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John Gregory Betancourt is undertaking a prequel to Roger Zelazny's Amber series, a trilogy that follows Oberon and his discovery of his unknown heritage, powers, and future. Book One was The Dawn of Amber, where Oberon is a general in a world beseiged by demons. Out of nowhere his uncle reappears after long years and saves his life by bringing him to a new world of magic and intrique. His uncle Dworkin is revealed to be his real father, Oberon meets his brothers and sisters, and the familiar Amber alliances and betrayals begin. In the second book, Chaos and Amber, Oberon has escaped to the Courts of Chaos with his father Dworkin and his brother. Painful reactions to the Courts plague him, his father was called to court and never returned, and now someone's trying to kill him. Time for Oberon to make some plans of his own... I like the books, but with some serious "buts." The pacing often seems odd. I suspect that if this had been one large book instead of three smaller ones it would feel better, but Zelazny packed more intrique into a chapter than either of these books have. There's also a buildup that doesn't work since I know from the Amber series what the outcome will be, and the way the whole magical system is explained is either too little if you haven't read the other books or too simplistic if you have. And yet I like them anyway. Much like Corwin did (will do?), Oberon comes into this blind and has to learn fast enough to stay alive. And the world of Amber is interesting enough to keep me reading just to see what happens. Conditionally recommended.
Just finished The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I can tell you that some people will find it compelling and heartwarming, some will find it horrible and tragic, and some will find it insipid and plotted with outlandish, intentionally tear-jerking events. They'd all be right. I hadn't heard anything about this book before I read it, aside from the plot description. 14-year old Susie Salmon is raped and murdered by a neighbor in the first chapter and we read about the tragic event and the subsequent effects on her family and the community through the narration of Susie herself. Susie is in Heaven, which changes for each person, but she spends a lot of time watching over her family and friends as well as the man who murdered her. From the description, I expected certain things. I figured she'd figure out how to communicate or affect the real world. I figured that somehow she would help apprehend the killer. I assumed missed signals, false leads, and exciting last-minute deductions and ghost ex machina. In short, I expected a murder mystery with the unlikely assistance of the victim. I wasn't even close. Instead we watch Susie as she watches her family and their very different reactions to her death. We watch them grow up, we watch the family dynamics change, and we see how people take their grief from a tragic accident and use it or be used by it. This is a book that should never be made into a movie. The characters are all muted, since we see them more through Susie's eyes than we do for ourselves through dialogue and actions. The best parts are Susie's loving thoughts on her family and friends, and the joy she takes in their happiness. It's a coming-of-age novel, only she's growing up vicariously through others. You'll either set it down fairly quickly or you'll read it straight through. It's one of those books.
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You can count me as one who loved the book. Perhaps some would find it sappy but I found the same type of family and personl dynamics that I cherish so much in OSC's work.
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