Trumps of Doom
Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel 1986.
In the first new Amber novel in five years, Roger Zelazny begins a new series set in this wonder-filled world. Trumps of Doom stars Merlin, the son of Corwin, that prince of Amber who was the central character of the first five books in this popular series.
Amber, the real world, of which all others, including our own, are only Shadows, is ruled now by Random, Corwin's brother and one of the survivors of the original Nine Princes. Corwin himself has disappeared and is believed to be insane or dead.
And Merlin, a young man living in San Francisco, has grown up living in our world but is heir to Corwin's great powers, especially to his creative inventive genius. A computer programmer and designer, Merle is content to live here and pursue his creative interest: designing the ultimate computer, one that will not work on Earth but which will work in another and different Shadow, where the laws of physics are somewhat different.
But someone is trying to kill Merle. Once a year there has been an attempt on his life, regular as clockwork, and he knows that the time is fast approaching again. A beautiful woman is dead. A student of the occult has developed real powers and evidently has outside help. Suddenly Merle's life is seriously threatened and he must fight his way back to Amber across the worlds of Shadow.
A complex plot has been set in motion and the mysterious royal family of Amber is once again in contention, subtle and bloody. Merlin must claim his heritage and his independence but he is enmeshed in the web of intrigue in Amber and elsewhere and his first priority must be to survive.
Roger Zelazny
Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels. He won the Nebula award three times and the Hugo award six times, including two Hugos for novels This Immortal (1965) and the novel Lord of Light (1967).
Zelazny was born in Ohio, the only child of Polish immigrant Joseph Zelazny and Irish-American Josephine Sweet. In high school, Roger Zelazny was the editor of the school newspaper and joined the Creative Writing Club. He was accepted to Columbia University in New York to study English and specialized in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, graduating with an M.A. in 1962.
The Chronicles of Amber
The Chronicles of Amber consists of ten primary books, and includes one additional book that complement the series but is not considered mandatory reads. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Related series The Dawn of Amber
