The Chronicles of Amber

Thargor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Amber

Dont know how this one passed me by as its apparently pretty famous. Do people rate this series or is it very outdated now?

Nody

Read the Corwyn cycle and the first in the Merlin cycle over a decade ago. They are quite short (as in 200ish pages) and it's an interesting take on the universe but I can't really claim I found them to be the highlight of fantasy (they are rather straight forward) but the concept is not often used properly (i.e. they recruit armies from different shadows and depending on direction and distance it has certain implications etc.) so you could always pick up the first couple and see what you think.

shrapnel222

fantastic series. I remember devouring the first book. For me, it loses its way towards the middle but picks up again. well worth a read.

wintear

The first five books collected in the fantasy masterworks edition: chronicles of amber are really good.
Enjoyed the different way it dealt with how reality works.

Conall Cernach

It's really good. I love how it starts out with the protagonist being an amnesiac and then all this mad stuff happens to him.

mcgovern

I wasn't a fan of it, really struggled to get through it.

prq

I remember reading it many years ago and it had a few interesting plot twists. Worth a try, imo

keane2097

shrapnel222 wrote: »

fantastic series. I remember devouring the first book. For me, it loses its way towards the middle but picks up again. well worth a read.

Exactly this IMO.

I recommend the audiobook versions read by Zelazny himself as he imbues Corwin with a fantastic drawl and dry delivery that just makes him an absolute boss.

fenris

For some reason thinking of Amber makes me want to go on a full Elric and friends re-read, maybe I read them around the same time originally but for some reason they are linked in my head.

Sulla Felix

fenris wrote: »

For some reason thinking of Amber makes me want to go on a full Elric and friends re-read, maybe I read them around the same time originally but for some reason they are linked in my head.

Pretty much the same for me. I went through a Fantasy Masterworks phase so a bunch of stuff is forevermore linked to a happy time in my life, like Amber, Lyonesse, Elric, Book of the New Sun, Forever War

seagull

I enjoyed it. I found it hard to come by. I'd spent years trawling through the second hand book stores, and then they did a reprint of all the books in a single volume.

smokedeels

I've read the first four books, I think it's fantastic so far. It's really imaginative and engrossing.

I just love Zelazny's style of writing, his novel "Lord of Light" is one of my all time favorites.

daUbiq

I've read the first few and should probably finish the series - it's interesting and fairly well written but there's better out there!