3 - Sign of the Unicorn - Spoilers!

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

For discussion of the third of the Amber series, Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny. Spoilers Allowed for this book & the previous 2:
1 - Nine Princes in Amber
2 - The Guns of Avalon

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

I'm 2/3 of the way through this one. Still looking forward to reading it every day at lunch.

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

I just finished it at lunch today. The startling revelations in this book are the logical extensions of the Amber universe. First, we get a much better feel for the Courts of Chaos & then, on the last page, find the 'real' Amber, the primal pattern.

One of my favorite parts is Tir-na Nog'th, the sky projection of Amber. Things that might have been, could be or are, though a different perspective. It's really a very cool idea.

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

I often wonder how Zelazny dreamed somethings up. One of the odder ideas is the 'sailing stones' that ring the prison where Brand is kept. Well, I found out today that there really are such things & they weren't far from his home.

http://www.dizzy-dee.com/dizzy-dee/we...
tells about sailing stones on the floor of Death Valley!

[Hien]

Jim wrote: "I often wonder how Zelazny dreamed somethings up. One of the odder ideas is the 'sailing stones' that ring the prison where Brand is kept. Well, I found out today that there really are such thing..."

Wow! Neat! Thanks for the link Jim.

[Chris]

I finished SotU last night. Very impressive, even more enjoyable than Guns. 9 Princes is still my favorite, but I like the way this one tied together the family tree and explained some of the alliances/rivalrys between the siblings.

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

This book had a lot less action in it than some of the others, but it is a good breathing point & it does tie together some of the frayed threads. Of course, it introduces some more.

Didn't Corwin do a much better job of explaining the family tree than I could have? I love the way he manages to make it clear that he & Eric were full brothers without saying so directly. Sheesh, but they must have hated each other!

[Chris]

Yeah, he mentioned his mother in a way that almost made it sound like a different woman. I had to look back and see that the name was the same for Eric's mother.

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

Me, too! I'm glad to hear someone else did the same thing. I thought I was being dense. It's still a little confusing with the way he goes back & adds the girls. (Now we know why women had such a tough time getting equal rights - they don't have them in Amber, hence it was hard for this shadow to change it!)

In the back of Visual Guide to Castle Amber there is a family tree, in case you have the book. If you don't, I wouldn't suggest paying a lot for it. It's more of a curiosity, but kind of fun.

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

Put spoilers for the November 2009 group series read in this topic.

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

It looks like most got caught up in the series & moved directly on to The Hand of Oberon, the Dec09 read.