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 intends to use firearms to retake Amber from Eric. He and his ally Ganelon travelled to Avalon, a Shadow realm ruled by his brother Benedict, to obtain a large quantity of jeweller's rouge in Avalon to use as gunpowder in Amber, where actual gunpowder will not burn. They then travelled to our Earth to obtain firearms for their siege of Amber. Whole on Earth, Corwin visited his former house in New York state, where he found a letter from Eric, asking him to help defend Amber against attacks from creatures from the black road that has appeared in Amber and across all Shadows. Corwin ignored the request and resolved to continue with his plan to retake the throne of Amber from Eric.
Corwin and Ganelon depart from Earth and travel to another Shadow, where Corwin recruits 300 dark, hairy creatures to use the rifles he bought in Earth. They travel through Shadow to a world close enough that the normally inert jeweller's rouge will ignite. There Corwin trains his men in the use of their weapons. They then continue to advance in Amber. Occasionally they get into a firefight with some strange and malevolent creatures.
As they close on the mountain Kolvir, they see that the Amberites are already doing battle with the creatures of the black road. Corwin and his men join in the defence of Amber, after all. He also discovers that his love interest, Dara, has followed Benedict (her great-grandfather) through Shadow. She wants to get into Amber and walk the Pattern, though as Corwin points out, there's a war in the way. Despite his efforts to keep her away from danger, she rides up the mountain toward Amber.
Corwin soon finds out that Eric was using the Jewel of Judgment against the dark creatures, but he was mortally wounded in the battle. Eric pronounces his own death curse on the enemies of Amber, then instructs Corwin to take the Jewel of Judgment to the Centre of the Pattern, whichwill unlock his ability to use it. Then he dies.
With the battle on the heights over, Corwin contacts Benedict by Trump to teleport his riflemen to the valley to join the fighting there. However, when he tells Benedict that Dara is here, Benedict doesn't know whom he is talking about—he has no great-granddaughter that he is aware of. Corwin realizes something is very wrong, and teleports into Amber with the help of Random, who is in the palace.
They find Dara walking the Pattern, but she has transformed into something not human. She declares herself his nemesis, and tells him Amber will be destroyed, before vanishing. The novel closes as Corwin understands thst to stop her, he must travel to the other end of the black road.
Um … wow. There was a plot twist I didn't anticipate. I'm reminded a bit of M. Night Shyamalan's early films like The Sixth Sense, where in the end you realize all the clues to the twist ending were there, if you had been looking or them. Dara said she was Benedict's great-granddaughter; but through Corwin's eyes, we have never actually seen her with Benedict. He took her word for it, and so have we.
I think this revelation answers the question of who killed Benedict's servants, though the reason is still unknown.
So what is Dara, exactly? Her transformation is described as having horns or hooves or a cat's head. Obviously she's related in some way to the half-human things Corwin has been fighting along the black road, like Strygalldwir or the goat-man in the black circle. But she also has the power to shift Shadow, despite not actually being an Amberite. Does whatever lies at the other end of the black road—the Courts of Chaos?—have its own royal family and anti-Pattern?
I assume the "very hairy, very dark" creatures Corwin drafts as riflemen are the same race of "nearly man-like" creatures he and Bleys used as cannon fodder in their first siege on Amber.
Eric's fate is, perhaps, a bit anticlimactic. After all that buildup, I was anticipating some kind of final showdown between him and Corwin. Yet, after two novels of Corwin hating Eric, in the end he can't bring himself to kill him, because at that moment they are fighting for something they both love. If it's not exactly a redemption arc, it's at least noble.
Final thoughts on The Guns of Avalon
Nine Princes in Amber set up the story, and The Guns of Avalon was where the action began in earnest. There are some pretty good moments in this novel: the backstory of jerk-Corwin ruling Avalon and exiling Ganelon vs. the reconciliation of Ganelon and a kinder, gentler Corwin; we get to met brother Benedict at last; the climactic final battle for Amber; and, of course, that plot twist at the end. Corwin's desire to retake Amber with guns, along with his need for an alternative to gunpowder to make them work, drove the plot nicely. I still want to know what laws of physics prevent gunpowder and gasoline from burning in Amber, while matches, tobacco, and presumably firewood still do. It's good for the plot, but it still feels like cheating.
Corwin is now the de facto Lord of Amber. I didn't expect his conflict with Eric to end so soon. There are still three novels left in this series. Do the remaining volumes focus on Corwin's efforts to undo the corruption of the black road, which his death curse on Eric accidentally unleashed on Amber? Will he need to do battle with whatever lies at the other end of the road? Will his remaining brothers and sisters support him, or will the Amber family intrigue continue to dog him? Meanwhile, the fates of his brothers Bleys and Brand are still undetermined, as is the whereabouts of their father Oberon.
So ends The Guns of Avalon, as well as the first volume of my two-volume set of The Chronicles of Amber. I'm still enjoying this story thoroughly. After a break of a few weeks, I'll be back with Volume 2 and The Sign of the Unicorn.
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