Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

This is our discussion of the novel...

Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny

The third book in the Chronicles of Amber series. See The First Chronicles of Amber discussion hub for more info on the series and pointers to discussion of its other novels.

The end of the first chapter, "Then he [Random] remembered out loud," introducing a lengthy flashback, reminded me so much of Lord of Light's first chapter, "Sam stared ahead, remembering."

I really enjoyed this one, more than the guns of Avalon. It almost went back to the intrigue and plot of the first story and filled in all the details. I quite liked getting some answers about who was plotting what, but it still left enough unanswered questions or questionable information/behaviour to be intriguing. The last book felt like bit of a diversion and this one got back on track.

I liked that we got to see some more of Corwin's siblings and their personalities and interactions. Although, Zelazny still lets down with his portrayal of women, definitely some clunky moments there.

I did like that there were aspects of Amber and the shadows that were still unknown. Not even immortals can know everything!

Cat wrote: " Although, Zelazny still lets down with his portrayal of women, definitely some clunky moments there. ..."

Yeah, I noted the way the boys clique decided the girls were passive and would accept whatever they decided.

I'm starting this one Monday.

G33z3r wrote: "The end of the first chapter, "Then he [Random] remembered out loud," introducing a lengthy flashback, reminded me so much of Lord of Light's first chapter, "Sam stared ahead, remember..."

And just as in that flashback I got really confused. In Lord of Light it was because of the timeline, in this case, I somehow missed that Random was the narrator so was trying to picture Corwin doing these things till it became clear I got something very mixed up.

I must admit, after reading this two weeks ago and then immersing myself in Lonesome October I almost forgot everything that happened in this book :) Lots of players and alliances to keep track of in both and apparently I can only keep one straight at a time! Next month I'll read Amber closer to the discussion date, and without any other Zelazny book at the same time, so it will be fresh in my mind. His books to tend to require a fair amount of reader attention, he'll go off on a tangent with barely a word to let the reader know he's switched something up on you.

Andrea wrote: "And just as in that flashback I got really confused. In Lord of Light it was because of the timeline, in this case, I somehow missed that Random was the narrator.."

There are four flashbacks narrated by others in this book: Random's is the longest and most detailed. But it means four different first-person narrations to keep sorted. I think Zelazny tried to put in a signpost that it was Random's narration with a couple of early asides: "For me, Corwin, it's drumming, being up in the air, and gambling,...." using the address to Corwin to remind us we've switched narrators, and a couple of "you know"s dropped in the first couple of paragraphs. But Random's is such a long & detailed story within the story that it may easier to lose track of whose story it is.

For a while I was afraid Flora's reminiscence would be just as detailed, since by then I was eager to take the description of moving through Shadow as read.

Bill's narration is shorter and interrupted by "Corey" for a couple of questions to keep us from slipping into the backstory completely.

Brand's story left me agreeing with Corwin... get to the point!

G33z3r wrote: "Brand's story left me agreeing with Corwin... get to the point! "

Funny that, given the book is only about 200 pages long it could sometimes drag at times. Maybe that's why after two weeks I try to remember what happened but other than retrieving Brand and Corwin almost dying again, nothing really "happened", it was mostly filling in gaps in the past. Although there's that funny shadow Amber in the sky where Corwin picks up the mechanical arm from a future (?) version of Benedict. I need to reread that bit since I didn't quite get what this sky Amber was supposed to be.

I thought it was meant to be a maybe or could have been or could be Amber. The impression I got was that Amberites visited it to be a vision or that it functioned as an Oracle. Maybe true but not necessarily.

I'll be honest, I didn't really notice the lack of action, I was so enthralled with the reminiscences!

Cat wrote: "I thought it was meant to be a maybe or could have been or could be Amber. The impression I got was that Amberites visited it to be a vision or that it functioned as an Oracle..."

Likewise. I think Corwin described Tir-na Nog'th (the first really exotic fantasy name in the series – I wondered for a bit if it was an anagram I should decode, but couldn't) as "images of probabilities... might-bes and might-have-beens,... probability lost.

Cowin's sword Grayswindir (formerly Oberon's), by dint of its forging, can apparently bridge the mists. So apparently can Benedict's mechanical arm, suggesting where it was forged.


Cat wrote: "I'll be honest, I didn't really notice the lack of action, I was so enthralled with the reminiscences! ..."

I didn't mind the exposition either. Random's story is the longest, and is actually mostly action sequence (except for his lengthy description of how he shadow-walked to Brand's prison.) While he was fleeing the guys with the spurs on their wrists, I kept thinking of a parallel scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: "Who are those guy?"

Brand is being a deliberate tease. I suppose he thinks if he just gives the name Corwin will hare off after the perpetrator and not listen to the whole story. It reminds me of one of those movies/TV shows where just before some guy is about to reveal the name of the evil mastermind he gets shot. But Brand's slow approach to the punch line builds tension and pretty much compelled me to keep reading until we got to the big reveal.

Tir na Nog is part of the ancient Celtic belief system, it's Land of Youth or underworld.

*otherworld, not underworld. Being on my mobile means I can't edit properly.

I've gotten behind on the this, my plan is to read both this one and the second book next on my TBR pile

G33z3r wrote: "I didn't mind the exposition either. Random's story is the longest, and is actually mostly action sequence (except for his lengthy description of how he shadow-walked to Brand's prison.)"

I did enjoy the description of the world with the moving rocks, though I wasn't sure how the rock would continue to function as they moved through the various Shadows since you'd eventually hit one where rocks can't do that. He must have taken a careful path to go as long as he did.

I thought it interesting that some of the key Shadows like Avalon and their Tir-na Nog (a faerie realm) are from British folklore.

Andrea wrote: "I did enjoy the description of the world with the moving rocks..."

I liked that the world Shadow seemed to have inverse laws — the large rocks orbited the small rocks (though I was taken by surprise when Random climbed one of the small rocks and said it was the size of a van. I had a somewhat lesser definition of "small rock" in my head.) And the dead floated up, as if "life" exerted some sort of gravity of its own.

I enjoyed this one as well. As others mentioned, I liked that many questions from the first book were answered here. I liked figuring out who was lying and why. And frankly, I'd trust Brand about as far as I could throw him!

This one read quickly for me. On to the next!

I just read the first chapter yesterday. It starts off as a murder mystery, which is obviously different than how the last two books started. One of the things I like about this series is how quickly Zelazny gets us into the action and story. I think the second chapter is Random's reminiscence that has been discussed above and it's a long chapter so it'll probably take me a couple days to read it.

I presume the line about the "Royal flush" is the obligatory pun.