Nine Princes in Amber, chapter 4

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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In the previous chapter of Nine Princes in Amber, Corwin received a phone call from his brother Random in California, who was being pursued and needed protection. In chapter 4, he arrives at the front door of their sister Flora's New York mansion—much to Flora's alarm.

Random is being pursued by some mysterious figures that he can't lose. They track him all the way to New York. When Corwin refuses to let them in through the front door, they break in through a window. But between Corwin's confiscated handgun, Flora's attack dogs, and a sabre Random takes from the library, they make short work of the invaders. They are human-like in appearance, but with some unusual deformities: creatures from elsewhere in the Shadows.

The next day, Corwin and Random go driving in Flora's Mercedes. Random asks if Corwin is planning on going after Eric, and Corwin (although still suffering from amnesia) decides he will. As they drive, the road around them is transfomed: Random is shifting them out of the Shadows and into the real world of Amber.

On the road, they encounter roadblocks set up by Eric, but Random uses his reality-changing power to avoid them. However, they encounter their brother Julian on his giant horse, Morgenstern, at the forest of Arden. He, too, is watching for them, and pursues them with a pack of hunting dogs. Corwin captures Julian and learns from him that Eric controls Amber, and their brothers guard the main routes. They let Julian go.

When the car runs out of gas, Corwin and Random continue the journey to Amber on foot. They rescue their sister, Deirdre, who is held captive by some of Eric's men. They're attacked by werewolves, and defeat them as well. Corwin admits to Random and Deirdre that he has amnesia and has been bluffing all along. They decide to go to Rebma, the underwater reflection of Amber, hoping that the Pattern on the floor there will restore his memories.

This is a long chapter: at 30 pages, it's as long as the first three chapters together. At last, though, fantasy stuff happens! Magical worlds! Improbable beasts! Fights with wolves!

The main conflict in Nine Princes in Amber is finally explicit: a feud between Eric and Corwin for the throne. Eric currently resides in Amber (and presumably controls the throne). Brothers Julian, Bleys, Gérard, and Caine, and sister Florimel, are allied with Eric and tasked with keeping Corwin away. (The brothers are guarding the roads, while I guess Flora's strategy was just to stick him in a hospital room and keep him drugged up. Crude, but effective.) Random and Deirdre have sided with Corwin. So far, we don't know who, if anyone, is currently on the throne, or why the princes of Amber are doing their own version of the Wars of the Roses. Is there now a King of Amber? If not, what has happened to him?

The fight with Julian takes place at the forest of Arden. This is the name of a former forest in the midlands of England, near Coventry and Birmingham. William Shakespeare was raised in nearby Stratford-upon-Avon; he set his play As You Like It in Arden—or at least a nostalgic, romanticized version of it. Deforestation had been under way since the Middle Ages. The Arden Shakespeare, one of the more scholarly series of Shakespeare's works, is named after the setting of As You Like It.

Amber is a city in the real world. All other worlds are Shadows, including our own. Random has the ability to move through Shadow. While escaping to New York, he tried but failed to "subtract" his pursuers, meaning he can alter reality by deciding what to keep or remove from it. He uses this power to avoid Eric's roadblocks, before he and Corwin have fully left the Shadows. He can't manipulate reality in Amber. Corwin has forgotten how to use this ability because of his amnesia.

Corwin, Random, and Deirdre decide to take Corwin to Rebma, which I picture as an underwater mirror image of Amber. ("Rebma" is "Amber" spelled backward, obviously.) There is a "Pattern" there which will hopefully restore Corwin's memories, and also his ability to move through Shadows. What's the Pattern? I picture it as a sort of magical labyrinth. Will it help Corwin even though it is the reverse image of the one in Amber? Here's hoping we'll find the answer soon.