Roger Zelazny's Chaos and Amber (Dawn of Amber)

I had very much hoped that this second installment in the officially sanctioned continuation of Roger Zelazny's saga and character's story would have "found its voice" and, at the least, Mr. Betancourt would have tried to correct the many problems that occurred in Dawn of Amber. But, I am sorry to say, once again this effort falls far short of the legacy left by Zelazny and is far from being a literary or spiritual heir to his great Amber series. A first complaint might actually, though, be leveled at the publisher. When does the proofreading function kick in the process of bringing a book to market? Is there an editor involved in this process anymore? It looks as though it was by-passed in this edition. Typos abound, and I would be willing to bet it is a function of spell-checking software meant to substitute for proofreading. There are incorrect word substitutions that seem to be "close" in spelling to the word meant that could have been substituted in the text with a click of the mouse by an inattentive operator. Also, in the last third of the book I got out my teacher's red marker and began to circle the grammar and usage mistakes. It very much detracts from the reading experience and, again, does a disservice to Zelazny who was not only brilliant stylistically but had no problems with the mechanics of his craft.
But despite the above Mr. Betancourt still has problems with character development (two-dimensional) and style. The second item is undoubtedly open to disagreement but when a writer uses the same adjectives and comparisons repeating them time and again describing a setting that he has already described then it feels as though he is afraid that the readers just "won't get it" unless he hammers it home. With this problem it seems he should spend a little more time reflecting on writing as a creative process or at least buy a thesaurus. One example: in trying to describe the strangeness of the realm of Beyond/Chaos he uses the description of the torchlight puddling and collecting or bubbling on the ceiling at least a half dozen times in the same chapter and elsewhere. It is though he casts about for descriptions and he only finds the same repeated phrases in the box where he keeps ideas. Ok, I get it! Now tell me something different that I haven't heard. Zelazny never talked down or underestimated the reader in this way; and I fully realize that there are those who will say he is not Zelazny and should not be compared stylistically to that great writer. And yet, since he has taken on the mantle of officially continuing on how can these comparisons not be drawn to at least some extent?
I have come this far so I will read the rest, but I am not counting it as a memorable experience.

I enjoyed this book. Betancourt's first Amber novel, "The Dawn of Amber" *was* different from Zelazny's works, and many of Oberon's family that Betancourt described were one dimensional creations who lacked depth. In his second Amber novel, "Chaos and Amber", the characters introduced have greater depth, and he develops those which were treated poorly in the first novel. The plot develops, but is also 'revealed' by some rather direct actions by Oberon (and an enemy who very nicely spills the beans and tells him what is going on). Betancourt's descriptions of Oberon's experiences in Chaos are great fun, and he is rather novel about Oberon's mishaps. In many ways, this book is very much a tale of Oberon's blunders and coming to terms with what is really going on with some inspired direct action (which I won't spoil). You can start to see some of Freda's foretelling that Oberon will challenge Dworkin in this book.
My major criticism of this work is that unlike Zelazny's novels, Betancourt feels the need to tell us what happened in the previous novel for about the first 50-100 pages. And to make it worse, nowhere on the cover does it say that this is the Second Novel of Three. So the publishers probably feel that the recapping is justified, but I don't. It's a waste of sapce. Secondly, I am beginning to feel that the story is being rushed - it could be drawn out a lot more.
The last 150 pages of the book shine, with Oberon driving the plot rather than being a passive player. I also liked the character development, as Betancourt fleshes out of a number of his brothers and sisters. We are given more description, and more information about their pasts. Suddenly Taine, Locke, Isadora etc become three dimensional characters which is great plus. (They were just names before) I like the transformation in Aber too - he goes from being the 'useful sidekick' to (well, I won't tell you, you'll have to read and see). Betancourt is definitely setting up Oberon to face off against his brothers and sisters, and against Chaos itself. I just hope Betancourt doesn't rush things in his third novel. For such a story arc, it's a real pity that he couldn't write it over five novels.

I finished the first volume of Betancourt's 'Amber' trilogy thinking that he'd made an impressive effort, even if he missed the mark on several levels, and I really thought there was good reason to hope that "Chaos and Amber" would be even better. I was disappointed, yet hopeful.

My feelings are even more mixed about the second installment in this series, "Chaos and Amber." The first half of this book continued at the same plodding pace that characterized "Dawn of Amber," but then the second half skyrocketed into gear with a lot of fast-paced action. This alone made "Chaos and Amber" a much more entertaining read than Betancourt's previous effort. Oberon emerges as a valiantly reckless hero, very much in the tradition of Corwin and Merlin. Even taking the wrong action is better than taking no action at all. Suddenly, the central hero in this tale starts thinking and acting like a true Lord of Amber!

Unfortunately, "Chaos and Amber" also dimmed my hopes that this trilogy would ever evoke the same mystery and wonder that I felt when I read Zelazny's original 'Amber' series. Despite the fact that these books have "Roger Zelazny's Amber" emblazoned across the front cover, they really aren't "Roger Zelazny's Amber" at all. The characters, settings, and events in this series are very much Betancourt's original creations, and they just don't rise to the same level of genius that Zelazny achieved with his creative talents. I realize and accept that Betancourt is NOT Zelazny, and I've tried to judge Betancourt's books on their own merits... but Betancourt is, after all, delving into Zelazny's universe, and I think that direct comparisons are fair game. Unfortunately, with "Chaos and Amber," Betancourt just hasn't measured up.

As with my review of Betancourt's previous installment, I'd have to say that "Chaos and Amber" is a pretty decent effort if taken on its own merits. As a continuation of Roger Zelazny's work, however, it falls flat.

I'd recommend "Chaos and Amber" as an above-average fantasy yarn, but this book doesn't really add anything to the 'Amber' universe.

Oh, that's poor Roger, spinning in his grave...
Betancourt is a hack. I've read better "fan fiction" on the Internet. I wish Zelazny's estate had honored his wishes, or at the very least, found a decent author to continue the legacy.
I recommend that fans of Roger's style check out the tribute collection "Lord of the Fantastic".

Here's what they claim: Oberon get's entangled in the politics of Chaos! You finally get to see something besides the little castle that Dworkin owns in Shadow.
What really happens? Oberon spends well over half the book inside Dworkin's estate, doing very little. A couple token attempts on his life. He gets up his chutzpah and goes out to confront his enemies at one ball that he arranges, and then he kips off into shadow with Dworkin, where Dworkin deletes Pattern 1.0 and makes Pattern 2.0. This is superior to the first book only in that there's the vestige of a plot in this installment.

I was just so disappointed with this book. Betancourt seems to have missed all of the opportunities afforded to him with this brilliantly realised universe. Gone are the interesting characters, gone is the sense of a deep and dangerous plot, gone is any semblance of the world that Zelazny wrote of.
So much could have been made of this series -instead we seem to have Conan story or a Star Trek book by numbers.
Utter rubbish

The first book was not something your average writer should brag about. If not for the avid fandom of many readers, the second book would probably not even be looked at, however, that would be a diservice.
This second volume is a VAST improvement over the first volume. It has a nice Zelazny feel, feeding you only little pieces of information at a time. The characters are taking on more depth which is greatly appreciated.
I have two complaints though. The books is full of typos, enough to the point of distraction it look slike someone just gave spell check free-reign and never looked back. The other complaint, it seems as though Betancourt is trying to tell a four or five book story in three. There is enormous room to expand on what he tells us. If we are lucky the final volume will have a greater amount of text than the two previous contain.

The title of this review says it all. John pulled off another masterpiece that is a tribute to Roger Zelanzy -- Amber Series.
His description of Chaos is just short of amazing. I enjoyed the continued unfolding of the plots and how Oberon, the Jewel of Judgement and so much more fits in all this. I can't say more without giving anything away.
Enjoy.
MoonDragon of SoA

Just curious as to why the Hard Cover is so pricey?

Perhaps for a signed first edition from the original series or the later 'Trumps'... But a unauthorized (RZ is dead afterall?) prequel as part of some licensing deal?

Get real.

Terrible! That's really the only word to use about this book. Dawn of Amber seemed to herald a series where a fair effort had been made to add to Zelazny's Amber universe, but instead this sequel is riddled with sloppy writing, lazy plotting and a glacial pace that renders it both boring and annoying,

Betancourt includes statements to the effect that intrigue abounds among Dworkin's offspring, but describes none. He says that the Dworkinites would sooner stab each other in the eye than say a kind word, but all their interactions he describes are kind to a fault!

Simple scenes are described ad nauseum - pages and pages are devoted to characters having a drink or walking from one room to another. Plot points presented as being of dire importance are just forgotten about. At one point Oberon is told not to sleep lest he risk his death, and SIX chapters later, he's STILL in the same house, almost nothing has happened, and he just decides to go to bed, after dozens of pages where we are treated to efforts to keep him awake. It's just lazy, lazy writing.

Not even the fact that the protagonists are much younger than the Amberites we're accustomed to can explain this book. In Dawn you could forgive the characters being immature, in this book they are not just immature, they're downright stupid.

There's just no heart in this, it reads like a novel-by-numbers. Betancourt does not seem to believe his own writing, conversations dont feel 'real', characters suddenly appear as if the author just 'forgot' he needed them and couldnt be bothered going back and rewriting the scene (e.g. "My valet Horace - he must have followed us up the stairs and been watching quietly from the side". This after describing the walk up the stairs in the minutest detail and never before mentioning Horace a single time in the entire book!).

Towards the end, around the last quarter of the book, Betancourt seems to find his voice, character exchanges become a bit more believable, the plot begins to develop more satisfyingly (or at all) and things begin to happen which are actually interesting. For me, it was too little, too late. The only reason this gets a second star is that very occasionally it reminds you you're reading an Amber book, and despite everything, that feels good.