Book Review: Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny

And here we have the second instalment in the Amber series where we return to Corwin after he’s managed to (spoiler alert) regrow his eyes after his brother annoyingly stabbed them out, and after Corwin tore a whole in the fabric of the very universe, allowing ‘something’ bad to happen that threatens everything we know. Cliffhanger!

As we already know, you can’t use guns in Amber, though as the title of this one would suggest, Corwin knows of a kind of loophole to this whereby a certain jeweller’s rouge can be used in its stead – thus giving him the advantage he always needed to go up against his brother (Didn’t he learn his lesson the first time?). The plan is, as always, gain an army (from shadow earth), give them rifles that can be used when storming Amber, and take the throne by force.

And then enter Dara. This was a dynamic I really didn’t see coming, but Corwin’s great grand-niece shows up to join in the fight.

Corwin gets his army, surges forth into Amber and… finds that it’s already under attack! Eric finally steps down after being gravely wounded and passes the crown to Corwin, who of course becomes Regent.

Finally, an ending where everyone’s happy! Corwin back on the throne, Eric gets his comeuppance and everything is back the way it should be.

But of course that could never happen, could it?

Dara walks the pattern and reveals herself to be a creature of the Court of Shadows – and she wants to destroy both Amber and the shadows…

What I still love about the Amber series is the blending fantasy with what I consider to be science fiction. It’s not just sword and sorcery here, it’s multiple dimensions, (now) guns mixed in with what we normally expect to read in fantasy novels. And Zelazny has such a way to tie it all together.

And does he like ending on cliffhangers? Well who can blame him?

The character development is really impressive too. Considering that we are looking at a world with infinite ‘shadows’ and a vast host of characters it would be easy to forget about those less important to the story. But the thing is in Amber, they’re all important, and that’s a big factor in the desire to continue (and finish) a series.

Zelazny doesn’t hand-hold, and it’s this challenging yet rewarding nature of his storytelling that will have you reading back a few pages wondering if you missed something.

Overall, The Guns of Avalon is a brilliant continuation of the Amber saga, offering an amazing blend of fantasy, drama, and action. It’s a book that doesn’t just take you on a journey through its pages but leaves you contemplating the very nature of reality and fantasy. A must-read for fans of the genre, and a worthy challenge for newcomers!