Sign of Chaos (Amber Series)

Sign of Chaos is the critical moment when the story line (of which this is the eighth) blurs out for a while. It's not a bad book by any means, but Merlin's story is one of an ever-increasing number of people who want to either kill him or run his life for him. This book is that critical mass when there are so many characters to keep track of that small minds like this reviewer's tend to shut down. Fittingly enough, the book starts out with Merlin and Luke trapped in the Mad Hatter's Tea Party Bar, where the previous volume left them off. A psychedelic Mickey has turned Luke into a hallucination machine and it takes both ingenuity and chemistry for Merlin to take his leave. He makes it back to Amber only to discover that he has a new, and beautiful aunt. Who just as promptly disappears, leaving Merlin once again in the clutches of an old friend. Along the way Merlin picks up Mandor, his older brother on the Chaos side, and Jasra, who is now a 'friendly' enemy instead of a coat rack. This is about where characters and plot get so intricate that you may wish you had been keeping score from the beginning. Zelazny is merciless, captivating his readers at the same time he is confusing them. By way of personal history, I took a several year break from the series at this point, picking up the last two volumes when the appeared in paperback. You may feel like doing the same thing, but there are only two more quick volumes to go and you will be a member of the I Love Amber club, a very exclusive group of folks.

This book, like many in series SF, can not be read independently of the rest in the series. Its main fault is that it is frequently chaotic and can be difficult to follow, especially if it has been awhile since you read the previous stories. The protagonist, Merlin, continues his sparring with Luke, Jasra,and the Mask, and his girlfriend, Julia is back in the story, unknown to Merlin at first. Merlin's brother, Jurt, also is involved, along with multiple other extended family members.Zelazny fans will like this, but the Amber premise is noticably tiring in this story.