--- Steve Simmons <scs at lokkur.dexter.mi.us> wrote: > On Fri, Jan 30, 2004 at 08:46:18AM -0500, Noam Izenberg wrote: > > > Most of the Zelazny I have read was over half my life ago . . . > > . . . Here's the real > > quandry - do I go back and re-read the things I loved 20 years ago, or > > > do I forge ahead into new (or simply new to me) territory? Here's > where > > being a slow reader does _not_ pay off. > > IMHO reading Zelazny you have not previously read will be more enjoyable > than re-reading the Amber books, even if you've largely forgotten the > content of those Amber volumes. IMHO his other work is mostly better > than any of the last 8 Amber books. Sales figures indicate that Amber > is more *popular*, but in this I freely admit to having better taste > than the average mass-market fantasy reader. :-) I think you misspelled "IMAO". :-) _The Courts of Chaos_ made the whole rest of the Amber series worth while for me. I was glad I put up with all the intrigue and ferric oxide when I got to the scene where Corwin creates *CENSORED* and the one where the *CENSORED* gives the *CENSORED* to *CENSORED*. Of course there was plenty of good stuff along the way. My other Zelazny recommendations: _Lord of Light_, "He Who Shapes". I imagine it's old hat on this list that the first (or "only") five Amber books have the same theme as much of the Vlad books so far: the hero's moral development. I don't know how much longer it can go on (though I'm looking forward to finding out). Will volume 19 have to be titled _The Last Contract of the Saint_? Jerry Friedman __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/