The Hand of Oberon, chapter 7

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend you support your local bookseller or public library, and read the book first.

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Corwin paid a visit to the mad Dworkin, architect of the Pattern that is the source of the Amberites' power—and, as he learned, his grandfather. Dworkin wanted to destroy the primal Pattern, which was marred with the blood of Martin (the son of Corwin's brother Random), and remake it. But Corwin, posing as his father Oberon, wanted to try and repair the damage. As Dworkin's madness came over him and he transformed into a clawed being, Corwin escaped using a random Trump from his desk—only to find himself in the Courts of Chaos.

The Hand of Oberon, chapter 6

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend you support your local bookseller or public library, and read the book first.

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After returning from the primal Amber, Corwin went to see the mad hunchback Dworkin in the palace dungeon. Dworkin mistook him for Oberon using Corwin's likeness. They argued over Dworkin's plan to destroy the world. Dworkin wanted to sacrifice himself on the primal Pattern to obliterate it, and thus destroy Amber and all Shadow. Oberon would then use the Pattern stored in the Jewel of Judgment to recreate the Pattern anew. Corwin, on the other hand, wanted to try to repair the damage to the proto-Pattern (as would Oberon) caused by Martin's blood. Dworkin was revealed to be Oberon's father. He realized he was speaking to the real Corwin, not a disguised Oberon. As his madness came over him again, Dworkin transformed into a beastly, clawed creature and tried to attack Corwin, but Corwin used a random Trump to escape, and teleported himself to the Courts of Chaos.

Corwin realizes he has been to this place before, though he does not remember who brought him. The Courts of Chaos are a misty, surreal landscape: one-half of the sky is as dark as night with rapidly moving stars, while the other half is a mad swirl of colours, and the whole thing rotates rapidly around a point overhead. Corwin stands at the edge of a cliff, and looking downward, he can see more sky. Far in the distance is a black mountain with an indistinct edifice upon it.

The Hand of Oberon, chapter 5

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend you support your local bookseller or public library, and read the book first.

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Corwin, Random, and Ganelon returned to Amber after discovering the primal Pattern, which had been damaged by spilling an Amberite's blood on it. They believed the sacrificial victim was Random's son Martin, having found his Trump and a dagger on the Pattern. Random and Benedict went into Shadow to investigate Martin's fate, while Corwin went back to the dungeon to visit Dworkin. Dworkin mistook him for Oberon, and asked him when they were going to destroy the world.

Corwin plays along with the mistaken identity; Dworkin assumes Oberon has taken Corwin's appearance, and he also transforms himself into Corwin's likeness. They get into an argument: Dworkin wants to destroy the Pattern and recreate it anew, while Corwin wants to repair the damage (as, apparently, does Oberon). Dworkin asks permission to sacrifice himself to destroy the Pattern, while "Oberon" would recreate it using the Jewel of Judgment. They go to the Pattern, which is accessible through, of all things, Dworkin's cell door, which opens into the back of the cave next to the Pattern, where the purple griffin is.

The Hand of Oberon, chapter 4

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend you support your local bookseller or public library, and read the book first.

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Corwin, Random, Ganelon, and Benedict compared notes after Corwin's party returned from the primal Amber, where the Pattern was found damaged by blood assumed to be from Random's illegitimate son Martin. Benedict revealed that he had been in frequent contact with Martin. The last time had been a note left with his friends, the Tecys, whom Martin had visited while suffering a serious stab wound. While Benedict and Random went into Shadow to call on the Tecys, Ganelon and Corwin returned to the palace.

There, Corwin calls on Vialle, Random's wife, to tell her Random is travelling for a day or two. After sleeping, he visits his old cell in the dungeon, where he cleans up the two sketches left there by Dworkin: one of the Lighthouse of Cabra that he used to escape, and the other of Dworkin's quarters on the other side of its wall. He teleports through the latter. Dworkin, mistaking Corwin for Oberon, asks if it is finally time to destroy the world.

The Hand of Oberon, chapter 3

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend you support your local bookseller or public library, and read the book first.

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Corwin, Random, and Ganelon discovered the primal Amber, where no Mt. Kolvir or palace existed: just a mesa with a Pattern embedded in it. This proto-Pattern was damaged by the spilling of Amberite blood, the source of the black road running through Shadow. They discovered a Trump of Random's son Martin at the centre of the Pattern, impaled by a dagger. Corwin recognized the Trump's art style as Brand's. He kept this knowledge from Random. They called on Benedict to return to their Amber, and brought him up to sped on what they had been doing.

Benedict had suspected that the proto-Amber had existed, and that Oberon and Dworkin had created their Amber close by to draw on its power. Learning of Martin's apparent death, he reports that Martin had spent nearly a year living with him, learning about moving through Shadow and using the Trump's (of which he gifted him a spare deck), before leaving again. The last time Benedict had heard from Martin, he turned up at the home of a family Benedict knew in Shadow, the Tecys, with a knife wound. He had left a note saying not to worry. Random and Benedict leave to visit the Tecys (with Random riding Corwin's horse, Star), while Corwin and Ganelon return to the palace.

The Hand of Oberon, chapter 2

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend you support your local bookseller or public library, and read the book first.

After a trip to the ghostly, floating city of Tir-na Nog'th, Corwin, with his brother Random and general Ganelon, were led by a unicorn to a place that appeared to be Mt. Kolvir, but with the top of the mountain and the palace missing, and only the Pattern remaining. They realized they were looking at the primal Amber and Pattern.

The Pattern was marred with black splotches, and at the center they found a dagger impaling a Trump of an unknown person. They figured out that the damage to the Pattern was caused by spilling blood of Amber. Random realized that the figure on the Trump was his missing son, Martin.

The Hand of Oberon, chapter 1

Today I continue my readthrough of Roger Zelazny's The Chronicles of Amber. I've been sick, so I'm late—sorry! So far I have competed the first three books in the series, so we pick up the story with the fourth novel, The Hand of Oberon.

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend you support your local bookseller or public library, and read the book first.

And now ... this - June 6/24

Hot and cold running waterfalls

Yuntai waterfall, supposedly the tallest waterfall in China, was reveled this week to be (at least partly) artificially supplied by a water pipe.

Yuntai Mountain Park's management responded to the video, explaining how changes in the dry season necessitated the extra boost to the falls.

"(The waterfall) cannot guarantee to meet the public in its most beautiful appearance due to season changes," they said, adding that the waterfall underwent "a tiny improvement during dry season."

[Full Story]

Remember the CGI-enhanced fireworks at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, or the little girl who lip-synched during the opening ceremony? I'll bet we'll soon be finding out that everythng in China is artificial. The whole country is a fictitious theme park designed by Disney.

Sign of the Unicorn, chapter 11

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend reading the book first. It's short, I promise.

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To rest and to recover from the stab wound he has kept secret from his family, accompanied by Random and Ganelon, Corwin ascended Kolvir to visit the floating city of Tir-na Nog'th, which appears above the mountain only by the light of the full moon. In Tir-na Nog'th, he experienced several visions. The last of these, seemingly of the future, was of Dara on the throne of Amber with Benedict at her side. He has a mechanical arm, replacing the one he lost fighting hellmaidens in Avalon. She proclaimed herself the rightful queen of Amber and said Corwin had been dead for centuries. When Corwin challenged her, Benedict drew on him with his own sword, and they fought. But as day broke, Tir-na Nog'th began to fade, and Random reached out to him via Trump to draw him back.

In Tir-na Nog'th, the apparitions and Corwin were immaterial to each other. However, safely back on solid ground, Corwin learns that Benedict's metal arm is nonetheless solid enough to have grabbed him by the shoulder and be drawn back to Amber. Corwin, Ganelon, and Random have a meal, and they discuss the Amberites' complicated family tree and the line of succession to the throne.

Sign of the Unicorn, chapter 10

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend reading the book first. It's short, I promise.

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After being rescued from imprisonment in a tower, Brand was stabbed by an unknown assailant. Then, so was Corwin. Brand revealed that he, Fiona, and Bleys had conspired to take the throne of Amber from Oberon to prevent Eric from doing so. Corwin was presumed dead, so his reappearance on the Shadow Earth was a complication. To keep him out of the way, Brand arranged the car accident that put him in hospital. Finally, he revealed that the would-be murderer was Fiona. There was more to the story.

Corwin, Random, and Ganelon ascend Kolvir to an outcropping of stone into which three steps are carved. In the light of the full moon, the floating city of Tir-na Nog'th appears, along with the stairway to ascend to it. Corwin intends to go there, supposedly to rest.