All Roads Lead to Amber

Kicking off the fifth and final book of the Corwin chronicles: The Courts of Chaos.

It's Brand against the family, as Oberon works behind the scenes to set up the showdown in Tir-na Nog'th. At the same time, Martin is returned to Amber, but as something of a Trojan horse. In this episode we cover the final two chapters of The Hand of Oberon, leading up to perhaps the largest reveal of the entire series. 

Corwin returns to Shadow Earth, and we'll discuss Bill Roth in more detail. Joined by Fiona, Corwin then journeys to the Primal Pattern to challenge Brand. In the episode we address the question, how big is the Jewel of Judgment? And I will share some thoughts about Caine's ambitions.

Corwin is putting the pieces together, and confronts Brand. Later, he reunites with Benedict, gets a fresh perspective on Eric, and reaches a new understanding with Julian. The characters are changing, Corwin is evolving, and we will discuss how these pivots make us hopeful for the Royal House of Amber.

Corwin dives deeper into the origin story of Amber, and makes a short trip to The Courts of Chaos. Even more complexity is introduced with regards to time differentials and timelines. 

With the introduction of Martin, we will analyze more of the timeline of events leading up to Corwin's story. As random goes to look for his sone, Corwin head back to Amber, and has an epiphany talking with Vialle. He then revisits his old jail cell, and locates Dworkin. In this episode, we also explore the cameo of "Roger", the guard in the dungeon writing a novel.

With this episode, we introduce the fourth book of the Corwin chronicles: The Hand of Oberon. The story picks up where it left off at the end of Sign of the Unicorn, as Corwin begins to understand the nature of reality, and origin of the Black Road, and the nature of challenge that Amber now faces.

As we barrel toward the conclusion of Sign of the Unicorn, in one of the best chapters in the whole series, we mainly tackle the issue of the line of succession to the throne in Amber.

With this episode, we unpack Corwin's evening in Tir-na Nog'th... the implications for geography, the confusing backstory of Grayswandir, and the references to Irish mythologies.

Corwin and Brand recover from stab wounds in parallel, as Corwin makes an astounding return to Shadow Earth to learn key facts surrounding the mysteries of Amber's troubles. Corwin's first full-length encounter with Brand complicates the timeline even more.

Across chapter 7 of Sign of the Unicorn, we begin to unpack the critical timelines surrounding the period when Amber's troubles begin, as Corwin steps back to evaluate what he knows and doesn't know. Why did Brand disappear? What's the relationship to Oberon's disappearance? How far back did the plotting for the throne begin? What's the relationship between the damaging of the Pattern, the Black R...

As Sign of the Unicorn moves into chapters 5 and 6, Gerard makes a dramatic point, and the title of the book reveals itself in the Grove of the Unicorn. Later in the palace, the remaining living family gathers in the library for what becomes a Whodunnit mystery. When Brand is returned, all hell breaks loose.

In this second episode covering Sign of the Unicorn, we cover Corwin's attunement to the Jewel, and his long-awaited "second scene" with Flora. We'll dive into the references that shed light on Corwin's and Flora's relationship to the French Aristocracy just before the Revolution.

Welcome to book 3: Sign of the Unicorn -- my favorite book of the series. In this episode, we'll first dive into what makes this book unique from the other books, and then examine chapters 1 and 2 for literary and historical references, while piecing together the timeline leading up to the start of the Corwin chronicles.

In this concluding episode of Book 2, we will first cover some corrections and additions to this podcast series to date, including some literary references. And then we'll dive head first into the final chapter of The Guns of Avalon, the dramatic conclusion to Corwin's revenge story, as the plot of the Chronicles of Amber explodes onto a much bigger canvas.

In this episode, we cover chapters 7 and 8 of The Guns of Avalon -- the flight of Corwin and Ganelon from Avalon, the encounter with the Black Road, Benedict's chase, and finally Corwin's first return to his house in New York since his car accident. We'll dive into the timeline, the references to real people and places from Shadow Earth.

Next we are introduced to Dara, a mysterious new character, as Corwin furthers his plans to build an army of rifleman. We look into both historical and literary references across Chapters 5 and 6 of The Guns of Avalon.

The super memorable encounter with Benedict, the long-lost elder brother of Corwin. A pivotal scene in the books, as Corwin becomes a third point on the triangle between himself, Amber, and Chaos.

In this episode we span chapters 3 and 4 of The Guns of Avalon, including the defeat of the Dark Circle, the death of Lorraine, the shadow walk to Avalon, ending with the incredible revelation of the eldest brother: Benedict.

Let's talk about the horror movie that is the early part of The Guns of Avalon. We'll discuss the deeper references to Hamlet, and tackle other questions around the mysterious character of Lorraine. Later, Corwin kills another demon, and prepares to kill a lot more.

In this episode we'll go deeper into the overlap between this book and the Arthurian Legends. And we will finally meet Ganelon, and unpack the reference to the French legend of Ganelon, the villain in The Song of Roland. We also meet Corwin's next love interest, Lorraine.

With this episode, we kick off "Season 2", the second book in the series: The Guns of Avalon. We'll discuss Zelazny's mindset heading in, what sets this novel apart from Nine Princes, and the parallels with the Arthurian Legends. And in the second half of this episode, we'll talk about the troubles of time differential. Book two, let's go!

In this short, final chapter of Nine Princes in Amber, we dive into the development of Corwin's character following his escape. How is Jopin like Bill Roth? And we set up the ultimate revenge story to come.

In this episode, we delve into Corwin's "days of darkness", his solitude, and the visits from Rein. We'll go deep into Corwin's timeline on Shadow Earth. And then we turn to Corwin's (chance?) meeting with Dworkin. We ask, what were Dworkin and Oberon cooking up at this point in the timeline? And of course, Corwin makes his escape.

Here we dive deep into Chapter 7 and the first half of Chapter 8. These are incredible action sequences -- the march toward, and the assault on, the city of Amber atop Kolvir. We will follow Corwin and Bleys, step by step, bloodbath by bloodbath, and consider what might be going on with Bleys' cabal and Eric's cabal, around this time -- things of which Corwin is completely ignorant. What were Eric...