Nine Princes in Amber

“Nine Princes in Amber” is the first in the “Chronicles of Amber” novel cycle.

This is a fantasy book with a tightly wound plot, full of mysticism, magic, sorcery, and journeys through parallel worlds. But it also has a philosophical meaning: it is “a kind of commentary on reflections about the nature of reality and on people’s perception of that reality.” The overall structure of the world that was considered the only possible one turned out to be wrong. Reality is a fan of parallel worlds—of Shadows of one True World, the eternal city of Amber, the mysterious Amber Kingdom.

King Oberon of Amber has disappeared, and now in Amber there is civil strife: his sons fight each other. Nine Princes—nine claimants to the empty throne, nine brothers who have become enemies overnight. Only one of them is destined to take the throne. Prince Corwin has been deprived of his memory by the schemes of his own brother—but will that stop the Prince of Amber in his struggle for power?

Steel and fire, betrayal and treachery, people’s lives and destinies—none of this is anything compared to the grandeur of the great goal…