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Post by Finarvyn on Jul 29, 2007 14:26:20 GMT -5
Roger never wanted anyone to write in his worlds, but after his death his estate worked out a deal to have some prequel novels published. That's where John Betancourt comes in. John was contracted to write an Amber trilogy (which he did) and then commissioned to write two more Amber books (one was written, then the other cancelled before he could write it).
The books go back to the early days, and Oberon is surrounded by a troupe of brothers and sisters much like Corwin is surrounded by siblings in the later books. In this way we meet a bunch of potential "lost Elder" NPCs and a sequence of events that could be placed onto a timeline.
Some folks hate John's work, mostly because Roger wouldn't have wanted them written. Some didn't like the writing style, mostly because he's not Roger.
What is your take on these books? Anything therein that would be nice to insert into an ADRP campaign?
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Post by nihilisticmind on Sept 26, 2007 22:49:02 GMT -5
I just couldn't get past the fact that everyone holds a pattern within themselves that is close enough to the Logrus or close enough to the Pattern. This doesn't make any sense to me and was one of the first things we discover about the whole metaphysical side of the prequels.
I didn't care for John Betancourt's writing either...
The only thing I would potentially use in campaigns is a few descriptions of travels in shadow. Oh, and the passing lady-demon friend Oberon has. It was silly, but it's interesting to use demons (clearly seen as servants/lesser beings in the courts of Chaos) and have them pass as nobles in Chaos. I'd also use a few names here and there.
Basically, I didn't get anything out of these books that pertain to Amber very specifically... Those ideas could have been found in a non-Amber specific fantasy book.
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Dilvish
Low Rank in Amber
The damned
Posts: 76
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Post by Dilvish on Sept 27, 2007 19:43:44 GMT -5
I thought it was kind of neat that there was a whole Amber-like place called "Juniper" with a whole group of Amber-like family members. It seems a lot like a good example of how to make a game similar to Amber but not quite. The books were okay, but I hated the fact that the series ended early.
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blinky55
Citizen of Amber
“We are the Music Makers and we are the Dreamers of Dreams” — Willy Wonka
Posts: 40
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Post by blinky55 on May 19, 2020 15:02:22 GMT -5
Well, i never read them and i dont plan to. Im not that much of a purist but i am a conservative at heart(im not from north america, just saying xd) and only Rogers Vison was the one i want. His frinds were Goerge Martin and Neil Gaiman and he decided not to allow them to write stories in Amber. Now their stories i would really have liked to read. Its just something i see as a unfortunate cash grab by the estate, a mark on the lincese.
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ed
Citizen of Amber
Posts: 30
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Post by ed on May 19, 2020 23:27:25 GMT -5
I couldn't get through the first of Betencourt's books. Read like a quickly dashed off first draft with half-assed ideas lifted from Zelazny.
Gaiman would be a terrible writer for Amber. If he wrote the Corwin books Corwin would be unaware of Amber, met and followed Random around for 4.5 books, then, at the last minute, discovered he had some power and then would save the day. All his books have that basic plot.
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