This comment just went away when I brushed the wrong key. Truly hate that! To quickly retype then…. Enjoyed the reading list (glad you didn’t trash it), and will be looking over ‘Where Good Ideas Come From’ next time in a bookstore (or on Amazon). (Sampling Stephen King s ‘Nightmares & Dreamscapes’ and ‘Skeleton Crew’ at the moment.) About ‘The Art of Fiction,’ Gardner tends toward preachy and generally takes the position that writing is a sacred trust; his holier-than-thou-ness can be grating (‘How Not To Write, ’Grove’s brief review of Gardner’s book, speaks to this). But in places he calls attention to what seem like pretty obvious little details which most of us nevertheless rarely think much about. And, as a non-writer attempting to write, my antenna are often tuned to the frequencies where writing advice is given out.

Even Springsteen transmits on that frequency occasionally when he is ‘sick of sitting around here trying to write this book’ enough to realize that spare parts keep the world turning around. : – )

I’ll have to check out the book you recommended. Your post on my reading list reminded me that I had one — I thought I’d trashed that page ages ago! It’s extremely outdated now, but fun to look back on.

Btw, Computer Spare Parts above is onto something. The information here and the conversational way in which it is delivered make stopping by a pleasure.

Btw, Computer Spare Parts above is onto something. The information here and the conversational way in which it is delivered make stopping by a pleasure.

Kenni Roi’s Kentucki Fried Lizzard Partes! Geek that I am, I went and looked up the reference: an alternate Earth with a dino-infested bayou setting and Roman money. Corwin didn’t much care for the beer: weak and salty. He and Random make a pit-stop there not long after the driver of the ZUÑOCO fuel truck nearly gets shot for giving Corwin a hard time about his driving.

Even in other worlds there are hot-headed loudmouths all too ready to come at anyone they label ‘a friggin’ menace!’ Zelazny is unyielding on this point: road-rage is a universal. For confirmation, there is always the showdown between the Mercedes and Morgenstern.

; – )

When Zelazny returned to his Amber setting 7 years later ~ after stating categorically that the fifth book of Corwin’s story was also the FINAL book relating to Amber ~ I was one very excited fan. And even when ‘Trumps of Doom’ was finally in my hands, and very clearly focused on a new character and a new approach, I forged ahead. But, for me, there was no getting around the basic problem with more Amber books: they weren’t about Corwin.

More than the archetypal city perched on the side of a mountain, the very cool Trumps, the wild idea behind the Pattern, the notion of finding one’s heart’s desire, and all the powers and possibilities available to the characters, it was Corwin that had hooked me and most firmly held my interest. I wanted more Corwin!

Sometimes if you want something badly enough, you will actually do it yourself. Hence all the Amber fan fiction, I guess. The fans still want more, and, sadly, Zelazny is no longer around to craft it for them.

When I was younger, my favorite book of the series was probably the first, ‘Nine Princes in Amber.’ (Or maybe its immediate sequel, ‘The Guns of Avalon,’ which takes the action up a notch.) Now, after so much time, I would have to go with either ‘Sign of the Unicorn’ or ‘The Courts of Chaos.’ The first offers a murder, Random’s tale, a certain special artifact, the climactic library/sitting room gathering, Tir-na Nog’th, genealogical insights, a unicorn, and a fundamentally world-shattering revelation. The other, besides presenting dwarves, a giant, outspoken non-humans and a lady of the lake sans merci, charts the ultimate crossing of worlds and Corwin’s own spiritual journey in which he discovers, and ultimately defines, who he really is, wants to be, and has always been. One is packed with the swords-and-sorcery challenges a warrior prince must overcome, while the other is about the far more universal ~ and more difficult ~ challenges that must be faced to reach maturity in order to find a measure of peace while coming to terms with the limitations of both the world and the self. Take your pick.

Meanwhile, as for Zelazny’s other stuff, let me recommend ‘The Changing Land’ and ‘Dilvish, the Damned.’ The first is probably the superior work, while the second functions as both a collection of short stories about the title character and a prequel to ‘The Changing Land.’ Another fun one: ‘A Night in the Lonesome October.’ And his short stories, as you have already heard, are indeed consistently good.

Finally, thank-you for giving a fan fiction a try and leaving such generous, thoughtful and encouraging comments. At last I have ventured beyond where most of my online time is spent to have a look at your digs. Very much enjoyed reading your rather entertaining take on ‘The Chronicles of Amber,’ and am glad I stopped by.