Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny

The further I get into this series the better it gets. At this point it's clear to me that the five books trace a single story arc, rather than each book having its own. If these were published now they'd be a single volume with the heft of a Robert Jordan epic.

The action is picking up, the intrigue is great, and all the complexity that Zelazny has put in place over four novels now comes to a head--just like you'd expect at the climax of a single novel. I really like the story, but now I'm met with a roadblock. I don't have the fifth installment--I have the sixth.

Oh, and I saw the Ganelon thing coming on two hundred pages ago.

4 comments:

Jim said...

Well, you could skip to #6 because it focuses on a new character instead of Corwin, but it also assumes you know what happened in the fifth book.

I'd say stick to the order and go search out the 5th book at a Half Priced Books or something. You can't find these as new single books anymore, I don't think.

Jason said...

That's my plan. The rest will have to wait, I guess.

Anonymous said...

Should I add this to my "must read" list? I trust your judgment.

Jason said...

I haven't noticed a lot of science fiction in your reading, but as far as sf goes, this is really good. A bit dated, but that may be part of the fun.

If the genre doesn't turn you off, I'd reccommend it. The gender roles will probably bug you, though.