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CHRONICLES OF AMBER PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Roger Zelazny | 800 pages | 03 Apr 2008 | Orion Publishing Co | 9780575082694 | English | London, United Kingdom The Chronicles of Amber Series by Roger Zelazny The Chronicles of Amber is a series of science fiction and fantasy novels written by Roger Zelazny. The series is divided into two arcs each of which constitutes five books. Amber and Chaos are magical places whose forces are in such opposition that the tension created in between them eventually gave birth to the shadow worlds of which contemporary earth is one. Members of the Royal Family of Amber have the power to walk through the shadow worlds. And as they traverse this plane, they can create new realities or alter pre-existing ones by adding and subtracting the shadows. Corwin has no ideas who he is when readers meet him, his amnesia emanating from the coma he suffered. When his memories begin to flood back, Corwin learns that he is a prince, a member of the royal family that rules the one true world. Corwin must get re-acquainted with this new paranormal existence. This involves re-discovering his family and learning to walk the infinite parallel worlds. The journey he undertakes is long and arduous and Corwin suffers many physical, mental, and emotional losses. Fortunately for the hero, he is made of stronger stuff than most. His regenerative abilities prove quite useful as he fights enemies from both Amber and Chaos. Corwin also finds that he can rely on a select few allies that include his brothers Bleys and Brand. Blood is shed and family ties are broken for the sake of the power that can be gained by those who emerge as King of Amber. The Corwin books are normally believed to be of superior quality to the Merlin novels which constitute the next five stories of the second arc of the Chronicles of Amber series. The Corwin cycle is reminiscent of Highlander because it has nigh immortal protagonists and antagonists at the center of its conflict. There are also elements of the hardboiled detective genre, probably because Roger Zelazny wrote the Corwin Cycle in the s and s, an era where the hardboiled detective was all the rage. At the start of the Merlin Cycle, Merlin has been studying computer science on earth. Merlin proceeds to create a sentient computer. His only intention is to locate his father. He does not foresee the disaster that will manifest as a result of his actions. The Merlin Cycle calls back a few well- known characters from the Corwin Cycle as well as their descendants. Shelve Knight of Shadows. Book Prince of Chaos by Roger Zelazny. Shelve Prince of Chaos. No ISBN for this first edition. Here, together for … More. The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. Amber is the one real world, casting infinite refl… More. Shelve The Chronicles of Amber. Alternate cover edition can be found here Roger Z… More. Shelve The Great Book of Amber. Hronike Ambera. Tom 2 by Roger Zelazny. Shelve Hronike Ambera. Tom 2. Amber Omnibus 2 by Roger Zelazny. Amber is een magisch koninkrijk, geregeerd door ee… More. Shelve Amber Omnibus 2. Hronike Ambera 2 by Roger Zelazny. Shelve Hronike Ambera 2. In all the universe, Amber is the only true world. Shelve The Second Chronicles of Amber. The Road to Amber by Roger Zelazny. Shelve The Road to Amber. Manna from Heaven by Roger Zelazny. This new collection includes all five previously u… More. The Prologue has Merlin bleeding and experiencing odd sensory inputs. Later we learn that walking the Logrus can leave one mentally unstable for a while afterwards, but this "usually" passes. The Logrus is also described as containing the skeletal remains of those who tried to walk it, but failed. In the Amber universe, the word "trump" is used as both a noun and a verb. As a noun, it properly refers to a specialized type of hand-drawn tarot card depicting a person or a place. As a verb, it refers to using such a card for teleportation. The original tarot decks used by Amberites had some or all of their major arcana cards replaced or possibly augmented with images of the royal family, and of at least one location, Castle Amber. These original decks were created by Dworkin, and a deck was given to each family member after they first walked the Pattern. Physically, these cards are cool to the touch. The decks may be used like normal tarots for divination, as Corwin does shortly after meeting one of his brothers. The Trumps have the magical attribute of facilitating a psychic link to the person or place depicted on the card, enabling instant communication, travel, and even attack. If the card depicts a location, the user is able to teleport to that location. If the card depicts a person, the user concentrates on the image and attempts to reach out to the person to initiate contact. The recipient of a Trump contact does not need to have a card in their possession. An attempted contact may be blocked or declined by the receiving party, by an act of concentration. A variety of other circumstances can also impede or prevent Trump contact from being made, including distance and time-flow differences across Shadows, as well as unconsciousness, amnesia, and magical characteristics of a particular location. If contact through a Trump is successful, both parties are able to talk to each other, and even see some of each other's surroundings. Either party may end a Trump communication, either by passing their hand over the card, or by an effort of will. During the contact, each person has the option of reaching through the link to make physical contact, generally for the purpose of pulling the other person voluntarily to their own physical location. This is sometimes called "trumping" a person to the other location. In some cases, one can also travel via Trump to the other person's location without the other's consent or assistance, as long as the contact remains open e. A Trump contact also creates a potential opening for an attack by either party on the other, either with a weapon, or by using the link in an attempt to dominate the other by sheer force of ego and will. This can result in immobilization or worse for the victim of the attack. To an observer who witnesses a person trumping to another location, the person becomes two-dimensional before disappearing, and there is a prismatic aftereffect. In Trumps of Doom , Merlin also mentions sensing a kind of electrical charge as Jasra trumps into a room where he waits. Further details about the nature of Trumps were revealed as the tale progressed; for example, Trumps are not limited to playing cards, but can be drawn on any surface. Corwin escaped from his dungeon cell after Dworkin materialized in it, by persuading Dworkin, who was mentally unbalanced at the time, to draw him a picture of the lighthouse at Cabra, a location on the edge of Amber. After Dworkin draws another picture to return to his hideout, Corwin uses the lighthouse picture to escape. In The Hand of Oberon Corwin returns to his cell and uses the other picture to follow Dworkin to his lair, finding that it is in located near the Primal Pattern that created Amber and all its Shadows. Dworkin taught several of his descendants to create Trumps, and other initiates of the Pattern or Logrus can be trained in that skill. If one looks "closely enough" at a Trump, one can see parts of the Pattern or Logrus within its design, which may provide a source of power. Anyone may use a Trump — the user does not need to be an Amberite, a Pattern initiate, or of royal blood. Provided the artist is sufficiently familiar with the subject, a Trump can be drawn for any person or place desired, unless the place is in constant motion and change such as portions of Chaos. Under certain circumstances and extreme conditions, the technique for creating a Trump can be used to make contact without drawing on any surface at all. Indeed, Corwin's brother Brand is described as becoming a "Living Trump", who can move through Shadow by will alone. A large red gem in a pendant, this is initially thought to be one of Oberon's tools that can be used to control the weather in Amber. In The Guns of Avalon , Eric uses it to summon storms against the dark forces attacking Amber, but is mortally injured. After Corwin's forces annihilate the attackers, Eric reveals that he became attuned to the Jewel by walking the Pattern in Amber and then projecting himself into its core. Corwin does this, and discovers other effects, such as a sapping of his energies and a tendency for time to slow down. The Jewel saves his life when he is stabbed in Amber, projecting him back to his old home on Earth where he lived as Carl Corey. Dworkin finally reveals that the Jewel contains within it the original Pattern from which he created Amber. Corwin, fearing that Amber has been destroyed in The Courts of Chaos , repeats this process in Shadow to create his own Pattern, using its power to project him to the Courts where he witnesses the final battle against Chaos and Brand, who took the Jewel while he was incapacitated after creating his Pattern. Apparently lost during the battle when Brand falls into the abyss, the Jewel is returned by the Unicorn and given to Random, making him the new King in Amber.

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