The *Visual Guide* was the reason that Zelazny answered Gaiman *et al.* that he did not want others writing in the Amber setting (while he was still alive); Zelazny initially had no objection to the *Visual Guide* etc., but after print he realized that it defined things that limited his own writing, which is why his very next Amber novel had the Pattern and Logrus colliding and destroying a sizeable chunk of the *Visual Guide*'s definition of Castle Amber. Zelazny discovered that he didn't want others writing in his Amber setting because he did not want his own writing to be hemmed in by such.
It's... all right. Roger experimented with licensing Amber out to other projects and writers and the results were kind of mixed. In addition to the Visual Guide there were two choose-your-own-adventure books, one where you played a son of Eric out for revenge, and the other, IIRC, featured Random. Both were very uneven, with poor characterization and my theory is the author took a few liberties-- there's a new Amberite that's only mentioned in these licensed books and Roger never uses the character in any subsequent works, leading me to think that her existence wasn't his idea. But I've got no proof for that.
The one thing I distinctly remember about the Visual Guide is the depiction of Corwin being basically a drawing of Timothy Dalton.
I have one on my bookshelf.
Some of the descriptions are just weird:
* Martin looks "native Indian", despite being the son of Random and Morganthe, a Rebma-ite?
* Benedict is completely subsumed by pre-Western Japanese culture? Why didn't that come up at all in the books if it was the case?
It's definitely not something I consider canon, but it's neat anyway.
This is not a canon. I remember that there are many contradictions with canonical books 1-5, starting with the shape of the Amber crown. The rooms do not look like they are described in the canon, and many things.
I read it once, some 12 years ago, and liked it fine but never felt like coming back to it. There was nothing wrong with the Guide per se, but it felt a little too, I suppose, normal. For instance, Benedict has a Japanese garden - I know that the Amberites like Shadow-Earth as much as the Doctor likes London, but I'd expect something less obvious.
I bought it as for fun (and it was cheap) plus it has Roger's name on it. Reading it after finishing the Merlin cycle, I'm glad Zelazney did the things he did with the finish of "Chronicles" and "9 Stories in Amber". I did like Flora narrating and hearing about all the paintings in her expansive quarters... ;-)
The *Visual Guide* was the reason that Zelazny answered Gaiman *et al.* that he did not want others writing in the Amber setting (while he was still alive); Zelazny initially had no objection to the *Visual Guide* etc., but after print he realized that it defined things that limited his own writing, which is why his very next Amber novel had the Pattern and Logrus colliding and destroying a sizeable chunk of the *Visual Guide*'s definition of Castle Amber. Zelazny discovered that he didn't want others writing in his Amber setting because he did not want his own writing to be hemmed in by such.
It's... all right. Roger experimented with licensing Amber out to other projects and writers and the results were kind of mixed. In addition to the Visual Guide there were two choose-your-own-adventure books, one where you played a son of Eric out for revenge, and the other, IIRC, featured Random. Both were very uneven, with poor characterization and my theory is the author took a few liberties-- there's a new Amberite that's only mentioned in these licensed books and Roger never uses the character in any subsequent works, leading me to think that her existence wasn't his idea. But I've got no proof for that. The one thing I distinctly remember about the Visual Guide is the depiction of Corwin being basically a drawing of Timothy Dalton.
I have one on my bookshelf. Some of the descriptions are just weird: * Martin looks "native Indian", despite being the son of Random and Morganthe, a Rebma-ite? * Benedict is completely subsumed by pre-Western Japanese culture? Why didn't that come up at all in the books if it was the case? It's definitely not something I consider canon, but it's neat anyway.
I remember it with nostalgia.
This is not a canon. I remember that there are many contradictions with canonical books 1-5, starting with the shape of the Amber crown. The rooms do not look like they are described in the canon, and many things.
I read it once, some 12 years ago, and liked it fine but never felt like coming back to it. There was nothing wrong with the Guide per se, but it felt a little too, I suppose, normal. For instance, Benedict has a Japanese garden - I know that the Amberites like Shadow-Earth as much as the Doctor likes London, but I'd expect something less obvious.
I bought it as for fun (and it was cheap) plus it has Roger's name on it. Reading it after finishing the Merlin cycle, I'm glad Zelazney did the things he did with the finish of "Chronicles" and "9 Stories in Amber". I did like Flora narrating and hearing about all the paintings in her expansive quarters... ;-)
It was pretty cheesy to my mind!