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Dan Schwent's Reviews > Prince of Chaos
Prince of Chaos (The Chronicles of Amber, #10)
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Merlin's quest comes to a conclusion of sorts. That's all the summary I can give without divulging plot points.
Well, I've finished the Second Chronicles of Amber. About a year ago, I was putting the finishing touches on my review of the First Chronicles of Amber, saying that the anticipation built to an amazing level toward the end, and that the ending was right up there with Stormbringer and The Dark Tower. How does Prince of Chaos stack up?
I guess the best way to sum it up is that I should have known better. Sequels rarely come close to the greatness of the originals. Not only that, Roger Zelazny died before he could write more Amber novels. The ending of this book feels more like the middle of a saga, not the end. I'm sure Zelanzy had a lot planned for further Amber novels but this one left a distinctive meh taste in my mouth.
The Second Chronicles of Amber aren't all bad, however. While I got more of a look behind the curtain at the Pattern and the Logrus than I wanted, I did get a good dose of scheming and intrigue. Not a bad series of books but they would have been better had they not had to follow the First Chronicles of Amber.
Well, I've finished the Second Chronicles of Amber. About a year ago, I was putting the finishing touches on my review of the First Chronicles of Amber, saying that the anticipation built to an amazing level toward the end, and that the ending was right up there with Stormbringer and The Dark Tower. How does Prince of Chaos stack up?
I guess the best way to sum it up is that I should have known better. Sequels rarely come close to the greatness of the originals. Not only that, Roger Zelazny died before he could write more Amber novels. The ending of this book feels more like the middle of a saga, not the end. I'm sure Zelanzy had a lot planned for further Amber novels but this one left a distinctive meh taste in my mouth.
The Second Chronicles of Amber aren't all bad, however. While I got more of a look behind the curtain at the Pattern and the Logrus than I wanted, I did get a good dose of scheming and intrigue. Not a bad series of books but they would have been better had they not had to follow the First Chronicles of Amber.
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Nicky
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Jan 02, 2010 09:44AM
I agree, I found the second trilogy weaker and thought it ended with a heck of a lot more planned to come.
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Definitely. The Merlin series felt like setup for bigger and better things. Maybe Merlin would have ended up ruling both Amber and the Courts of Chaos by the end.
This is definitely the message I'm consistantly getting which is why I am going to stick with the original series and leave it at that.
Simon wrote: "This is definitely the message I'm consistantly getting which is why I am going to stick with the original series and leave it at that."Good move. It was my gut feeling to stay away from the Merle books but I wanted more Amber, damn it! When I do a re-read, I'm sticking with the first five.
You're a lot kinder than I was.
Brent wrote: "You're a lot kinder than I was."I'm a softie. I can't imagine ever reading the Merlin books again.
Manna from Heaven has several Amber short stories that will give you some idea about the direction the plot was supposed to go.
