Post originally by Jake at 2004-06-28 02:38:05
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Again, a nice review which gives a nice overview of the book.
As for the Merlin Saga: to me, it always felt a bit as an afterthought. It's fun, but also a bit over-the-top. The "power level" is far higher, and Zelazny introduces a <i>lot</i> of new elements. Not sure why that bothers me -- after all, he introduced new elements in every book of the Merlin Saga. I think it is the pace with which the new elements are introduced: Merlin is hurled into the adventure pretty much right away, and his pace is far higher than the in comparison laid-back Corwin.
On the other hand, for all the great new revelations and the scope of Merlin's quest, it never gets the same grand epic feel as the first five books.
Still, for all my misgivings, I like the books. They feel as if Zelazny had created a universe and than ran wild with it. Shadow Knight kinda takes that route as well.
Post originally by Erick Wujcik at 2004-06-28 05:15:18
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Again, Olivier, Thanks for the review! Very nicely done.
No rebuttal from me, I'd just want to add some links (why can't a link to the publisher's website be included in these reviews?):
1. While not available through distributors, you can order "Amber Diceless," "Shadow Knight," and back issues of "Amberzine," directly from my publishing company, Phage Press: http://www.phagepress.com
2. You can also order "Amber Diceless" and "Shadow Knight" from amazon.com.
3. As has been pointed out, there is an active Amber Diceless community. I highly, highly recommend one of the 'Ambercons' for anyone interested. Here's the main link: http://www.ambercons.com
4. There is a previous review of "Shadow Knight" here on rpg.net:
Shadow Knight RPG Playtest Review by Bradford C. Walker (Style: 4 / Substance: 4)
http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_1354.html
Post originally by Fred at 2004-06-28 08:59:35
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A concise review. I like it. :]
As for the Merlin saga, I thought it was going fine until the thrid book or so, when the power level was turned up to 11. Also, although I thought the idea of giving the Pattern and the Logrus some kind of sentience interestinf, full out intelligence and battle scenes were way over the top.
Tchau!
Post originally by Ian Sturrock at 2004-06-28 14:55:21
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That's pretty much my thoughts on the Merlin saga too.
I based big chunks of my first Amber campaign on it, having persuade my players to read the Corwin saga but not the Merlin one. I just toned down some of the stuff that was a bit too wacky, like Ghostwheel. It worked extraordinarily well, on the whole.
I think it's important to bear in mind that the relatively OTT nature of the Merlin books is just as much of an inevitable consequence of Zelazny's writing style as is the utter coolness of the Corwin books. He wrote in an intuitive, unplanned manner, unlike most other writers. This approach is what makes his better work of significantly higher literary merit than most fantasy & SF fiction; he had many moments of pure unadulterated genius. It did mean though that he would introduce new elements because they seemed like great ideas, without necessarily knowing what their full consequences would be. The Corwin books already tended to up the power level logarithically every book or two; it was inevitable that if the Merlin books were to continue the same progression, the eventual result would be of Vingean singularity levels...
Post originally by Jack Fortune at 2004-06-30 12:05:38
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Yes, it was a good review. The reviewer shared some of my misgivings about the product, but overall, it was a pretty good book.
I wasn't very fond of the Merlin saga. I really didn't like Merlin as a character. He wasn't the proactive character Corwin was. Of course, this shows that they are different people but that doesn't always engage the reader. Also, the Pattern/Logrus conflict was confusing and a little dull. I like Zelazny's works, especially A Night in Lonesome October, but this wasn't his best stuff, in my opinion.
The upside to all of this was that Wujcik was able to effectively boil the elements of the Merlin Saga down for game use. No easy task. I made extensive use of the expanded character roster, for example.
Linear Mode
