The Hand of Oberon

The Kindle Edition:
I found a grand total of one typo in the Kindle conversion. This is so rare that I can’t speak highly enough of it. The cover is another fine image by Gary McCluskey. Bravo to the publisher on another excellent Kindle edition.

The Book:
If you have followed the Corwin Chronicles to this point there is no reason to stop now.
Much is revealed about the plot against Amber; much is learned about the basic foundations of the reality of Amber; and at long last we can put a name to the true architect of evil. The latent plot becomes manifest as cards hit the table and we approach the final showdown for all the chips in the universe. Who has a seat at the table and who holds high trump? Well, that would be telling.

Beside the obvious advancement of the plot, this book showcases character development. We see obvious growth in Corwin, Fiona, Julian, and Random. This is not something, sadly, that happens in every series of books, and it is most welcome here. As is to be expected in a book by Mr. Zelazny, the dialog is as tight as a misers purse strings. And while some, but not me, might criticize the previous book as lacking action, the same could never be said of this volume. Everything and everyone is in motion as we approach the climax of the series.

Of the books final page reveal I can only say that my jaw is still hanging agape from my initial reading back in the early 1980s.

Roger Zelaznys narratives are compact and potent. I dont think any volume in the series cracks 300 pages, yet the volume of ideas and intrigue will absorb your brain in a way few other series can. For me, the only series worthy of mention in the same breath are Tolkiens Lord of the Rings and Herberts Dune’. The first Chronicles of Amber stand head and shoulders above all fantasy series written since 1970. The series is a touchstone of 20th-century fantasy and not to be missed.

The Hand or Oberon is mostly re-exposition of the earlier story of Corwin, favored prince of Amber who wears black and silver and who wields Greyswandir, the sword of the Pattern of reality.
This series was a major part of childhood. My parents waited for the each installment with longing, and as they did, each of my brothers and sisters read these books over and over, shared them with family friends. There is a correspondence between the 4th book of the Corwin chronicles and Knight of Shadows, the 4th book of the Merlin chronicles. What is beautiful about the writing of both series is the way Zelazny uses perspective to re-exposit the plot from the earlier books, so that the retelling of events from a new perspective adds more elements of mystery and thus is not s waste of the readers time.
Roger Zelazny is the greatest of all science fiction and fantasy writers. His influence can be seen in other great talents such as Amy Tompson or John C. Wright.
Also his action sequences are believable due to his study of martial arts and fencing.
Such a pleasure to rebuy the series on Kindle. It would be great if the reader could choose the original cover art (which should be a feature of Kindle despite the contract hassles it would require).
Thank you Roger Zelazny for being part of my childhood and adolescence. I hope to become a writer in slow stages although I may never reach your heights and depths of greatness. Thank you Amazon Kindle for making Zelazny accessible.

This and the entire Amber series are among the very best of world Science Fiction and Fantasy (being a bit of a mix of both). I echo the sadness of the others who have indicated that it would be Very Nice Indeed if the publisher would stop fooling around and port the rest of the series to the Kindle — stopping at book four is crazy, and releasing the books one at a very infrequent time is also very crazy — I could have hand typed it into Kindle format myself a dozen times over while waiting.

In the meantime, I bought the entire series in Spanish and read that, but sadly it only goes through the fifth book and still doesn’t contain the complete contents of the nine or ten in the “Chronicles of Amber” collection. Sigh.

Since each of the books in Roger Zelazny’s the “Chronicles of Amber” series (both the Corwin and the Merlin sub-series) flows from one to the next without pause or summary, they really can’t be rated individually. This book, ”

The Hand of Oberon (The Chronicles of Amber Book 4)

“, though, is a bit better in one sense, but a bit less good in another. For the positive, here is where Zelazny starts revealing what’s really been happening behind the scenes. For the less than positive, one of a certain character’s characteristics get awfully stretched by the end. But, as with the other books in the series, I’m rating this one at a Very Good 4 stars out of 5.

The book itself is great. It left me anticipating Book Five, “The Courts of Chaos”. But there’s no Kindle Edition of “The Courts of Chaos”. I read the first four books of this excellent series on my Kindle, but can’t read the conclusion that way. The publisher’s fault? Amazon’s? We may never know. I guess I look for a paperback copy of Book Five now.

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