The Chronicles of Amber

The Chronicles of Amber is an epic fantasy series that the American author Roger Zelazny completed over roughly twenty years. It consists of two five-book sequences: the first five center on Corwin, the latter five on his son Merlin. The whole is built on a distinctive cosmology: Amber is the only true world in the universe, and all countless other worlds—including Earth—are merely "Shadows" cast by Amber. Only the royal family of Amber can travel among the Shadows, adjusting step by step through imagination to enter any world that might exist. The novel opens with Corwin losing his memory after a car accident in a Shadow Earth, then being drawn into the struggle for the throne that follows King Oberon's disappearance. The nine princes each harbor their own designs, and intrigue, assassination, war, and family feeling are woven together. In the latter half of the series, Merlin has lived on Earth for years but is attacked without explanation every year; with a few mysterious cards he traces the truth, gradually uncovering his blood tie to Amber and being pushed to the center of the confrontation between the Pattern and Chaos. Zelazny fuses detective-style suspense, Shakespearean court tragedy, and an ingenious magical premise into a fantasy landmark both classical and avant-garde, written in concise, poetic prose.