The Guns of Avalon

The Chronicles of Amber, Book 2

By: Roger Zelazny

Narrated by: Alessandro Juliani

The Guns of Avalon is the second book of The Chronicles of Amber; an epic fantasy series written by six- time Hugo Award winning and three-time Nebula Award winning author, Roger Zelazny.

The ten books that make up the series are told in two story arcs: The Corwin Cycle and the Merlin Cycle.

The Audible audio rendition of this classic sci-fi/fantasy series is started off by 2012 Audie Award nominee, Alessandro Juliani, who reads the first five books that make up the Corwin Cycle and whose narration vividly brings the world of Amber to life.

Across the worlds of Shadow, Corwin, Prince of blood royal, heir to the throne of Amber, gathers his forces for an assault that will yield up to him the crown that is rightfully his. But, a growing darkness of his own doing threatens Corwin's plans, an evil that stretches to the heart of the perfect kingdom itself where the demonic forces of Chaos mass to annihilate Amber and all who would rule there.

©1972 Roger Zelazny (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Always loved the story didn't like voices

What made the experience of listening to The Guns of Avalon the most enjoyable?

Love the story

Any additional comments?

The voices were not very good, Random's was too whiny and giving Benedict and Dara a southern accent was a bit distracting and I believe in Nine Princes in Amber he had Gerard with a Scottish accent and it was gone in this book.

Enjoyable enough

The story is enjoyable enough, but the prose is rather weak. And the book is to short to justify the cost.

great listen

good read. loved listening again. will definitely have to read this book again and soon

Still one of the best!

I have read this series for over 30 years. Nice to listen to it! There is some dated attitudes about women, but the story is still magnificent!

Amber is my namesake and it does not disappoint.

Brilliant story, fantastic voices, and it keeps you wanting more. I can't wait to listen to all the rest of the audible books in the Chronicles of Amber series.

Good but audible charging way too much for this

Not that great.. just good fantasy. Very short. The Lord of Light is the book by RZ not to be missed.

One of the best stories

Zelazny is incredible, and this narrator does an excellent job...until the weird accents appear. Benedict sounds like he is from South Carolina, and Lorraine sounds like an idiot. I am not sure why these accents are used, but they detract from the performance. Otherwise, very good narration.

Corwin struggles

Lord Corwin begins his March toward his ultimate goal of the thrown of Avalon .

great performance

I loved the book and loved the performance.

Corwin gets lose and finds that chaos is breaking loose in the worlds.

Nobody steals books but your friends.

We can be brief in part, because if you are considering this book, you likely already picked up “Nine Princes in Amber” and if you haven’t I strongly recommend that you do. I am not sure the story will be an easy one to pick up at this point. This story is just as fine as the last, and the journey is as wonderful as I remember. Corwin’s plan to reclaim what he views as his right and revenge himself upon Eric while at the same time struggling with the harm he has done and trying to fit all of this within his new (within the life of an immortal anyway) found morality and empathy drives the story and prepares him for what comes next.

As for the performance, it’s still better than many I have heard. However, some of the voices are still troubling me. I’m not sure why Texan and Southern accents are slipping into the voices of nobles from Amber and the Courts, but it might be a bit silly to find that troubling. After all, why not? These are people who can travel to any reality and live there for centuries. Still, I found a few of the voice choices at odds with how the character is presented in the story. However, Corwin’s voice is just fine, and that’s the one we hear for most of the tale.

And remember to be on the lookout for the famous quote that is the title of this review!