March 17, 2024

The Guns of Avalon, chapter 6

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. Unless you're the sort of person who likes skipping to the last page, go read the book first.


Corwin and Ganelon arrived in a shadow Avalon where Corwin's brother Benedict was the ruler. They decided to stay with him for a time, but he warned them not to use Avalon as a staging area for their planned assault on Amber. Corwin also met Dara, Bebedict's young great-granddaughter, who has a latent ability to manipulate Shadow but has not yet walked the Pattern in Amber that will fully enable her abilities.

March 14, 2024

The Guns of Avalon, chapter 5

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. Unless you're the sort of person who likes skipping to the last page, go read the book first.


Corwin of Amber and Ganelon, steward of a Shadow world called Lorraine, have formed an alliance to retake Amber from Corwin's brother Eric, who has placed himself on its throne. They are former enemies, but Corwin helped Ganelon defeat a dark Circle in Lorraine, a by-product of a curse Corwin placed on Eric. They travelled to a shadow of Avalon, the realm that Corwin once ruled. Corwin plans to obtain a quantity of jeweller's rouge in Avalon, and use it as the propellant in firearms purchased on Earth, because Corwin once discovered that unlike conventional gunpowder, jeweller's rouge will burn in Amber.

March 10, 2024

The Guns of Avalon, chapter 4

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. Unless you're the sort of person who likes skipping to the last page, go read the book first.


Corwin has been living in a Shadow world named Lorraine. The steward, Ganelon, is known to him from centuries past when he ruled another Shadow world called Avalon. However, he banished Ganelon for rebellion. Using the pseudonym Corey, Corwin helped Ganelon defeat the evil creatures of the dark Circle that had appeared in Lorraine as a consequence of Corwin's curse against his brother Eric. Ganelon finally recognized Corwin, but no longer hated him.

The two form an alliance and travel together to a Shadow resembling the original Avalon, which had fallen ages ago. Ganelon catches a youth stealing food from their camp. He is a deserter from a battle against some "hellmaids" that emerged from a cave in Avalon. They let him go, and approach the military camp, posing as mercenaries. They are brought into the camp, where they meet the commanding officer and Protector of this Avalon—who is none other than Corwin's eldest brother, Benedict. He lost an arm during the battle. They catch up on current events. Benedict informs Corwin that he desires peace and will not support any conflict between him and Eric; he is welcome to reside as a guest in Avalon but not to stage an attack against Amber. Afterward, when Corwin beds down outside Benedict's tent, he spies him using his deck of Tarots, but does not know who (if anyone) he contacted.

This chapter is heavy, and I mean heavy, on exposition. Much of it is simply a recap of the story so far. But it introduces a new major character: Benedict. He's been mentioned a few times already. He is Corwin's eldest brother and arms teacher, being the best swordsman of all the Amberites. He has been missing, and nobody knew whether he was alive or dead (Corwin tried to contact him via his Trump in Nine Princes and got no response).

Benedict's namesake is probably St. Benedict of Nursia, the fifth-century Catholic monk who founded the Benedictine order: basically, the father of Christian monasticism. Benedict of Amber has become disenchanted with the court politics of his world, and chosen to remove himself from all that strife, disclaim his entitlement to the throne, and live separated from Amber. In a certain sense, he's become a hermit.

Benedict is encouraged that Corwin regrew his eyes, because it means he may in time regrow the arm lost to the hellmaids, though his ability to regenerate is not what Corwin's is. Corwin feels responsible for that loss, as well as for bringing that corruption to Avalon.

This Shadow Avalon was also once ruled by a shadow Corwin, and like the Corwin of Lorraine, he is not fondly remembered, to say the least. Benedict does not make their kinship known. I am beginning to anticipate that we might actually meet some shadow Corwins in the future. There seem to be a lot of them. As ruler of the original Avalon, Corwin was harsh but not tyrranical. Perhaps the farther the Shadows emanate from their source, the more distorted they become. Could there be some really evil Corwins out there?

Amidst all the exposition in this chapter, we learn a lot more about the Amberites. Benedict is the eldest, who has distanced himself from family politics. He regards any ambition to seize the throne as a usurpation, since Oberon is missing but not actually dead. (Corwin does not tell him that Oberon himself encouraged him to take the throne from Eric, nor is it suggested that Benedict would support him even then.) Eric is older than Corwin, but Corwin says he has the more legitimate claim. He also calls Eric a literal bastard, implying that although they are full brothers, both being sons of Oberon's second wife, Eric was born out of wedlock while Corwin was not.

Corwin spells out his plan to retake Amber. is spelled out. I correctly guessed that he wants to obtain jeweller's rouge from Avalon. Then he will travel to Earth where, employed as a mercenary, he had made connections with Belgian arms dealers from whom to buy a considerable quantity of firearms. "My order would be complicated and expensive, I realized, because some ammunition manufacturer would have to be persuaded to set up a special production line": in other words, his plan requires custom-made ammunition using rouge as a propellant instead of gunpowder. I hope someday we're given an explanation for this wonky chemistry, in which an explosive like gunpowder will not ignite, but a relatively non-combustible substance like jeweller's rouge (ferric oxide) is energetic enough to propel bullets. I don't think I would find "because that's the way it is" a particularly satisfying answer.

Lastly, whom did Benedict try to contact with his Trumps, if that's what he was doing? Is it friend or foe? Is Benedict really as aloof from all this as he appears? The story continues next Thursday.

March 07, 2024

The Guns of Avalon, chapter 3

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. Unless you're the sort of person who likes skipping to the last page, go read the book first.


Corwin, having escaped from the dungeon of his brother Eric in Amber, set out in search of Avalon, a Shadow kingdom which he once ruled. Instead he found a realm called Lorraine, ruled over by Ganelon, whom he had banished there from Amber. Disguising his identity, he joined with Ganelon to destroy the dark Circle that had appeared in Lorraine, apparently an extension of the dark rift he opened in Amber when he pronounced a powerful curse on Eric. He began a relationship with a woman, also named Lorraine.

March 03, 2024

The Guns of Avalon, chapter 2

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. Unless you're the sort of person who likes skipping to the last page, go read the book first.


Prince Corwin of Amber has escaped after his brother Eric took the throne of Amber, blinded him, and threw him in the dungeon for three years. Travelling through Shadow, looking for a former kingdom of his called Avalon, he encounters a wounded knight named Lance and takes him to the Keep of Ganelon—under an alias, since he had exiled Ganelon from Avalon 600 years earlier. He learns that Ganelon's realm, Lorraine, is home to a darkened circle of land from which evil beings emerge to attack the surrounding area. Ganelon hires Corwin as an arms trainer for his troops.

February 29, 2024

The Guns of Avalon, chapter 1

Good morning! After a two-week hiatus, we return today to our readthrough of Roger Zelazny's fantasy series The Chronicles of Amber, the first five books of which were published from 1970–78. This is a reread, but it has been over 30 years since I last read them, and I remember next to nothing. So what you are reading is basically my first impression.

I paused at the end of the first book, Nine Princes in Amber, and we pick up the story again today with the second, The Guns of Avalon.

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. Unless you're the sort of person who likes skipping to the last page, go read the book first.

February 18, 2024

Nine Princes in Amber, chapter 10

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. If you don't want me ruining the experience for you, put this post down and go read Nine Princes in Amber now. I promise I won't be offended.


After being blinded and imprisoned by his brother Eric in the dungeons of the castle of Amber, Corwin regains his sight, thanks to his quick healing power. His opportunity to escape comes from a chance meeting with Dworkin, creator of the Trumps that allow the Royal family of Amber to communicate with, and teleport to, each other. Dworkin draws a Trump of the Lighthouse of Cabra on Corwin's cell wall, and Corwin uses it to escape.

At the lighthouse, Corwin poses as a castaway named Corey and gets aid from Jopin the lighthouse keeper. He stays with Jopin for several months. When he announces his intention to leave, Jopin reveals that he had recognized Corwin and tells him, before he goes, to look at the Vale of Garnath through the spyglass. Doing so, he realizes that the valley has turned into a new opening into Amber that evil things are using, and it is a result of a curse he had placed on Eric while imprisoned. Sailing away from the lighthouse, he sends a message to Eric via a black bird that he is coming for him.

February 15, 2024

Nine Princes in Amber, chapter 9

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. If you don't want me ruining the experience for you, put this post down and go read Nine Princes in Amber now. I promise I won't be offended.


Corwin, Prince of Amber, has failed in his attempt to take the throne of Amber from his evil brother, Eric. He was captured, forced to offer Eric the crown at his coronation, then blinded and imprisoned.

Three years later, Corwin is still in his cell in the dungeon. But he realizes that thanks to his unusual ability to recover quickly from injury, his eyes are growing back. The next time Eric trots him out for a celebratory banquet, his recovered sight will be discovered. So Corwin starts planning his escape.

February 11, 2024

Nine Princes in Amber, chapter 8

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. If you don't want me ruining the experience for you, put this post down and go read Nine Princes in Amber now. I promise I won't be offended.


Corwin's and Bleys's assault on Amber to retake the throne from their brother Eric has failed. Their entire army was obliterated, Bleys fell almost at the gate to Amber, and Corwin was captured.

Imprisoned in the castle dungeon, Corwin is brought in chains to a banquet at which Eric is crowned king of Amber, in spite of many insults from Corwin. Eric has Corwin blinded and thrown back in his cell. He is left alone for over four months, until a knight named Rein, whom Corwin had befriended centuries ago, secretly brings him a gift of good food, wine, and cigarettes. On the anniversary of his coronation, Eric again drags Corwin out to a banquet. "Thus ended the first year of darkness."

February 09, 2024

Friday in the Wild: February 9, 2024

It's Friday, and that means it's time for the weekly roundup of good stuff from around the blogosphere. I've got three articles this week.