What’s most striking to me about The Guns of Avalon is just how different it is from Nine Princes in Amber, which is such as headlong plunge into action and adventure, an endless chain of surprises that grabs the reader by the neck and won’t relinquish the grip until the last page. The Guns of Avalon is no slouch-read, but our first-person-singular hero, Corwin, is finally able to draw a breath and start reflecting on deeper meanings, both plot-wise and with respect to his own interpersonal relationships. Slowly, issues of morality begin seeping in. Slowly.The issue of sexism is best dealt with upfront. To a degree it’s an issue of time, culture, and social mores; that is to say, it’s not exactly fair to project current mores onto the past. Hemingway is often accused of sexism, although he lived in a time in which few women were employed outside the home, and frankly, I imagine few women of his time would have accused him of sexism once the word/concept was explained to them. But although I say that it’s not exactly fair to level this kind of anachronistic criticism, nevertheless I think some such criticism is within the sphere of fair play, for even if our society finds some behaviors acceptable, we are all possessed of consciences and we can think and feel for ourselves. I guess I think of Zelazny as a somewhat sexist writer, although he’s probably not less liberated than were most science fiction writers of his era. When you’re writing SF novels primarily for adolescent males and their twenty-something cohorts, as those writers were, your readership doesn’t tend to be too preoccupied with strong, intelligent female leads. The presence of female characters in SF novels from the 60s, 70s, and early 80s more often was to serve more immediate physical concerns of macho male characters. Thus in this novel Corwin scarcely mourns the loss of one woman (Lorraine) before gallivanting with another (Dara).More problematic for Zelazny is the physical violence which Corwin directs against Lorraine. When she reveals to him an instant of second-sight which she experienced, he calls her a liar and slaps her. Now even Humphrey Bogart – who, let’s face it, quite often played Zelaznyesque characters – liked to slap his dames around too, but this really is jarring, I think, for Zelazny, and it doesn’t show Corwin in a very favorable light, either. What troubles me most about the Lorraine bit is not Corwin’s striking her, but her lack of a response, and the fact that she has this role of being a battered woman. Corwin initially plays in contrast to that, the noble prince, etc., but then he joins in. It’s as if Lorraine is a woman whose purpose is to be used and abused, and one wonders why Zelazny felt it necessary to include her in the story. In part I think it’s because she begins to instill the motif of guilt, in parallel to the advancement of the dark Circle.I’ll allow Zelazny this much slack: at least the Dara we see in The Guns of Avalon is smart, attractive, and strong. It’s her facile repartee that most readers, including adolescent males, find appealing about her. For reasons important to the plot, Dara had to be very young, and this creates the problem of favorably portraying Corwin’s relationship with her. I conjecture this was an important reason for the inclusion of the Lorraine episode: Zelazny needed to balance a mature relationship against that which Corwin had with Dara lest we misconstrue Corwin/Zelazny as disturbingly interested in cradle-robbing. Corwin’s involvement with Lorraine (and previously with Moire in Nine Princes) convinces us (in terms of early 1970s thinking when the book was written) that he is a healthy male and inoculates him against any other suspicions. Lorraine’s then handily eliminated by the author in order to clear the way for Dara.In Nine Princes Corwin scarcely had time to think. Now he has more time, but he’s still behaving a bit brutishly. I believe that Zelazny did this intentionally, revealing a Corwin who is slowly adapting from being a reactive hothead and is moving toward becoming a more considerate and thoughtful character. Certainly Corwin receives many hints that an assault against Eric might be perceived as being ill-advised, and yet he keeps suppressing these unwanted flashing yellow lights and proceeding with his own vengeful plans.Corwin’s slowly dawning sense of morality begins here and continues in later volumes. He temporarily reflects on his own evil when Lorraine is buried: “. . .a Prince of Amber is part and party to all the rottenness that is in the world . . . In the mirrors of the many judgments, my hands are the color of blood. I am a part of the evil that exists in the world and in Shadow.” At one point he reflects rather cynically on using Shadow shock troops to fight his wars. “The morality of it did not especially trouble me this time . . . I might also consider them mercenaries being paid in spiritual coin. What difference did it make whether they fought for money or for a belief? I was capable of supplying either one when I needed troops.” It may not bother him, but it is bothersome, for surely by such rationalization do many warlords lead their duped troops into mortal battle. Indeed, this observation caused me to pause and reflect for a while before continuing on. We do have the action-adventure story to draw and hold our attention, but despite Corwin’s protestations, were the better angels of his being also whispering caution into his ear? “I’ve a funny, nervous feeling, Corwin,” Ganelon later says, “as though something terrible is about to happen,” and all the hints throughout the novel that Corwin is hell-bent on making a serious blunder hurtle toward fruition. He is being played just as he is playing his own shock troops, as he belatedly, reluctantly, begins to admit to himself. To a degree this novel is about Corwin being confronted by his own selfishness and blind ambition.The problem of the first book was to condense enormous amounts of plot into a very thin volume, which Zelazny did preposterously well. In some ways this book is more complex. The surprises unfold as they must and Zelazny advances the tale masterfully, although I suspect he might have wished he had been able to tell the story in fewer words. That’s just a guess. He does a fine job with Dara’s character, and the rich, magical world he’s created continues to expand.
Originally posted at FanLit.Warning, from me: If you haven’t read Nine Princes in Amber yet, don’t read this review.Another warning, from Corwin: “Never trust a relative. It is far worse than trusting strangers.”Corwin has escaped from his brother’s prison and he’s ready for revenge. He doesn’t have the manpower that Eric has, so he needs a technological advantage. Traditional firearms don’t work in Amber, but Corwin once noticed that a jewelers’ rouge from the shadow world of Avalon, where he used to rule, is combustible in Amber. So here’s his plan: get some money (pretty easy to do when you can create your own worlds), purchase a huge amount of jeweler’s rouge, and commission some custom-made firearms that use the rouge to shoot silver bullets (he’s not sure other metals will work). Oh, and raise an army. No problem!The problem is that Eric may no longer be the biggest threat in Amber. Because of Corwin’s curse, Amber is being assailed by the forces of Chaos. The evil is also manifest in the shadow worlds that Corwin is trying to exploit and he must frequently stop and deal with the nasty creatures it serves up. Along the way Corwin meets old friends and enemies, makes new friends and enemies, and does at least one more impetuous thing that will come back to bite him later.In The Guns of Avalon (1972), Corwin, who had gained our sympathies in Nine Princes in Amber because of how he was treated by Eric, becomes something of an anti-hero. Because of his rash actions, beautiful Amber has been invaded by horror. Corwin realizes that he has caused much destruction, he knows he has wrought evil, and he tells himself that he hopes to destroy more evil than he creates. The reader begins to wonder, however, if Corwin is blinded by hate for his brother. Is Corwin’s claim to the throne legitimate enough to justify all the death and terror that he’s caused? We’re certainly not convinced that Corwin would be a better King than Eric is. Corwin is a rather ambiguous hero.Still, it’s hard not to root for Amber, if not for Corwin himself. Roger Zelazny has created a magical world that we’re eager to explore, preferably in a time of peace. We haven’t had much chance to do so yet since we’ve only seen it from Corwin’s perspective, and that means that for most of the time we’ve been in Amber, we’ve been in the dungeon. At the end The Guns of Avalon Zelazny leaves us with many questions unanswered and two major twists. You’ll want to have the next book, Sign of the Unicorn, ready to go.I’m listening to Alessandro Juliani narrate Audible Frontiers’ version of The Guns of Avalon. He’s doing a great job, though I did not like the Southern drawl that he chose for two of the major characters (they call it “Ambuh”). It didn’t seem appropriate. With so many characters, I think he feels that he must give each a distinctive voice, so to do that he’s using unlikely accents or vocal properties (e.g., hoarseness or high pitch) to make them unique. I think that’s a mistake, but other than that, his reading is very good.
What do You think about The Guns Of Avalon (1986)?
Corwin knows a secret of how to get guns into Amber, so he makes way to a Shadow world of Avalon, and then to (Shadow) Earth, before raising an army to head back with. Along the way he befriends some old frenemies and dallies with a girl who he assumes to be his great-grand-niece. He gets to Amber in the nick of time... (view spoiler)[to see his brother slain in battle, and the girl walk the magic pattern turning her into his nemesis. (hide spoiler)]
—Andrewcharles420
This is a compelling story about a man who is trying to exact revenge upon his brother, who is living in another land. While I found the story really engrossing, there was one thing that really bugged me about this one. Lorraine is introduced as a love interest for Corwin. They meet, they talk, they supposedly develop some sort of connection, they (SPOILER ALERT) do it, then they are torn apart. Corwin feels sad about this, although I cannot understand why. The Lorraine character was barely developed at all before they split up. She was not even a minor footnote. The author spent more time describing Corwin's horse than he spent describing Lorraine. I call b.s. Anyway, I'm excited to continue with the series, because some serious stuff happened right at the end. Who is Dara?!
—Sara
Much better than the first book in the series, but still a pretty weak series so far. As before, the high reviews (and the improvement from book 1 to 2) are encouraging me to keep going. So far I probably wouldn't recommend the series, as there are so many other better books out there.Corwin is planning his takeover of Amber, and does some good on his way back to the kingdom he left at the end of book 1. Apparently he has become a better person than he was before we knew him, and one of his old advisers begins palling around with him. He figures out a way to use guns in Amber, then ends up saving the day (and the kingdom) from attacking creatures of Chaos. Unfortunately, an enemy has made their way to the Pattern and walked it, and the next book(s) will probably deal with the consequences of that, as well as Corwin cleaning up from the curse he put on his brother and kingdom when forced into prison.Rating: A light PG-13, for some action violence and some mild sensuality.***SPOILERY THOUGHTS***(view spoiler)[Corwin got played by Dara! Turns out she's not actually Benedict's great granddaughter, she's some creature of Chaos. Silly Corwin. What did walking the Pattern do for her? (hide spoiler)]
—Brad
