Edit. Sorry I left out a sentence. On Jan 29, 2004, at 6:50 PM, Jeffrey Kiok wrote: > It's wrong and silly. > > First off, the quality of writing, plotting, and characterization in > Mr. Brust's novels are far superior. > > I'm not just saying this because Steve's listening - in fact he's > going to be annoyed at this next sentence: I got about 5 books into > the Amber series and decided that it wasn't worth my time to read the > rest. > > ed Well, with all due respect to Mr. Brust; I love his works dearly, but I think that one must recognize Zelazny as one of the greatest fantasy writers. I've read many of his works, Amber, Lord of Light, and especially The Immortal. I mean, people, there's a reason The Immortal shared a Hugo with DUNE, unarguably one of the great sci-fi books of all time. Amber was an incredibly world, sophisticated and developed to an unappreciable level, as was, I should say, the Dragaeraean Empire has. There are many similarities. Namely, the very basic nature of the world they live in. Dragaeraeans and Amerbites live an incredibly long time by our "human" (read eastern) (I hope people get that) standards. Corwin's sense of humor, his actions, and in a sense, his moral system is very analogous to Vlad's. They both have a wry, somewhat cynical, sense of humor. They often take to dark sorts of brooding, and their moral system was really that they felt that had loyalties to certain things, including themselves and would fight for them. I recall a moment in the Amber series where Corwin wonders why he wants the throne back, which is very reminiscent (or rather, vice-versa) of Vlad wondering why he wants to get Cawti back. > First off, the quality of writing, plotting, and characterization in > Mr. Brust's novels are far superior. While I in no way mean to cheapen the quality of Brust's work, I respectfully disagree. I mean to show you that they are equals, in their own way. Brust is on the highest pedestal in my book, and I merely intend to put Zelazny there too. The moral tribulations and journeys to really discover what they want and who they are are very similar for both Vlad and Corwin (and Merlin as well). Quality of writing is certainly very subjective, but who cannot be struck by the beautiful, striking imagery of Zelazny's work as his characters walk through shadow to a new place? Plot development again is equal. I do not wish to spoil any of the plot for those who do not know the plot, so I will remain silent on that account except to respectfully disagree. The character development I think, is covered in the above sections. > I'm not just saying this because Steve's listening - in fact he's > going to be annoyed at this next sentence: I got about 5 books into > the Amber series and decided that it wasn't worth my time to read the > rest. > You're missing a darn good read! ;-) -Jeff