Nine Princes in Amber, chapter 1

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.

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Welcome to the first post in my readthrough of Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. We are beginning, obviously, at the beginning: the first chapter of the first book, Nine Princes in Amber, originally published in 1970.

Our protagonist wakes up in a hospital room. He has amnesia: he remembers being in an accident, but he doesn't know where he is and can't remember his own name. His legs are in casts, but they aren't broken; whatever his injuries were, they've healed. He also realizes that he has been kept drugged.

A nurse enters his room to give him a shot, presumably of the same sedative; he sends her away, then removes the casts from his legs. Another orderly comes in to give him the shot (the nurse apparently calling for some muscle). He overpowers him, steals his clothes, and escapes the hospital room to look for answers.

He finds and confronts the doctor in his office on the first floor. The doctor evidently considers our hero quite dangerous: he pulls a gun from his desk, but the patient takes it away. The doctor calls him Mr. Corey, and he learns that his stay in this private hospital is being paid for by his sister, Evelyn Flaumel, who lives in New York. Corey demands cash and a cab, and he escapes the hospital.

This is a short, introductory chapter. There's really not much to say about it. It sets up the plot and dishes out just enough information to keep readers interested in going on. Nine Princes in Amber is narrated from a first-person perspective, meaning we know only what the protagonist knows. And given that he is currently suffering from amnesia, is he even a reliable narrator?

It's a good beginning. Right off the bat, there's a mystery with a lot of unanswered questions. Who is Carl Corey? Why is his sister paying to keep him, drugged, in a hospital? Why are the hospital staff apparently willing to go along with his abduction and keep him in the dark? Was his accident really an accident? Is Corey so dangerous that the doctor wants a gun handy, and why? Is Corey even his real name?

So far, Evelyn Flaumel is the only clue to Corey's circumstances. I guess his next step will be to pay her a visit. In the meantime, I'll leave this inaugural installment short, and pick up the story with chapter 2 on Sunday.

As a postscript, I love the title of this volume. I know Amber is the series's magical realm. But Nine Princes in Amber evokes an image of them trapped in fossilized tree sap like a prehistoric insect, doesn't it?