Wednesday Knights Blog

I just finished reading “The Dawn of Amber” by John Gregory Betancourt.  It is a trilogy set at the beginning of the Amber history, actually the pre-Amber history in the first book.  Only the Logrus in the Courts of Chaos exists at this point.  Basically the Chaos version of the pattern Amber readers are familiar with.  The Logrus grants different powers than the Pattern of Amber.

There are a couple of familiar characters from Roger Zelazny’s Amber series.  We get to met Dworkin before while he is still sane.  Okay maybe it would be more correct to say less insane. We also get to see a young Oberon as a soldier in shadow unaware of his family legacy.  When he does meet the family, he is crippled and much less of a threat than some of the family members originally considered.

There are a number of similarities between the early family of Dworkin and the characters of Zelazny’s books.  And of course we have lots of intrigue and court going on’s. There is also a sub plot with Oberon concerning his family, or lack thereof.  From 14 years on he believed he was orphaned.  As an adult he finds out about all these brothers and sisters he never knew and his his father!

This book basically introduces the characters and sets the scene.  It’s really more of a launching point for the next 2 books of the series.  This is an easy read and a reader need not read the Zelazny series to understand the book.  I personally would recommend reading the Zelazny series first than the Betancourt books.  That way you won’t spoil some of the mysteries in the Amber series.