny's world. It isn't a typical fantasy world. The world is actually made up of different "shadows" such as the Earth we live on. The Princes of Amber (the true world) can travel through these shadows.
There were still some slow parts like the first book. I got bored when Zelazny spends a whole chapter discussing traveling in The Courts of Chaos. It's just not interesting to me. It isn't even written in complete sentences a lot of the time - just thoughts. But by then I was already in love with this book.
I am GLAD I did not give up after the first volume. Sometimes you keep sticking with the series, and it ends up paying off!
5/5
Obtained through Paperbackswap.com
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