I just finished reading (for the first time in more than a decade) The Chronicles of Amber, a fantasy series written by Roger Zelazny. The first book, Nine Princes in Amber, was written in 1970, and the tenth and final, Prince of Chaos, in 1991. In the books, Amber is a real place and everything else (including the earth we know) is a "shadow" of Amber, of which there are an infinite number and variety. The royal family of Amber is able to travel through these shadows. The royal family is also largely dysfunctional, conniving, and murderous.

The first five books are told from the point of view of Corwin, who awakens in a hospital in England, realizes he's being unnecessarily drugged, escapes, but doesn't know who he is. This is a gem of a series - very clever and inventive, with satisfying character growth and lots of intrigue. Very enjoyable and highly recommended.

The second five books are told from the point of view of Merlin, Corwin's son. These are much more flawed. The main issues I had with them are:

• The magic in the Corwin books is pretty limited (though really interesting), and so Corwin has to solve his problems by figuring out clever solutions and working with people. In the Merlin books, all sorts of magic is available, and Merlin uses it liberally, which often feels contrived.

• Corwin is a seasoned veteran, suspicious of most everyone, and that's reasonably satisfying in a main character. Merlin is significantly younger, and so it makes sense that Zelazny draws him as much more naive and easily manipulated, but those are frustrating qualities in a main character.

• It almost felt like Zelazny just wanted to get through the story. There are characters who pop up to move the plot along, and then are never heard from again. Characters who spent their lives doing one thing suddenly have a change of heart.

The books are all fairly short - just barely long enough to qualify as novels, not novellas - so the time investment for each is small. If you read the first five and enjoy them, it's worth reading the rest to see how things turn out. They're honestly entertaining enough, just not to the level of the first five.