The Guns of Avalon is fantasy novel by American writer Roger Zelazny, the second book in the Chronicles of Amber series. The book continues straight from the previous volume, Nine Princes in Amber, although it includes a recapitulation.
 Dust-jacket illustration from the first edition | |
| Author | Roger Zelazny |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Emanuel Schongut |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Chronicles of Amber |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 1972 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 180 |
| ISBN | 0-385-08506-0 |
| OCLC | 495348 |
| 813/.5/4 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.Z456 Gu PS3576.E43 |
| Preceded by | Nine Princes in Amber |
| Followed by | Sign of the Unicorn |
Plot summary
editCorwin has escaped the dungeons of Amber, where he was imprisoned by his hated brother Eric, who had seized the throne of Amber. All of Corwin's siblings believe that guns cannot function in Amber, as gunpowder is inert there. But Corwin has secret knowledge: in the shadow world of Avalon, where he once ruled, there exists a jeweler's rouge that will function in Amber as gunpowder should. Corwin plans to raise a legion of shadow soldiers and arm them with automatic rifles from the shadow world Earth. While gathering these forces Corwin discovers a more sinister problem growing among the shadows. He meets Dara, a woman claiming to be his great-grandniece, and later discovers a threat to Amber: a black road which runs across universes from the Courts of Chaos to Amber. With his newly trained army, Corwin marches on Castle Amber only to find it already under siege. Eric is mortally wounded and passes the Jewel of Judgment to Corwin, making Corwin Regent. The immediate danger passes, but Dara threatens greater peril after walking the Pattern and revealing herself to be a creature of the Courts of Chaos, intent on destroying both Amber and the Shadows.
Reception
editAvram Davidson gave the novel a lukewarm review, complaining that he did not "feel for any of [its] characters the slightest empathy, sympathy, or even osteopathy" and concluding that "there is nothing outrageously bad in [this] book of magic, intrigue, and warfare, but very little that is very good".[1]
Deleted scene
editRoger Zelazny wrote an explicit sex scene (by 1970s American publishing standards) between Corwin and Dara and was amused when the book's editor asked him to remove it so that sales to libraries would not be jeopardized.[2] That deleted scene has never appeared with the novel but has been printed for the first time in The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume 3: This Mortal Mountain.[3]
Adaptation
editA three-part comic adaptation was done by Terry Bisson in 1996.[4][5]
References
edit- ^ "Books", F&SF, April 1973, p. 37
- ^ "...And Call Me Roger": The Literary Life of Roger Zelazny, Part 3, by Christopher S. Kovacs. In: The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume 3: This Mortal Mountain, NESFA Press, 2009.
- ^ The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume 3: This Mortal Mountain, NESFA Press, 2009
- ^ Thomlinson, Norris (2004-05-23). "Amber comics". Roger Zelazny Page. Archived from the original on 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
- ^ "Author Information: Terry Bisson". Internet Book List. Archived from the original on 2010-11-28. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
Further reading
edit- Levack, Daniel J. H. (1983). Amber Dreams: A Roger Zelazny Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood/Miller. pp. 39–41. ISBN 0-934438-39-0.