Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read for Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny starting January 1, 2023.

Spot!

in

I’m in! Had the omnibus for a while now, this would be a good reason to start reading.

I also have the omnibus, and even though I read the first three stories, I don't remember them. But I've thought of doing a reread a few times over the past few years, so I am looking forward to it!

These were some of my first audiobooks! I think I might join in, I can't resist!

Welcome!

The more, the merrier. :)

In. Only been on my TBR for 20 or so years. A group read is a perfect kick in the butt to finally read it.

My dad has the 2-book set on his shelves and I've read the first volume. Great fun!!

Yep

I’ve had this omnibus since the Columbia house buy 1 get 10 books scam back in the 90’s when I was first starting to love books. I’m definitely in though I wonder how I’ll change as a human if this isn’t weighing down my TBR.

Hey there everyone, how's it going? I finally started reading regularly again this month after a several year hiatus. I read this years ago, and to this day it's the one book made before 1980 that I was actually able to get immersed in. I told my partner that I'd love to re-read this again with her, and this buddy read feels like a great mcguffin to get myself to do so. Gonna ask her right now if she's down on starting on the 1st.

Edit: She said that they'd love to, yaaaaaaaay!

Felina wrote: " I’m definitely in though I wonder how I’ll change as a human if this isn’t weighing down my TBR."

LOL!!

EchoBaz(Unofficial World's Fastest Reader) wrote: "Hey there everyone, how's it going? I finally started reading regularly again this month after a several year hiatus. I read this years ago, and to this day it's the one book made before 1980 that ..."

Yay! Welcome to you both! :)

I've glanced at it sitting on my bookshelf over the last few days, excitedly anticipating the first of the year.

Hi
Excited to read this with everyone

G wrote: "Hi
Excited to read this with everyone"

Ah, there you are.

Hope that as usual, you end up liking the book that I recommended even more than I do!

Oooh, getting some early hype chatter! Excite! Also weird to think that Jan is less than 2 weeks away now!

Nirkatze wrote: "Oooh, getting some early hype chatter! Excite! Also weird to think that Jan is less than 2 weeks away now!"

I am both excited for the new year, and stressed it's coming so soon! lol

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I am both excited for the new year, and stressed it's coming so soon! lol"

^^Same!!^^

My plan was to tackle The Wheel of Time this year, but then I saw this group read and I had to pivot. I've had this on my shelf for some time and it's finally time to dive in. Looking forward to it. This will be my first group read too.

Hi Christopher, Welcome! :)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Got my book ready to go! Yes Happy New Year!

Had to pick up the complete omnibus to read the first book from the library. Got it today, so good to go.

I have read the first chapter, and for some reason, I read the line (view spoiler)[”Good morning. You’re in trouble,” (hide spoiler)] as though he was offering the guy a cup of coffee. I have no idea why!
Also, a distant memory is telling my that (view spoiler)[our protagonist’s name is Corwin (hide spoiler)], however, I’ll be shocked if I’m right.

I have the omnibus as well. This way we are ready for the whole series:)))

60% in. Book wastes no time throwing you in the mix. Little confused with the names and events happens so rapidly. Enjoyable and good traditional fantasy so far

Brian wrote: "60% in. Book wastes no time throwing you in the mix. Little confused with the names and events happens so rapidly. Enjoyable and good traditional fantasy so far"

I literally took notes as he was describing everybody! LOL

Finished! First listen in 2023 and it was a good one. Very short and tight to the point. Overall, I enjoyed it but Kuhn have liked it better reading the first book and listening to the rest just to get all the brothers and sisters names in my head.

The book was very quick out of the gates but the middle dragged on a bit. Decent conclusion and I will def finish this series. Excited to hear what y’all think

Brian wrote: "60% in. Book wastes no time throwing you in the mix. Little confused with the names and events happens so rapidly. Enjoyable and good traditional fantasy so far"

That's Zelazny in a nutshell... he fits alot into very few pages, compared to other authors, and makes it work...

About to start my readthrough now... I've only read A Night in the Lonesome October before this, but seen some reviews of Zelazny's style of writing, online...

I'm loving how simple and straightforward the story is, in the first chapter... (view spoiler)[wake up in hospital, get out of hospital... reminds me of the Crank movies :D

Who wouldn't want to escape an unknown location, until they get their bearings?... (hide spoiler)]

I’m midway through chapter 4 and I’m loving the way Zelazny has initially set things up. With the main protagonist having lost his memory, it’s really interesting how we, the readers, are trying to piece the world building together along with Corwin. It moves quickly and it’s intentionally tough to follow at points, but not so much that the story suffers. It makes me want to keep turning the pages to learn more. Really well done so far.

Christopher wrote: "I’m midway through chapter 4 and I’m loving the way Zelazny has initially set things up. With the main protagonist having lost his memory, it’s really interesting how we, the readers, are trying to..."

Was about to say the same things... I was a bit worried, with Brian's comments about regretting going audio on the first confusing setup book... but I think it mirrors the MC's confusion well... even if I miss details, the MC is missing more details...

Did some searching, for people that feel lost... there's an Amberpedia, for the Chronicles of Amber, and on the page dedicated to the first book, there's a list of characters and some details about them, near the bottom... I tried to avoid reading/spoiling anything until I finish the book, but it's nice to know it's there if I or anyone else need it:

https://princeofamber.fandom.com/wiki...

Nyssa wrote: "I have read the first chapter, and for some reason, I read the line [spoilers removed] as though he was offering the guy a cup of coffee. I have no idea why!
Also, a distant memory is telling my th..."

Ha Nyssa, (view spoiler)[ right on the money with the name! I'm sure you'll see soon anyway (hide spoiler)]

Christopher wrote: "I’m midway through chapter 4 and I’m loving the way Zelazny has initially set things up. With the main protagonist having lost his memory, it’s really interesting how we, the readers, are trying to..."

Yes! Was coming here to make that exact fun. It's fun on the reread too if you put enough time between your reads. I feel like I have a bit of amnesia along with our MC. I vaguely remember some things and I'm thinking things like "yes, there's something more to that" along with him.. We get to him (view spoiler)[ finding the deck of cards, and I'm like oh yeah that's got to be super important. (hide spoiler)] and the details are just slowly trickling back...

These are such short books, but he gets through a lot of time without it being too rushed. Zelazny has a good sense of when he needs to zoom in on something that needs more detail..

G and I read the audiobook and the digital all text-version of the book(I'm begging you all, give me something better to call "regular" books because non-readers get confused sometimes when I say it this way.) and we're both really impressed.

We're 3 chapters in at 24% and we're gonna try to read an hour a day of this 5 and a half hours long book. Trying to only read about an hour a day because we read like 7 audiobooks over the course of about a month recently and I desperately needed a break!

Edit: BTW, can someone please tell me how to add spoiler text?

I find this really exciting, and I'm sure that she's already typed about how much she really digs the mystery.

EchoBaz(Unofficial World's Fastest Reader) wrote: "G and I read the audiobook and the digital all text-version of the book(I'm begging you all, give me something better to call "regular" books because non-readers get confused sometimes when I say i..."

To do spoilers, you type: < spoiler >type your spoilers here< / spoiler > just don't type the spaces between the <&> marks--had to stick the spaces in there or it would turn into a spoiler tag.

If you are on a computer, you can also click the "some html is ok" link top right above the comment box--it has some good basic html tags to try.

Going to try to join in this week!

I didn't get to read much yesterday -- pesky RL getting in the way of my escapism! So, I'm hoping to dig in today.

I was also hoping to find a single audio version of the omnibus, but that does not seem to exist, and I don't want to eat through my audible credits, so I will continue to plod along.

How does our protagonist's personality come across to those listening to the audio version? I read him as very, not slow, but deliberate, calm, maybe even monotone.

EchoBaz(Unofficial World's Fastest Reader) wrote: "G and I read the audiobook and the digital all text-version of the book(I'm begging you all, give me something better to call "regular" books because non-readers get confused sometimes when I say i..."

I refer to actual book as "physical" book.. i think "ebook" is enough to distinguish from audiobook. Or sometimes ill refer to the "text" to denote non-audio

Finished today! So much happened in the short book.. introduced to a lot of characters and had some fun worldbuilding (view spoiler)[ contacting through trump cards and moving through Shadows is super cool (hide spoiler)]

A small thing bothered me this go-round (view spoiler)[ how Zelazny referred to obvious adult women as girls a few times... esp during the trip to Rebma

Also interesting how being married and forced to stay a single year is a punishment re: Random lol (hide spoiler)]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I refer to actual book as "physical" book.. i think "ebook" is enough to distinguish from audiobook. Or sometimes ill refer to the "text" to denote non-audio."

Ditto on Emily here--I tend to say "audio", "ebook", and "physical" if I need to note the differences.

Halfway… “the secret to eating underwater” sounded like a euphemism / double entendre… ;)

I’m planning to audio these even though I do own the omnibus for the first 5 in dead tree. I just can’t read books anymore. I don’t know if it’s a ADHD thing but I struggle to sit still and focus. Audiobooks let’s me craft and do chores while getting the story anyway. but I’m so stingy with my audible credits and will instead wait months for books with my library app that I had a ton of credits saved up so I splurged. But now I only have 5 to last me until July and that makes me nervous. Ha ha.

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I refer to actual book as "physical" book.. i think "ebook" is enough to distinguish from audiobook. Or sometimes ill refer to the "text" to denote non-audio"

I was thinking about this and realized that I tend to say "Paper" or, more specifically, "paperback edition" (as I have very few hardcovers) instead of "Physical." I use both "ebook" and "Kindle version" - however, I use the latter more often. And then audiobooks are audiobooks - lol.

Nyssa, I am only on Ch. 2, but yes, the main character is very deliberate and patient. He observes everything around him before taking a specific route. I don't think if I were in his shoes, I would have figured out that (view spoiler)[ I was in the hospital/clinic without much reason and that I was getting drugged on purpose... He is obviously aware of things, despite having a memory problem to the level of not knowing who he is... I am interested to see the sister now... (hide spoiler)]

Choko wrote: "I don't think if I were in his shoes, I would have figured out that (view spoiler)"

I don't think I would have, either -- not as quickly, anyway.

Felina wrote: "I’m planning to audio these even though I do own the omnibus for the first 5 in dead tree. I just can’t read books anymore. I don’t know if it’s a ADHD thing but I struggle to sit still and focus. ..."

I also super struggle to read non-audio... I try to make myself read a little bit every week though to hopefully acclimate myself to it again

There was a time I could read 5-10 ebooks a week... I dunno how I did it... (I mean, I do... I didn't watch TV or game much, for that year or 2... audiobooks let me do more of everything else, and I read a similar amount, thanks to playback speedup...)

I only do ebooks these days when I can't get audio of the book and REALLY want/need to read it...

I finished it... and quite enjoyed it... (view spoiler)[the jail cell scenes made me think of Aladdin cartoon... and a bunch of other stuff along the way...

I spent most of the book thinking this was gonna end with Corwin throned and other things happening in later books... now, I take it, that's going to take this first 5 book arc?... (hide spoiler)]