weeeeee

Major, major recent Doctor Who spoilers under the cut. Also general chatter about the current fate of an Iron Fist actor.

( Under the cut )

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.

More about Amber

I ended up touching on this in the comments to the last post, but while my favorite protagonist-narrator seems to have recently switched from Merlin to Corwin, my favorite character across all the books and all the eras is Random, and that doesn't seem to have changed. And most of what I have to say there is a spoiler and therefore going under a cut. (Spoils all of the first arc of the series.)

( Spoilers for books that came out in the 1970s. I know. )

ETA: I also just found this Amber fanart on Tumblr and LOLOLOLLLLL.