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96th out of 268 books
—
193 voters
Trumps of Doom (The Chronicles of Amber #6)
Merle Corey is a brilliant young computer designer in San Francisco, but, he is also Merlin, son of Corwin, vanished prince of Amber, and heir to his father's wonderous powers. And, someone is determined to kill him. Now he will begin a desperate race through Shadow, not only to escape the mysterious force that threatens his life, but to protect the deadly secret that coul...more
Mass Market Paperback, 184 pages
Published
February 1986
by Avon Books
(first published May 1985)
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I almost gave this four stars, but it falls short of the Corwin books in the series, so I can't quite give it the same rating.
But that being said, Trumps was an enjoyable return to Amber. Merlin's tale is intriguing, and I think I'll be more into it by the end. I don't find myself being engaged as much as with the first set of Amber books, and I don't find Merlin himself as interesting as Corwin. For one thing, Corwin was enjoyable as a smartass and his arrogance helped the character. Merlin is...more
But that being said, Trumps was an enjoyable return to Amber. Merlin's tale is intriguing, and I think I'll be more into it by the end. I don't find myself being engaged as much as with the first set of Amber books, and I don't find Merlin himself as interesting as Corwin. For one thing, Corwin was enjoyable as a smartass and his arrogance helped the character. Merlin is...more
5 likes · like · see review
view all 4 comments
Nov 16, 2009
Miriam
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy,
parallel-dimensions
For some reason the person who wrote the GR blurb for this made it sound like an entry in the "ordinary guy/gal discovers they are special" genre -- this is not the case. Merlin, the main character, knows perfectly well who his parents are and what powers his family has. He is just hanging out being a computer geek and doing some experiments for fun. The mysterious part is why someone attacks him on the same day every year.
This is the beginning of the second cycle in the Chronicles of Amber. It...more
This is the beginning of the second cycle in the Chronicles of Amber. It...more
4 likes · like · see review
I've been reading the Chronicles of Amber straight through, and this book, number 6, is the best yet. I haven't read Zelazny's other work, but I get the feeling that he really grew as a writer over the years from the beginning of the Amber novels. Trumps of Doom, the beginning of the second series within the Chronicles, takes us on a new path, as we follow the son of Corwin, the narrator of the earlier books. As with the original series, we begin in our own Earth, and the first half of the book...more
Very much a reflection of Nine Princes In Amber, but I liked the more modern tone and I think it held the pace and suspense even better.
3 likes · like · see review
Merle Corey's got several problems. He's secretly Merlin, a Prince of Amber. His father Corwin has been missing for years. Oh, and someone tries to kill him every April 30th for reasons unknown. The story starts with Merle getting ready to leave Shadow Earth behind and devote himself to working on his Ghostwheel when an old girlfriend he goes to say goodbye to winds up dead. The trail leads Merle to a conjurer and then back to Amber, where he learns he isn't the only Amberite whose had attempts...more
6 likes · like · see review
sad to lose the lead character from the previous Amber series. The style of writing remains unchanged. I'm getting attached to Amber. This series is captivating, it kept my attention through every page, and that is saying something.
The first time I read this, I remember being so disappointed that this second series set in the Amber universe featured a different protagonist from the first series. I also remember being told that the second series didn't really hold up compared to the first and that the critics viewed it far less favorably. Despite that, I still absolutely love this book.
The first series focused on Order and was much more about that protagonist's single-minded journey toward capturing a throne that he felt wa...more
The first series focused on Order and was much more about that protagonist's single-minded journey toward capturing a throne that he felt wa...more
German edition - German review:
Der sechste Band des Amber-Zyklus ist dem ersten Band strukturell sehr ähnlich. Wie schon dort, steigt Zelazny hier in medias res ein und erzählt aus der Perspektive eines auf der Erde verweilenden Amberiten, ohne dessen Herkunft und seine damit verbundenen besonderen Fähigkeiten zu erwähnen. In diesem Fall handelt es sich um Merle Corey alias Merlin von Amber, den Sohn von Corwin, dessen Geschichte die ersten fünf Bände umfasste. Merle arbeitet in einer Computerfi...more
At first, I was apprehensive about switching main characters in the second series of books, thus it took me a long time to finally pick up this one up. Corwin is one of my favorite characters of all time, but Merlin does a great job of filling Corwin's sizeable shoes. This book parrallels the first book's excellent sense of mystery that had me mercilessly hooked for the first series, while still dazzling me with its magic.
With intriguing new players in the Amber legacy, tons of new mysteries, a...more
With intriguing new players in the Amber legacy, tons of new mysteries, a...more
As for the first five books, this review will cover the second five books for the Amber Chronicles, the Merlin Cycle. This series was written a little later and covers the adventures of Merlin, son of Corwin (main character from the first cycle). I had not read this cycle before.
The overall story is very good. I enjoyed the twists and turns as Merlin (who is in fact a sorcerer) travels through worlds, deals with plots, and searches for his father. As usual, I hate giving away too much of the plo...more
The overall story is very good. I enjoyed the twists and turns as Merlin (who is in fact a sorcerer) travels through worlds, deals with plots, and searches for his father. As usual, I hate giving away too much of the plo...more
Spoilers up to and including this book...
Let me start by being positive.
I was really getting into these Amber books.
I really liked Corwin.
Corwin was intelligent calculating and generally very mindful of processing all of the twists and turns in the plot that was his life,
It gave me the reader, an opportunity to be at pace with him in guessing at who was scheming what when, which was the allure of the first five amber books.
In the first 5 books I was always fairly certain that if relevant in...more
Let me start by being positive.
I was really getting into these Amber books.
I really liked Corwin.
Corwin was intelligent calculating and generally very mindful of processing all of the twists and turns in the plot that was his life,
It gave me the reader, an opportunity to be at pace with him in guessing at who was scheming what when, which was the allure of the first five amber books.
In the first 5 books I was always fairly certain that if relevant in...more
I am continuing my reading of the Chronicles of Amber by listening to the original audio productions read by Roger Zelazny himself. Although they are unfortunately shorter (only 3 hours compared to 5-6 for unabridged), it's hard to argue against the delivery and personality given it by the author himself. A bonus are the sound effects and ambient sounds of birds chirping, people in a restaurant, music, etc., although this sometimes gets on the nerves.
It takes a moment to catch up since this is...more
My review of "Nine Princes in Amber" gives the basics about the first Amber Chronicles and the realities in which those books, as well as this one and the four which come after it, take place.
Spoiler alert:
The hero of this series is Corwin's son Merlin, who is searching for his missing father, dealing with the highly dysfunctional maternal side of his family, and, as the series opens, trying to make it through April 30, the date on which someone tries to kill him every year. Merlin's voice is s...more
Spoiler alert:
The hero of this series is Corwin's son Merlin, who is searching for his missing father, dealing with the highly dysfunctional maternal side of his family, and, as the series opens, trying to make it through April 30, the date on which someone tries to kill him every year. Merlin's voice is s...more
It took six books for Roger Zelazny to write the best in the Amber Chronicles. The events in the story flow much better and engage the reader much more. There is more tension, suspense, intrigue, and it keeps the reader turning the page.
Book 6 has a different protagonist than the previous 5. I'm assuming that the next five, including this one, will follow Corwin's son Merle. Corwin was the prince of Amber who was the main character in the previous five.
Book 6 has a different protagonist than the previous 5. I'm assuming that the next five, including this one, will follow Corwin's son Merle. Corwin was the prince of Amber who was the main character in the previous five.
The first five Amber novels are the the best fantasy novels I've ever read, along with Tolkein's Lord of the Rings and the harry Potter novels. Zelazny's writing style is the hippest of the three. This book is the first of a new series, starring Corwin's son Merlin. This series was probably encouraged by the success of the original five, but it is not as good. It starts off well enough with this novel, but I think he started running out of ideas after a while.
It's been awhile since I've read the first Chronicles Of Amber, but I remember enjoying them more than I did this one. Not to say it was bad, it's just that Merlin son of Corwin is a much less compelling and more bumbling character in this book than his father Corwin was at even the lowest point of the previous series. Also, I felt that the whole "amnesiac rediscovering his family and powers" was a great device, which Zelazny used to be able to both tell convincingly the story of Corwin while no...more
I went into this book under the impression it was supposedly a far worse title than the first five books. In this sense, I was pleased with the result. The main character, son of the last main character, feels suitably both like and not like his father. An enjoyable protagonist makes for a good story, and references to the other Amberites grounds the book in the mythos.
Problem being, while the story is relatively well written and rarely boring, it doesn't really beat the path towards the conclus...more
Problem being, while the story is relatively well written and rarely boring, it doesn't really beat the path towards the conclus...more
Cinque anni dopo il mio esordio nelle cronache di Ambra, ecco l'inizio della nuova serie. Quasi mi dispiace, visto che non ne esiste una terza...
Nella seconda saga troviamo protagonista Merlin, il figlio di Corwin.
Che dire, lo stile �� sempre lo stesso: un fantasy quasi poliziesco dove accanto a una missione da compiere c'�� sempre qualche mistero da scoprire, delitto da spiegare, colpevole da trovare. Anche Merlin �� caratterialmente molto simile al padre, per quanto sia un mago, non un guerri...more
Nella seconda saga troviamo protagonista Merlin, il figlio di Corwin.
Che dire, lo stile �� sempre lo stesso: un fantasy quasi poliziesco dove accanto a una missione da compiere c'�� sempre qualche mistero da scoprire, delitto da spiegare, colpevole da trovare. Anche Merlin �� caratterialmente molto simile al padre, per quanto sia un mago, non un guerri...more
I liked this book a lot. The two best Amber novels were the first and the sixth. This one has it all -- magic, revenge, conspiracy, hyperdimensional computing homework. Zelazny always wrote great fight scenes too. The other books in the series did not deliver but that's not this book's fault. One of my favorites.
I wholeheartedly recommend all the books from the Amber Chronicles. Once you read the first novel you'll stop only after you'll have read them all. I've re-read this book and the whole series at least three-times. Even after all these years I still rate it as one of the best series I've ever read.
Love the Amber Chronicles, I do. The story's a little campy, and not quite as good as it seemed when read in High School, but I still love it. Not sure if that's mainly due to the books' quality or my own nostalgia.
Starts the second series of Amber books, focusing this time on Merlin, Corwin's son, as he tries to find out who attempts to kill him every April 30th.
I read the first five books shortly after high school and loved them. Recently I got my hands on them again (the first five) and reread them, and they were as good as I remembered. I was overjoyed to find that Zelazny had gone on to write five more.
Unfortunately the second five weren't nearly as well written as the first five. As other reviewers noted, Zelazny fell back on tricks like deus ex machina to advance the plot, and many of the characters don't feel real. Even so, I enjoyed the last fiv...more
Unfortunately the second five weren't nearly as well written as the first five. As other reviewers noted, Zelazny fell back on tricks like deus ex machina to advance the plot, and many of the characters don't feel real. Even so, I enjoyed the last fiv...more
Finished "Trumps of Doom" by Roger Zelazny. What I liked immediately about this one is that in my perception, Zelazny writes with a different voice for Merlin than he did for Corwin, enough that it doesn't at all seem like the same story (which is a trap some authors can fall into when beginning a new series - I'm looking at you, David Eddings). The story itself seems to have evolved pretty independently but conforms to the same universe from the first series. Sadly, like father like son, Merlin...more
I've read lots of reviews complaining that this isn't as good as the Corwin books, but I think it's quite good - just different. I loved Corwin as a protagonist and narrator - but I'm enjoying Merlin quite a bit as well, and I found the story exciting and still full of the humor and a wonderful prose style I've come to recognize as typical of Zelazny. I'm glad Merlin is not Corwin - I think the differences are interesting, and to be expected given Merlin's relative youth and different upbringing...more
his is the story of a sorcerer who lives as a computer designer on the shadow world of earth. When he is called urgently back to Amber he discovers a tragic death and another person has been wounded, both by guns which are not supposed to operate on this world. As he tries to return to the Shadow world of earth he encounters many attempts on his life and must detour to many strange world where the attempts continue. Good read but it only enforced the thought that I should read the earlier novels...more
This is the first book of the second Amber Series and Zelazny seems to have changed some of the rules in this second series with his magic system, additionally he added in more Sci-Fi element (there was always a bid of Sci-Fi to the story but they are much more prominent now).
So far and this is only the beginning, I haven't liked it as much as I liked the first series, but I will see what happens from here, as this is really one story broken into 5 parts, just as the first series was.
So far and this is only the beginning, I haven't liked it as much as I liked the first series, but I will see what happens from here, as this is really one story broken into 5 parts, just as the first series was.
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Not as instantly engaging as the Corwin cycle, and the whole not-knowing aspect of the character is more irritating. Maybe because it's repetitive. The lines are blurring among the books at this point, so I'm not sure where I ended this one and began the next, and it doesn't really seem to matter.
Engaging enough to continue, but maybe partly because I'm already interested in the world and the characters. If I'd met Merlin before Corwin I don't know that I'd have read on.
Engaging enough to continue, but maybe partly because I'm already interested in the world and the characters. If I'd met Merlin before Corwin I don't know that I'd have read on.
I read the first five books in the Chronicles of Amber series (The Corwin Cycle) years ago, but somehow missed the next five books in the series (The Merlin Cycle), of which Trumps of Doom is the first.
I enjoyed the original series immensely and it's nice to know that the books still hold up quite well (even though I'm much older). Zelazny has a great imagination and knows how to tell a story.
I enjoyed the original series immensely and it's nice to know that the books still hold up quite well (even though I'm much older). Zelazny has a great imagination and knows how to tell a story.
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Roger Zelazny made his name with a group of novellas which demonstrated just how intense an emotional charge could be generated by the stock imagery of sf; the most famous of these is 'A Rose for Ecclesiastes' in which a poet struggles to convince dying and sterile Martians that life is worth continuing. Zelazny continued to write excellent short stories throughout his career, which share the inve...more
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“It is a pain in the ass waiting around for someone to try to kill you.”
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“When inspiration is silent reason tires quickly.”
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