An immensely intriguing story

I found this story absolutely fascinating and can't wait to hear more of it. The reader, similarly, gave a great performance and I'll definitely be seeking him out for future listening.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Great writer

Big fan of Zelazny, great to be able to listen now my eyesight has begun to decay. Read in a great manner keeping the story alive

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Very well narrated with sound effects!

This book is a classic that is exceptional. thr narration is wonderful as well, due to the sound effects, character portrayals, and the vocal range across which it is told.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A masterwork? I didn't think so.

I wanted to love this, so many people rave about Zelazny but I couldn't honestly appreciate why from this book. I'm aware it's the first or many but there should be some satisfaction to the listener/reader without having to invest in the entire series.

Zelazny throws you headfirst into a world that he obviously knows intimately, but which is never explained, it felt disjointed and confusing to the point where the attempted world building just passed me clean on by. Further to this the narration style is grating, with the narrator injecting flippant intonation seemingly at will, I found it broke the immersion and distracted from what the author was actually trying to convey.

I'm a hundred books down on audible, but this is the first one I have ever returned.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Cool

This is a cool and unique story, perhaps feels a tad rushed, but there is a lot going on

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Never gets old

What did you like most about Nine Princes in Amber?

Rich characters and background.

Any additional comments?

I have read and listened to the Nine Princes of Amber several times over the years and still enjoy it as much today as when I first read it.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

unique

you won't find another classic fantasy novel anything like this series. to be intervention unreservedly recommended

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

all time favourite.

well narrated. Didn't lets the side down one bit. loved this story from young. only books I read as a youth that I still pick up. now in audio format.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Very Descriptive

Many descriptions but well worded and engaging. The narrator has a soothing voice and the characters' distinct voices suited them.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

It's ok. Should be Amazing but it's Not

To start, I will comment that the narrator is great and does a fine job of bringing the characters to life. I don't think any flaws are to do with the production of this audiobook.

The concept is brilliant. People talk about the slang language etc, but it was the sixties and this is a bit psychedelic and experimental. Why I have mixed feelings is this: The start is great, the whole amnesia plotline, the mysterious siblings and surreal experiences are intriguing. But then once they arrive in Amber halfway through it became dull.

Zelazny usually writes with complexity: subplots and layers that reveal themselves later in the story and blow you away. That didn't happen here, this book was very superficial in plotline. Maybe those layers reveal themselves later in the series, but not in this book.

The action sequences lack the necessary detail to be exciting, and the characters are not developed enough for me to care about them. The buildings of Amber and the underwater palace also lack the description needed to wow me and bring the world to life, and it should have been an amazing world if it wasn't for this. The series of battles are rushed through in just a few sentences at times, barely any detail, so you lose any sense of the vast and epic quality they should have. Brevity can be a good thing but here it is just a skeleton plot at times.

It's almost as if parts are rushed because the author wanted to get onto the next section of the story. It's like reading Lord of the Rings condensed into a synopsis of ten pages, and expecting the reader to still enjoy it.
This is shame because the scenes on earth and the journey to Amber in the first half of the story had me hooked. Yet strangely, the last chapter of the book had me intrigued again, enough to make me eager to try the next Amber book to find out what happens. It seems that the scenes of character interaction work much better than the large battle scenes or action sequences.

I'm a Zelazny fan. The Doors of His Face and the Lamps of His Mouth is the best collection of sci-fi/ fantasy short stories I have ever read. Go read it. Everybody talks about the Amber series too so I wanted to like this.

It would have been very original when first published in the late '60s, and maybe the reputation of this book is based on the Amber series as a whole and it gets better? I'm going to try the second book and if its no better I'll probably decide this is not for me.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful