" We were both wonderfully drunk
that night, and it seemed but a brief while that you talked - weeping some of
the time - telling me of the mighty mountain Kolvir and the green and golden
spires of the city, of the promenades, the decks, the terrace, the flowers,
the fountains... "
Ganelon, The Guns of Avallon
" We had spent much of our time in wandering in Shadow, or in our own universes; It is an academic, through valid philosophical question, as to whether one with power over shadow could create his own universe. Whatever the ultimate answer, from a practical point of view we could "
Corwin, Nine Princes In Amber
The Amber universe was created by the American writer Roger Zelazny
(1937-1995), one of the great names of modern Science-Fiction. He's the author of
many short stories (A Rose for Ecclesiastes) and of novels dealing with
humanity great myths ; Hindu (Lord of Light ), Egyptian (Creatures of Shadow
and Light), Indian or Celtic (Amber). Eclectic and complex writer, sometimes
difficult of access for the common reader, Zelazny first meets a critic success, at least
until the publication of the Nine Princes in Amber, a world success that makes him an
author adulated by the public.
At the beginning, Zelazny only had the idea of the opening scene of his novel : an amnesic awakes in a hospital and escapes in order to find out who he is. It could have been a thriller, it became a incredible story taking place in an even more incredible and vertiginous universe, where all distinction between imagination and reality is swept off. Step by step, Zelazny builds something more and more vast and complex , and if the Earth is the starting setting of the first novel , it quickly appears as being only one world among many others, ( actually, among an infinity, as all possible universes exist in Amber ).
Originally, eons before, was only the
Primal Chaos. From this Chaos emerged a race of beings able to adapt themselves to their
constantly changing environment. They took the name of Lords of Chaos , built a
civilization suited to the unsettled nature of the place, and called it the Courts of
Chaos.
But one of these lords, Dworkin, revolted against his
peers, stole a mysterious artifact called The Jewel of Judgement, and used it to create
Amber, a place whose principle was the opposite of the surrounding chaos. Amber started to
act as a center, an pole around which appeared all the possible universes. This field took
the name of Shadow, because it contained an infinity of worlds that represent all the
possible variations between Amber and Chaos, all the reflections of Amber more or less
altered as they get close to the Courts.
Dworkin had an issue in Amber, and among all his
descendants, his son Oberon became the king of Amber. He ruled there for millenniums and
had his own descendants, the princes and princesses of Amber. His sudden disappearance
provoked a serial of events related by his son Corwin in the five first books of Amber
(the next ones being told by Corwin's son Merlin)
This is how Corwin describes the Amber universe :
" Now it is written that only a
prince of Amber may walk among shadows, though of course he may lead or direct
as many as he chooses on such courses. We led our troops and saw them die, but
of Shadow I have this to say ; there is Shadow and there is Substance, and this
is the root of all things. Of Substance, there is only Amber, the real city,
upon the real Earth, which contains everything. Of Shadow, there is an infinitude
of things; Every possibility exists in somewhere as a Shadow of the real. Amber,
by its very existence, has cast such in all directions. And what may on say
of it beyond ? Shadow extends from Amber to Chaos, and all things are possible
within it. There are only three ways of traversing it, and each of them is difficult
If one is a prince or a princess
of the blood, then one may walk, crossing through Shadows, forcing one's environment
to change until it is finally in precisely the shape one desires it, and there
stop. That Shadow world is then its one's own, save for family intrusions, to
do with as one would. In such place I dwelled for centuries.
The second means is the cards, cast by
Dworkin, master of the Line, who had created them in our image, to facilitate
communications between members of the royal family. He was the ancient artist
to whom space and perspective meant nothing. He made up the family Trumps, which
permitted the willer to touch his brethren wherever they might be. I had a feeling
that these had not be used in full accord with their author intentions.
The third was the Pattern, also drawn by
Dworkin, which could only be walked by a member of our family. It initiated
the walker into the system of the cards, as it were, and at its ending gave
its walker the power to stride across Shadows.
The cards and the Pattern made for instant
transport from Substance through Shadow. The other way, walking, was harder.
"
Nine Princes in Amber
It's of course impossible to summarize all the books, as a short
description of events can't give an idea of how rich the universe of Amber is.
Princes and the princesses of Amber fought against each other in a struggle
for the throne and a war broke up with the Courts of Chaos. Corwin endured many
trials, old secrets rose, two brothers and a sister died, a new pattern was
created and a new king was chosen.
Now, if you want to learn more, find the novels and read
them ! (see the Links page)
The Amber universe was adapted in a role-playing game by Eric Wujcik (Amber, Diceless Role-Playing, Phage Press™). This game proposes to any inhabitant of shadow Earth to incarnate a member of the Amber family or a duke of Chaos, as both can travel through Shadow. And for those who don't know what a role-playing game is... well, let's say that it's part tale and part theater, as each participant has to play the role of a character and to improvise depending on the situations this character encounters. The game is supervised by a Game Master (GM) who describes the characters actions and the situations they face, play the role of all the people the player's characters can meet, and in a general way ensure the playing universe coherency (but once again, the only way to really understand what it is to try it !). One of the main particularity of Role-playing games is that they all use a system based on dices, meant to simulate random and give the Game master a objective ground for his descriptions (roughly, it goes like this ; let's assume that you play a character and that you decide to climb a cliff. The game master asks you to roll a dice, and depending on the result compared to the climbing skill of your character, it will be more or less a success). in the Amber RPG, no dices, nor any other trick to simulate random ; everything is based on the GM decisions. And even if Wujcik was considered as a little bit loony when the game was published, his bold bet was finally a success, and it seduced a large number of players and Game Masters.
And that wasn't
such an easy thing to do ! because when most of others role-playing games run in a limited
setting, Amber is a completely open universe, and the player can at any moment decide to
go in a shadow of his choice ; Cyberpunk worlds, Fairy tales realms, in Amber it is
possible to meet Caesar on an alternative Earth or to find a place extracted from a Van
Gogh painting . The only limit, actually, is the imagination of the player, whatever the
absurdity of the kingdom he wants to reach (The 8th book of the Amber cycle, for instance,
begins in the world of Alice in Wonderland). But then, where is the interest of the game,
if there is no limits ? the characters controlled by the players are almost immortal, have
an access to a vast range of powers, and can find everything in Shadow. So how to do ?
First, the amberites are not
alone. The Courts of Chaos are a counterpoint to the power of Amber, and the
relations between the two poles of reality are essential to equilibrate the
powers (Zelazny didn't oppose Amber and Chaos as Good and Evil but only as two
different conceptions of the universe)
Next, Amber is above all a game of intrigue.
Everything is centered on the complex games between the members of the family ; plots,
seduction, treachery and political manipulations are the common day of an amberite . Yet
the game is not machiavellian (it's quite possible -and interesting- to play a young and
naive character in Amber), but it is essentially based on psychology ; the amberites can
fight to stand on a better place on the succession list, or to gain access to a rare
power, but the links they have with the others members of the family are also an important
part of the game's atmosphere. (See for instance the complexity and the ambiguity of the
emotions felt by Corwin towards Oberon, or towards his brothers and sisters). Actually,
the fact of playing a character that lived centuries and visited so many different places
invite to a deep work on his personality. But here, once again, the best way to understand
it is to play yourself !
Ho, by the way, I couldn’t resist to the pleasure of hiding few links in this site... find them if you can !!! ;)