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  • Nine Princes in Amber

  • The Chronicles of Amber, Book 1
  • By: Roger Zelazny
  • Narrated by: Alessandro Juliani
  • Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (303 ratings)
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Nine Princes in Amber

By: Roger Zelazny
Narrated by: Alessandro Juliani
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Summary

Nine Princes in Amber is the first of the 10 books that are The Chronicles of Amber; an epic fantasy series written by six-time Hugo Award winning and three-time Nebula Award winning author, Roger Zelazny.

The ten books that make up the series are told in two story arcs: The Corwin Cycle and the Merlin Cycle.

The Audible audio rendition of this classic sci-fi/fantasy series is kicked off by 2012 Audie Award nominee, Alessandro Juliani, who reads the first five books that make up the Corwin Cycle and whose narration vividly brings the world of Amber to life.

Amber is the one real world, of which all others including our own Earth are but Shadows. Amber burns in Corwin's blood. Exiled on Shadow Earth for centuries, the prince is about to return to Amber to make a mad and desperate rush upon the throne.

From Arden to the Pattern deep in Castle Amber which defines the very structure of Reality, Corwin must contend with the powers of his eight immortal brothers, all Princes of Amber. His savage path is blocked and guarded by eerie structures beyond imagining impossible realities forged by demonic assassins and staggering Forces that challenge the might of Corwin's superhuman fury.

©1970 Roger Zelazny (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Nine Princes in Amber

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Not What I Expected


Story - 5/5

Having had recommendations for this series for some time now, it sounded like it was going to be quite hard going and complex. After finally taking the plunge, I was surprised about how smooth and easy to follow it was. It starts with Corwin waking up with amnesia, so we learn gradually as he remembers things. I loved this style personally and it made for a very humorous story.

Roger Zelazny's prose is very concise and to-the-point, so although this is quite a short audiobook, you do still get a complete story out of it. The story is a halfway house between Sci-fi and fantasy, and is nothing like I have ever come across before. A very obscure concept, but I found it very intriguing.

The characterisation is very strong. It allows the reader to get a very quick grasp of what everyone is about, and their part in the world of Amber. All characters are likeable, and the exchanges they have are very witty.

A very strong first book, and I will definitely be purchasing the rest in the series


Performance - 4.5/5

Alessandro Juliani was superb in my opinion. I thought his narration and voice acting added to the humour and excitement of the story very nicely. I thought he was the perfect fit for Corwin's personality, and all character's voices were distinctly recognisable and well portrayed. I was shocked to see a review that didn't like him actually

He reads the story very quickly, which I personally quite liked, but others may not. Another narrator may have added 1-1.5 hours onto the length of this audiobook. Listen to the sample if you are unsure, but you can always slow it down on the audible app if necessary.


Overall - 5/5

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

FANTASTIC FANTASY

I read this book and also the subsequent four books years ago and was totally enthralled by them. I've been waiting a long time to get them on audio. The story is still brilliant but feel the performance could be improved upon. Alessandro Juliani does a good job but I feel audio books would really benefit from having a narrator and a different actors for the different characters. There is a limit to what one person can do by way of changing voices and it is sometimes difficult for a male to replicate a female voice and vice versa. However, having said the above, I really enjoyed the experience of Nine Princes in Amber and the subsequent four books of the quintology in audio.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

It's ok. Should be Amazing but it's Not

To start, I will comment that the narrator is great and does a fine job of bringing the characters to life. I don't think any flaws are to do with the production of this audiobook.

The concept is brilliant. People talk about the slang language etc, but it was the sixties and this is a bit psychedelic and experimental. Why I have mixed feelings is this: The start is great, the whole amnesia plotline, the mysterious siblings and surreal experiences are intriguing. But then once they arrive in Amber halfway through it became dull.

Zelazny usually writes with complexity: subplots and layers that reveal themselves later in the story and blow you away. That didn't happen here, this book was very superficial in plotline. Maybe those layers reveal themselves later in the series, but not in this book.

The action sequences lack the necessary detail to be exciting, and the characters are not developed enough for me to care about them. The buildings of Amber and the underwater palace also lack the description needed to wow me and bring the world to life, and it should have been an amazing world if it wasn't for this. The series of battles are rushed through in just a few sentences at times, barely any detail, so you lose any sense of the vast and epic quality they should have. Brevity can be a good thing but here it is just a skeleton plot at times.

It's almost as if parts are rushed because the author wanted to get onto the next section of the story. It's like reading Lord of the Rings condensed into a synopsis of ten pages, and expecting the reader to still enjoy it.
This is shame because the scenes on earth and the journey to Amber in the first half of the story had me hooked. Yet strangely, the last chapter of the book had me intrigued again, enough to make me eager to try the next Amber book to find out what happens. It seems that the scenes of character interaction work much better than the large battle scenes or action sequences.

I'm a Zelazny fan. The Doors of His Face and the Lamps of His Mouth is the best collection of sci-fi/ fantasy short stories I have ever read. Go read it. Everybody talks about the Amber series too so I wanted to like this.

It would have been very original when first published in the late '60s, and maybe the reputation of this book is based on the Amber series as a whole and it gets better? I'm going to try the second book and if its no better I'll probably decide this is not for me.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Sublime Zelazny

Beautiful, magical!, visual, exciting, intriguing - I could go on and on with superlatives for his well crafted story which carries the listener breathtakingly fast forward through unknowingness and recovering memory, different world's and battles in quest of the throne of Amber, the one true reality. I'm not often a fan of fantasy but this is sublime, Zelazny supreme. And all read to perfection by Alessandro Juliani.
A wonderful book.
Now, please excuse me as I start listening to book two - can't wait.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This was my intro to multiversal novels

Roger Zelazny wrote some wonderfully imaginative and thought provoking stories. I read this when I was in my 20s and it's been a story I return to now and again. One of my favourite parts is the journey Corwyn and Random take through shadow. Blew my mind when I read it the first time.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Great performance, if you like this type of thing

What would have made Nine Princes in Amber better?

There's nothing so much wrong with the book, per se, so much as it is not what I'd been expecting.

This is an action-packed, all-swords-blazing fantasy romp.

What was most disappointing about Roger Zelazny’s story?

It's solidly put together, if a little guilty of falling into cliche.

It's a story about a bunch of aristocrats who all want to be King. They're all a little bland, and act alike, even though one is labelled the Hero and one is labelled the Tyrant.

The characters speak in fairly standard Fantasy Language - a weird admixture of Thee-Thou-ing and modern slang.

The story is simple and linear, and the plot is propelled by the hero being revealed to have more and more special powers over time.

It could be great fun escapism if you like this type of thing, but it's not especially inventive. It does show its age.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

People who are already fans of the Amber series should definitely go ahead and get this, the performance of Juliani is really good; a nice pace, with enough modulation in tone and diversity in characterisation to keep things interesting without becoming distracting.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Never gets old

What did you like most about Nine Princes in Amber?

Rich characters and background.

Any additional comments?

I have read and listened to the Nine Princes of Amber several times over the years and still enjoy it as much today as when I first read it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great writer

Big fan of Zelazny, great to be able to listen now my eyesight has begun to decay. Read in a great manner keeping the story alive

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story and amazing audio

If you are not fully satisfied by this story, the beginning of a series, the audio will get you there, great voice!
I had my doubts to spend a credit on a short book. I am so glad I did.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Misremembered

I read a couple of these when I was in my late teens and really enjoyed them. Thought I’d go back and relive the experience on audio book for my two hours of commuting each day.

The narration is awful. He sounds like the son Steve in American Dad.

The story is awful. I’m not sure I’ve ever been less convinced by fantasy. It’s all over the place. Concepts and people are introduced and chinned off so quickly it’s impossible to immerse yourself.

I finished the second one too. At least I have to sit in my car for two hours a day and the time was passed and not wasted.

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