The latest in the series of "Amber" novels, in which Merlin, the son of Prince Corwin, continues to claim his birthright, despite the various people who wish to kill him.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By M. A. Ramos
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Though you will not put the book down because of Mr. Zelazny's writing style. Do not expect the normal skilled plotting and crafted characterizations of the original Amber books. This book cannot stand alone...it leaves you hanging.
Merlin, son of Corwin, who was the hero of the original series, narrates this sequence, and here continued to accidentlly make his way through encounters with new powers that are completely incompatible with the original mythos. Those who are allied with each other will not speak with each other. While their enemies somehow know everything. Most of the important action happens offstage, and promised explanations never materialize.
So I would suggest you only read this book if you are a fan of the Amber series and have read the others that come before it.
Merlin, son of Corwin, who was the hero of the original series, narrates this sequence, and here continued to accidentlly make his way through encounters with new powers that are completely incompatible with the original mythos. Those who are allied with each other will not speak with each other. While their enemies somehow know everything. Most of the important action happens offstage, and promised explanations never materialize.
So I would suggest you only read this book if you are a fan of the Amber series and have read the others that come before it.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars
9 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Flair, fantasy, humor
26 Oct 2004
By frumiousb
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Bias alert. I should start this review by saying that I am not sure that Zelazny could write a bad book. Non-Zelazny fans may disagree.
Merlin is very clearly the son of Corwin. He is irreverent about the holy ghosts of Amber and Chaos. He hits his head against the rules (and sometimes even wins). Despite an overly-long sequence in a strange testing ground between shadows, Zelzany still infuses this book with the manic strangeness and humor that are part of what make him such a wonderful writer. As noted, virtually none of the Amber novels can be read stand-alone or out of sequence. You are going to have to read the books before this one to get the background. And you are going to have to read the ones after this to get an explanation. An enjoyable task, luckily.
Merlin is very clearly the son of Corwin. He is irreverent about the holy ghosts of Amber and Chaos. He hits his head against the rules (and sometimes even wins). Despite an overly-long sequence in a strange testing ground between shadows, Zelzany still infuses this book with the manic strangeness and humor that are part of what make him such a wonderful writer. As noted, virtually none of the Amber novels can be read stand-alone or out of sequence. You are going to have to read the books before this one to get the background. And you are going to have to read the ones after this to get an explanation. An enjoyable task, luckily.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, funny, is this real life perhaps!
22 Feb 1998
By annycat@yahoo.com
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Son of Corwin (Amber series) goes to college in USA (Earth-shadow) and gets into all sorts of strange adventures. Merlin's computer (is this a throw-back to Illuminatus) is a great help or is it? Or should I say he? If you liked the Amber series you'll enjoy this. It is different. Merlin isn't Corwin and has a lot more naivitie (may irritate some readers) but it's the hero going out into the world to find ... what? Himself? His father? Who's trying to kill him? The world jumping is different from shadow-walking. I reccommend readers trying some world jumping themselves - it's amazing what can happen!
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, but marks time quite a bit
12 April 2012
By Brent Butler
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
"Knight of Shadows" is Merlin's Vision Quest, similar to Corwin's allegorical journey in the last book of the Amber series. Although I still like the two books, Zelazny's normal fascinating stories slow down considerably when he decides to go this route. Merlin becomes trapped in a symbolic battle between the Pattern and the Logrus, and for most of the book we have no idea where Merlin's encounter with a land between shadows relates to the three plus books leading up to here.
On the good side, things liven up quite a bit towards the end of Merlin's trials here. The magic and Merlin's pluckiness get fun again.
Zelazny introduces a new type of character into the series in "Knight of Shadows". They become surprisingly interesting and sympathetic figures in the story, and I thought they were a very imaginative idea. I won't give more details about them, because that would spoil the fun. :-)
As in all the Amber books, the volume cannot stand on its own. It is in essence the fourth 20% of one very long book, since Merlin's story starts on page one of book one and doesn't slow down until the last page of book five ... if you can even consider that to be the end. LOL
I consider both five book series to be highly original and imaginative sets of fiction, and have always applauded Roger Zelazny for the hours of entertainment he thereby provided me.
On the good side, things liven up quite a bit towards the end of Merlin's trials here. The magic and Merlin's pluckiness get fun again.
Zelazny introduces a new type of character into the series in "Knight of Shadows". They become surprisingly interesting and sympathetic figures in the story, and I thought they were a very imaginative idea. I won't give more details about them, because that would spoil the fun. :-)
As in all the Amber books, the volume cannot stand on its own. It is in essence the fourth 20% of one very long book, since Merlin's story starts on page one of book one and doesn't slow down until the last page of book five ... if you can even consider that to be the end. LOL
I consider both five book series to be highly original and imaginative sets of fiction, and have always applauded Roger Zelazny for the hours of entertainment he thereby provided me.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
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