I’m definitely curious to find out where this series goes. Oh, what editing and efficiency of storytelling can do for a book. There are also plenty of colorful characters to enjoy. Martin fans out there), strange metaphysical concepts, and wild action scenes. Eventually it arrives at some weird family drama (good for you George R.R. It takes the reader down some very strange paths. The story starts off with a sort of conspiratorial thriller vibe, but then quickly morphs into head-scratching, mind-altering Fantasy. I could imagine William Friedkin directing a film version. My visualizations of the happenings in the novel often had a 1970s Hollywood flare. I could almost imagine a Douglas Sirk era Rock Hudson playing our narrator.

Zelazny captures some of Michael Moorcock’s trippy ambiance while also tapping into some distinctly American sensibilities. The mystery of memory loss in this ends up being much more strange than expected, and really does play into the greater whole. Elrod’s Vampire Files series, some random D&D novel, and more, it was like every other book I read started with someone waking up after some unknown trauma, not knowing where they were or why. Between this, To Your Scattered Bodies Go, P.N. No wonder two of my early written efforts started with characters suffering from memory loss. I recently acquired the complete series in a monster omnibus.įunny enough, when I read it, it was like I couldn’t get away from amnesia-based stories. Fast forward 30+ years and I find myself rereading the first book without ever having read further.

I was very much looking forward to reading the second book in the ten book series (I think book 10 had just come out). Once upon a time, when I was in…high school maybe? Junior High? I read Roger Zelazny’s Nine Princes in Amber and really liked it.

Nine princes