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Amber
So apparently I'm rereading the Amber books for the umpteenth time. (I just wanted to look up something in the first chapter of the first book and now somehow I'm on book 5, though admittedly I skipped book 2 as I often do, because I'm really not that interested in Avalon. I don't remember it that well, though, due to the frequent skipping. I like the idea of that book, the gunpowder thing and all of that; I just remember not being that interested in the execution of it. Maybe I should go back and reread it once I finish book 5.)
There is something really fascinating about rereading a book many times at different stages in your life. You get such different things out of it. And while it's true that I haven't gotten to the Merlin part of the series and therefore might feel differently when I'm immersed in Merlin's POV, I have always - ever since my very first time reading the books in the 80s - preferred Merlin as a narrator even though I prefer Corwin's part of the series from a narrative standpoint, but this time around, I ... I think I really like Corwin somehow?! It's this fascinating thing where I actively disliked him or at least was disinterested in him/felt alienated from him as a teenager, and I still remember that, but the older I get the easier I find it to wrap my head around his POV, and now on this reread Corwin is Best and I find myself completely invested not just in Corwin as a person but also, in a way I never really remember feeling before, Corwin's stubborn attempts to drag his homicidal, backstabbing group of siblings and other relatives, kicking and screaming and completely unwilling, into Being A Family Dammit.
... if they weren't demigods in a fantasy universe, Corwin would totally be the one who was arranging secret Santas and introducing them to the concept of birthday parties and weirding them all out with his Shadow Earth notions of family and holidays.
There is something really fascinating about rereading a book many times at different stages in your life. You get such different things out of it. And while it's true that I haven't gotten to the Merlin part of the series and therefore might feel differently when I'm immersed in Merlin's POV, I have always - ever since my very first time reading the books in the 80s - preferred Merlin as a narrator even though I prefer Corwin's part of the series from a narrative standpoint, but this time around, I ... I think I really like Corwin somehow?! It's this fascinating thing where I actively disliked him or at least was disinterested in him/felt alienated from him as a teenager, and I still remember that, but the older I get the easier I find it to wrap my head around his POV, and now on this reread Corwin is Best and I find myself completely invested not just in Corwin as a person but also, in a way I never really remember feeling before, Corwin's stubborn attempts to drag his homicidal, backstabbing group of siblings and other relatives, kicking and screaming and completely unwilling, into Being A Family Dammit.
... if they weren't demigods in a fantasy universe, Corwin would totally be the one who was arranging secret Santas and introducing them to the concept of birthday parties and weirding them all out with his Shadow Earth notions of family and holidays.
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I used to think Benedict was best but upon reread as an adult? Corwin all the way. XD
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he pronounced Fiona FYE oh nah, not FEE oh nah
WHAT. No. Does not compute. XD (I guess then when Corwin calls her Fi he's supposed to be saying Fye? What. No. Help.)
Anyway, I'm having alllll the Corwin feels this time around, and it's WEIRD, because I remember not feeling this way, but this time, it's just like ... Corwin, will someone please be proper family with you. T___T
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Hello, I like Random, look surprised.
(I never got into the second, Merlin-centered cycle, but I have re-read the first five books more times than I can count, since I can't remember what that number is.)
I find myself completely invested not just in Corwin as a person but also, in a way I never really remember feeling before, Corwin's stubborn attempts to drag his homicidal, backstabbing group of siblings and other relatives, kicking and screaming and completely unwilling, into Being A Family Dammit.
I have for some time kind of wanted a crossover between Amber and one of Diana Wynne Jones' labyrinthine, mythological, often disguised families. Archer's Goon (1984) is the first one that came to mind, although Hexwood (1983) or The Game (2007) might make more sense.
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I've always considered Amber somewhat creatively formative for me, but I think I've been really struck on this reread by how many of its themes are ones I've been feeling particularly drawn to lately - reconciliation and responsibility; growing up, moving forward, building something new and better out of the muck of the past. Amber is very much a story about that (among other things), and I don't remember being aware, before, just how much it's a story about that.
I love how some stories have so much in them that you can find something new every time you read them.
I have for some time kind of wanted a crossover between Amber and one of Diana Wynne Jones' labyrinthine, mythological, often disguised families.
Ohhhh, that's an interesting thought! And one thing about the Amber books' central conceit (the "everything exists in infinite Shadows" worldbuilding cornerstone) is that they lend themselves to plausible crossovers with almost anything.
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