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Title: Chaos and Amber by John Gregory Betancourt ISBN: 0-7434-9317-6 Publisher: ibooks, inc. Pub. Date: 01 August, 2004 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.64 (11 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Enjoyable addition to the series
Comment: I enjoyed this book. Betancourt's first Amber novel, "The Dawn of Amber" *was* different from Zelazny's works, and many of Oberon's family that Betancourt described were one dimensional creations who lacked depth. In his second Amber novel, "Chaos and Amber", the characters introduced have greater depth, and he develops those which were treated poorly in the first novel. The plot develops, but is also 'revealed' by some rather direct actions by Oberon (and an enemy who very nicely spills the beans and tells him what is going on). Betancourt's descriptions of Oberon's experiences in Chaos are great fun, and he is rather novel about Oberon's mishaps. In many ways, this book is very much a tale of Oberon's blunders and coming to terms with what is really going on with some inspired direct action (which I won't spoil). You can start to see some of Freda's foretelling that Oberon will challenge Dworkin in this book.
My major criticism of this work is that unlike Zelazny's novels, Betancourt feels the need to tell us what happened in the previous novel for about the first 50-100 pages. And to make it worse, nowhere on the cover does it say that this is the Second Novel of Three. So the publishers probably feel that the recapping is justified, but I don't. It's a waste of sapce. Secondly, I am beginning to feel that the story is being rushed - it could be drawn out a lot more.
The last 150 pages of the book shine, with Oberon driving the plot rather than being a passive player. I also liked the character development, as Betancourt fleshes out of a number of his brothers and sisters. We are given more description, and more information about their pasts. Suddenly Taine, Locke, Isadora etc become three dimensional characters which is great plus. (They were just names before) I like the transformation in Aber too - he goes from being the 'useful sidekick' to (well, I won't tell you, you'll have to read and see). Betancourt is definitely setting up Oberon to face off against his brothers and sisters, and against Chaos itself. I just hope Betancourt doesn't rush things in his third novel. For such a story arc, it's a real pity that he couldn't write it over five novels.
Rating: 1
Summary: Tripe
Comment: Here's what they claim: Oberon get's entangled in the politics of Chaos! You finally get to see something besides the little castle that Dworkin owns in Shadow.
What really happens? Oberon spends well over half the book inside Dworkin's estate, doing very little. A couple token attempts on his life. He gets up his chutzpah and goes out to confront his enemies at one ball that he arranges, and then he kips off into shadow with Dworkin, where Dworkin deletes Pattern 1.0 and makes Pattern 2.0. This is superior to the first book only in that there's the vestige of a plot in this installment.
Rating: 4
Summary: I think he found his stride...
Comment: The first book was not something your average writer should brag about. If not for the avid fandom of many readers, the second book would probably not even be looked at, however, that would be a diservice.
This second volume is a VAST improvement over the first volume. It has a nice Zelazny feel, feeding you only little pieces of information at a time. The characters are taking on more depth which is greatly appreciated.
I have two complaints though. The books is full of typos, enough to the point of distraction it look slike someone just gave spell check free-reign and never looked back. The other complaint, it seems as though Betancourt is trying to tell a four or five book story in three. There is enormous room to expand on what he tells us. If we are lucky the final volume will have a greater amount of text than the two previous contain.
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Title: The Dawn of Amber: Roger Zelazny's Dawn of Amber by John Gregory Betancourt, John Betancourt ISBN: 0743474708 Publisher: I Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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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: Sethra Lavode by Steven Brust ISBN: 0312855818 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: The Lord of Castle Black (Viscount of Adrilankha, Book 2) by Steven Brust ISBN: 0312855826 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: Roger Zelazny's The Dawn of Amber Book 3 : To Rule in Amber by John Betancourt ISBN: 0743487095 Publisher: I Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2004 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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