Nine Princes in Amber, chapter 5

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, brothers Corwin and Random have made their way from Earth, in the Shadows, to the real world of Amber. They found and rescued their sister Deirdre, who had been captured by their brother Eric's men. They decide to go to Rebma, an underwater city that is the reflection of Amber.

As they descend the undersea stairway to Rebma, Corwin discovers he can breathe, nonetheless. They are pursued by horsemen, whom they fight and defeat on the stairs just before they arrive in Rebma.

Corwin, Random, and Deirdre are brought to the palace of Rebma where they meet the ruler, Moire. Random, who had previously hinted at being persona non grata in Rebma, is taken into custody. In the past, he had seduced Moire's daughter Morgane, who got pregnant and had a son, Martin, before committing suicide. For this, Moire sentences Random to marry a blind woman of Rebma and live with her for a year. Random accepts his sentence. They detail their plan to restore Corwin's memory and take the throne of Amber, of which Moire approves.

The Rebma Pattern restores Corwin's memories. He uses it to transport himself to the palace in Amber, where he steals a deck of the cards from the library. Eric discovers him and they fight, and Corwin escapes. He uses the stolen Trumps to teleport himself to his brother Bleys. They form an alliance to take Amber from Eric.

As expected, the Pattern is a magic labyrinth. Anyone not of the royal family of Amber would be killed trying to use it. Even for Corwin's family it is difficult, but it gives them the power to move through Shadows. Random's son Martin was able to walk it successfully; he transported himself into Shadows and his whereabouts are unknown. Someone who walks the Pattern can also teleport himself anywhere in Amber.

There are three Patterns: the original one in Amber, the reflection in Rebma, and a third one in Tir-na Nog'th, where for an undisclosed reason they cannot go. Tir-na Nog'th obviously alludes to Tir na nÓg, the abode of the gods and the dead in Irish Celtic mythology, in which it is depicted as an island paradise and a land of eternal youth.

Speaking of eternal youth, the book has already hinted that Corwin is older than he appears. When his memories are restored in the Pattern, he learns he is centuries old. He was left on Earth by Eric to die of the plague in the sixteenth century. He got his amnesia at that time, not in the car accident. The flashbacks he sees in the Pattern when his memory returns include, amongst others: surviving the plague, drinking with Shakespeare, the French Revolution, World War II, and the American space program. On Earth, Corwin was a mercenary and a musician.

Corwin also remembers when he "entered the green forests of the Western Reserve and took three scalps one day." The Western Reserve was land in present-day Ohio that originally belonged to the colony of Connecticut. Is it a coincidence that Zelazny received his B.A. from Western Reserve University in Cleveland?

It seems to me that when Corwin remembers his past, the style of the novel becomes a bit more flowery. Eric's manner of speech is definitely archaic. Up to this point, Nine Princes in Amber has been more like an urban fantasy, yet here it feels more like high fantasy. So perhaps form follows setting, perhaps not.

The Trumps are for both communication and transportation. Using one family member's Trump, another family member can talk to him or teleport to his location, as Corwin does with Bleys. Clearly this is the second, easier way to travel to Amber that was alluded to previously. There were once fifteen brothers and eight sisters, of whom eight, possibly ten, are now dead. Are the dead brothers and sisters the missing Trumps from Flora's deck? Does Corwin's stolen deck have all of them? Do they have any further use?

Last week I presumed Bleys to be allied with Eric. That turns out not to be the case. He seems quite happy to help Corwin overthrow Eric, although he has his own designs on the throne, which has potential for some interesting conflict.

Corwin's father, mentioned in passing, is named Oberon. This is the name of the king of the fairies in medieval folklore. Oberon is best known, no doubt, from Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, a fantasy in which a dispute between Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of the fairies, results in much confusion amongst the nearby townspeople. Perhaps Corwin and Shakespeare came up with the plot during their drinking bouts. But what has happened to Amber's Oberon?

Who exactly is Moire, who resides in the palace of Rebma? Clearly she isn't a queen, not being of Corwin's family. Some kind of Governor or regent? If so, who appointed her? Moire's sympathies don't lie with Eric. She is likely named after moire, a silk cloth finished to have a wavy, watery appearance—a suitable name for an undersea dweller! The moiré patterns you see on TV or in digital images are also named after the appearance of this cloth. Despite not having met before, Corwin and Moire have a brief sexual encounter. That was … unnecessary. Nine Princes in Amber was published in 1970, and free love was still a thing, I guess.

Moire's daughter is named Morgane, which may be an allusion to Morgan le Fay, the legendary sorceress and half-sister of King Arthur. Morgane's son Martin is named after Mars, the Roman god of war.

This was another long chapter, though an action-packed and satisfying one. I suspect the first three short chapters were the exception rather than the norm, so I'll see if I can maintain this twice-weekly pace in the long term. Nonetheless, look out for chapter 6 this Sunday.