The Amber Dictionary

[Finarvyn]

I know that there are a couple of sites out there trying to list off all of the key names and terms of the Amber Universe, but one of the best I've found is The Amber Dictionary.

Anyone found anything better? Maybe we should start a dictionary project here on these boards.

[serendipity]

Well, this isn't a site, but I have the French version of an Amber universe dictionary in hard cover. Translation is slow, as I haven't had French in over a decade. If anyone hears of an English translation, please save me!

[Erick Wujcik]

serendipity said:

...I have the French version of an Amber universe dictionary in hard cover. Translation is slow, as I haven't had French in over a decade. If anyone hears of an English translation, please save me!

I'm pretty sure that your "Amber Universe Dictionary" is a French translation of "The Complete Amber Sourcebook" by Theodore Krulik, originally published in English:

Paperback: 494 pages
Publisher: Avonva (December 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0380754096
ISBN-13: 978-0380754090
Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.2 x 1.2 inches

Amazon Link*:
www.amazon.com/Complete-Amber-Sourcebook-Theodore-Krulik/dp/0380754096/ref=sr_1_3/102-9491265-9671318?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190950145&sr=1-3


If not, could you please let me know the author and publisher? Thanks!

Erick


* Sorry, there seems to be a problem with linking to a long amazon URL... If you can use the link, go to amazon and search for 'Amber Sourcebook Krulik" and it should pop up.

[serendipity]

My French book is L'Univers d'Ambre, by Francois Nedelec. It has beautiful color diagrams by Florence Magnin to accompany the entries. It's published by Denoel.

I'm at work, so I can't get to my copy right now, but I found details of a book on Amazon which looks just like mine, though that one is paperback and mine is hardback. From Amazon, here's that book's info:

ISBN-10: 2207240630
ISBN-13: 978-2207240632

Hope that helps you determine if it's the same as the book you mentioned, Erick.

--Sere
P.S. I vividly remember an Amber game you GM'd one year at Chicago Conclave, and I wanted to say thank you for a great day's entertainment. It really inspired me.

[Finarvyn]

serendipity said:

Mybeautiful color diagrams by Florence Magnin

That would be the same artist who did the Amber Trujmp Deck, I believe.

The book you describe sounds nothing like the Krulik Amber Sourcebook.

[serendipity]

admin said:

serendipity said:

beautiful color diagrams by Florence Magnin

That would be the same artist who did the Amber Trump Deck, I believe.

I so wanted one of those! I saw pictures of a few of the cards online once. A deck came up on ebay once and I stupidly didn't bid. Of course, it ended up being a pretty pricey item, but still.

[olegrand]

The L'UNIVERS D'AMBRE book written by François Nédélec and illustrated by Florence Magnin has nothing to do with Krulik's Companion (I have both).

L'UNIVERS D'AMBRE has color illustrations on almost each page - some of them are really beautiful and atmosphere-conveying, even if Magnin's very "chivalrous faerie" vision of what me might call "Amber esthetics" may not be everyone's cup of tea. The text itself reads like the background section of a RPG. In fact, since Nédélec was a prominent French RPG designer in the 80s, I've always suspected that this book started as an altrernate Amber RPG project before Amber Diceless was published (the two main French gaming magazines of the 80s once published articles & scenarios set in Amber, before Amber Diceless came out) and eventually got published in this "systemless guidebook" form - that being said I may be wrong and the whole "background chapter" feel might simply come from the fact that Nédélec was a RPG writer. All in all, I'd say that L'UNIVERS D'AMBRE is a wonderful introduction to the Amberverse - and, whether or not this was intentional, to Amber roleplaying.

[Finarvyn]

olegrand said:

All in all, I'd say that L'UNIVERS D'AMBRE is a wonderful introduction to the Amberverse - and, whether or not this was intentional, to Amber roleplaying.

Except that some of us are linguistically challenged and can't read French.

[olegrand]

admin said:

olegrand said:

All in all, I'd say that L'UNIVERS D'AMBRE is a wonderful introduction to the Amberverse - and, whether or not this was intentional, to Amber roleplaying.

Except that some of us are linguistically challenged and can't read French.

Quoi ? Tu veux dire que tout le monde ne parle pas français ? (joking ;D)

On the other hand, there are no French versions (at least in print) of Randall's Castle Guide or Krulik's Companion, so I guess this evens things out.

Speaking of translation, the French version of the Amber novels shows an infamous glitch. One of the five books (I don't remember which one) was translated by a different person and has some annoying translation discrepancies - for instance, Rebma suddenly becomes Erbma, which would be the correct reverse form of "Ambre" (Amber in French) but is awfully more difficult to pronounce... and one mention of "Forest of Arden" becomes "la Forêt des Ardennes" (a well-known forest spreading throughout France and Belgium, but nothing to do with the legendary Arden Forest which inspired the name of Julian's fief). On the other hand, the term chosen to translate "Pattern" was quite bizarre (but I think many French Amber enthusiasts have come to love it) : the correct term for "Pattern" would be "schéma" but this probably sounded too dry and mathematical... and the original translator chose to render it as "la Marelle", which is the French term for the pattern drawn by children who play hopscotch. A weird choice but, in the end, it does convey a feeling of mystery to the whole thing and "passer la Marelle" ("walk the Pattern") does sound far more thrilling than "passer le schéma"...

[serendipity]

I wondered about having Pattern translate as Hopscotch. I thought maybe my admittedly weak high school French (and various online dictionaries) had failed me. Nice to have it verified.