Quote:
Originally Posted by llreader
I strongly disagree (about the Earthsea Trilogy).
I am re-reading the Chronicles of Amber (as I mentioned in the other thread), and I have to say it is one of the best *stories* I think I have read - suspense, intrigue, swashbuckling, sex, magic, mystery, betrayal, supernatural monsters and creepiness. Well done, and I like Zelazny's style (from tough-guy film noir to purple prose on the same page, or even same paragraph). That said, my memory of the second half the series (after Courts of Chaos) was that it was confused, had lots of people rushing around, and lots of characters appearing and disappearing all over the place. I didn't read more than two books, though, and it had been a while since I had read the original series, so I was a little fuzzy on all the different characters. Right now, my impression is that the second series should not have been written, and the first series should stand on its own (it was five books, but they were pretty slim). I am going to give it another go when I finish the first series, and see if reading through the whole thing helps.
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I have signed first printings of several Ambers!
And I this is another I agree with. I don't know what book where everything crashed and burned, but in the last one I own, the character rips off the ring that's squeezing his finger in warning. Now if this isn't an act of total stupidity (as set up in the series) nothing is... and yet we were to believe he was a
good and wise hero! O... M... G... Out of character, totally forced storyline. That moment summed up what was going so very, very wrong with the second series.
I guess it's good I hadn't read the books before meeting Zelazny. He would not have signed my books after I opened my mouth...
-Pie