The Courts of Chaos

The Pattern, the magical structure that holds the multiverse together, is coming apart. Corwin has to cross the realms and reach the Courts of Chaos before it is destroyed for good. The deadline shapes every step of his route, and no part of the crossing is safe.

His uncle Brand stands in the way. Brand is ambitious, wants the throne, and wants the Jewel of Judgment, and he hounds Corwin along the whole route. The pursuit gives the quest a personal edge, since the threat comes from family as well as from the collapse itself.

The quest is a reluctant one. Corwin travels as a man stripped of illusions rather than as an eager champion, and the book keeps that disillusioned note from start to finish. His heroism is the kind that comes late and without enthusiasm.

This is the fifth and last volume of the Amber series by Roger Zelazny, so it closes the arc of Corwin's story. The prose is dense and the tone melancholy, which sets it apart from a typical fantasy adventure. It reads slowly and atmospherically, and an epilogue set generations later brings the book to its close.