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Title: Roger Zelazny's Visual Guide to Castle Amber by Roger Zelazny, Neil Randall, Todd Cameron Hamilton ISBN: 0-380-75566-1 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: November, 1988 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3 (6 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A Review from the Middle of the Road...
Comment: I've never understood the "love it or hate it" reaction that so many people have to this book.
Zelazny was interviewed by Randall and Hamilton for the express purpose of creating this little book. He described the people, the places, and the history of Castle Amber in more concrete detail than you get from the 'Amber' novels, and his descriptions were then "fleshed out" a bit with original prose and illustrations to create 'The Visual Guide to Castle Amber.'
Your guide is Flora, one of the characters from Zelazny's 'Amber' series, and her narration takes you on a floor-by-floor tour of the Castle. Each floor and many rooms of the castle are mapped and thoroughly described. There are also Trump illustrations, along with an incomplete family tree (the 'Visual Guide' appeared before all of the 'Amber' novels were published). Quite interesting, fairly well-organized and well-presented, and authorized by Roger himself. What's the fuss?
The way that fans react to this book has always been amusing to me. Depending upon the individual, the 'Visual Guide' is either a foul blasphemy that defiles THAT WHICH IS THE ONE TRUE AMBER, or else it's a definitive "last word" that was so important that Zelazny assumed flesh-and-blood form to deliver it to the unworthy masses.
I look at it this way: The 'Visual Guide' is ONE VIEW of what Amber might be like, informed by Roger Zelazny and expanded by a couple of self-professed Ambermaniacs. I've seen better, I've seen worse. Generally speaking, I like the maps fairly well but most of the Trump illustrations are run-of-the-mill. I enjoyed leafing through this book quite a bit, and I'd say it's worth reading if you're an 'Amber' fan like me, but I don't go back to it time and time again the way I do with Zelazny's fiction.
Taken for what it is, the 'Visual Guide' is a nifty piece of fan art and fiction, no more and no less.
Rating: 2
Summary: Disappointed
Comment: I got this book expecting to read about the secrets of Castle Amber, to put a "face" on the Pattern, and to see some COLOR pictures of the beautiful artwork described in the books. None of that happened. There was no color, only black and white floorplans of everyone's rooms. ZZZ. Worse, they made all the Amberites obsessed with Earth. They made it seem like they were all there all the time, with everyone having a decor drawn from Earth. And worst of all, the authors made no effort to give a picture of the Pattern. I always have a hard time trying to visualize it.
For nonfans, this book is filled with allusions to the other books, so it may pique your interest to read the others. For someone familair with "Corwin's story", it was very very tame.
Rating: 4
Summary: Much maligned, but quite interesting
Comment: Looking over the past reviews, one would surmise that this book is simply awful. Actually, quite to the contrary. Example: The illustrations are far from crude. In fact, they are well-drawn and very detailed. I think this is similar to the controversy surrounding the "Lord of the Rings" movies coming out. Many fans are crying "Heresy!" because the director's vision doesn't fit their notions of how the characters look and act. ....Read this one, and enjoy, it is rich!
Wayne Gralian
Wayne's World of Books / Krakow RPGs
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Title: The Great Book of Amber : The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10 by Roger Zelazny ISBN: 0380809060 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 08 December, 1999 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Seven No-Trump (A Crossroads Adventure in the World of Roger Zelazny's Amber) by Neil Randall ISBN: 0812564197 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: February, 1988 List Price(USD): $3.50 |
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Title: The Complete Amber Sourcebook by Theodore Krulik ISBN: 0380754096 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: January, 1996 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Chaos and Amber (Roger Zelazny's The Dawn of Amber) by John Gregory Betancourt, John Betancourt ISBN: 0743474945 Publisher: I Books Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Combat Command: In the World of Roger Zelazny's Nine Princes in Amber, The Black Road War by Neil Randall ISBN: 0441115373 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: July, 1988 List Price(USD): $3.50 |
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