Fantasy

The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny.

Technically, this is a set of five books: Nine Princes in Amber, The Guns of Avalon, Sign of the Unicorn, The Hand of Oberon, and The Courts of Chaos-- collectively known as the Chronicles (or "First Chronicles," given the existence of a later series of five books set in the same universe, or the "Good Chronicles," given that many people don't like the second series...). Books three and four end on horrible cliff-hangers, though, and they're all quite short, so it's hard not to read all five at once. Having cleverly managed to leave the second volume of Peter Hamilton's Oversexed Space Pirates vs. the Living Dead behind after a visit to Kate's parents, I re-read these over Thanksgiving (having borrowed the first three (in paperback editions sporting truly dreadful cover art) from Kate, and recovered the other two paperbacks from my parents' basement). I had been planning a re-read anyway, having read a fair bit of Zelazny recently, and having realized that I remembered almost nothing of this, arguably his most famous work.

These books are sort of the quintessential example of First Person Smartass narration, and when reading them it's easy to see the huge debt Steven Brust owes to Zelazny. Corwin of Amber, one of the Nine Princes of the title, begins the series bereft of his memory, but never once loses his poise, as he manages to bluff his way past two of his siblings for long enough to get his memory restored. Then the real fun starts.

Cover Artist	Walotsky, Ron